If this week has demonstrated one thing, it is the power of the pyramid. A huge 25 of the 33 selected in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the European Championships have spent time playing in the English Football League.
On Wednesday, Ademola Lookman – born in Wandsworth, south London – became part of a very exclusive club of players to score a hat-trick in a European final. He was playing Sunday League a decade ago before Charlton set in motion his journey to stardom with Atalanta.
Another tale which made fewer headlines but carried just the same amount of romance is that of Dapo Afolayan. The Harrow-born forward spent time at both Chelsea and West Ham as a youngster but did not truly make strides into the game until he dropped down the levels.
Now, he will finally complete his dream of becoming a top-flight player – just with a slight difference to how he planned. It will not be in the Premier League but in the German Bundesliga with St Pauli, after scoring twice and assisting another in the final game to achieve promotion.
Afolayan’s journey is one of being metaphorically punched but getting back up again, with a shed load of sacrifices along the way. If it was not for clubs like Solihull Moors and Bolton taking punts, he might have never lived his dreams.
Oladapo Afolayan, 26, has massively helped on his team’s promotion to the Bundesliga
His tale from the English Football League to top-flight football in Europe may not have garnered the same headlines as Ademola Lookman, following his Europa League final heroics
The Harrow-born forward spent time at both Chelsea and West Ham as a youngster but did not truly make strides into the game until he dropped down the levels
‘I remember being at Chelsea and just looking at all the young boys who have come through there,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘I was at Chelsea but I didn’t think I was going to ‘make it’ – I had to be realistic.
‘I was playing with lads like Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke. It was a privilege to be there and learn from top coaches. I speak to a lot of the boys still. When you grow up with people like that, in football you see team-mates like family.
‘I spoke to Tammy the other day and Fikayo (Tomori). I speak a lot to Michael Beale who was my coach there. Declan Rice and Mason Mount, I could go on name dropping all the boys! Our age groups were really good and produced a lot of top-level players.
‘They were putting a lot of money in the first team and a lot of good players came and went. I had to focus not just on football but school so I enjoyed that – my dad was big on education and keeping a balance in my life. It was important for me to get good grades at school, too.’
So Afolayan ended up leaving Chelsea to concentrate on his GCSEs – six A*s, two As and a B – and started playing football just as a hobby while at Loughborough University studying civil engineering. That was the ninth tier and he was spotted by non-league scouts.
‘Playing in non-league was really good for me, really humbling,’ he says. ‘But I was at my lowest point. I was still enjoying my football but I was paying to play, my team-mates were builders! It was really fun, we’d play a game and then end up in the social club after.
‘I had gone from Chelsea to non-league. But when I was at Solihull Moors, I decided to see it as an opportunity, an achievement. When I joined, the goal was never to go on and play in the top flight. I was just happy to play. Non-league gives players a really good grounding.
‘I did a bit of refereeing on the side, getting loads of abuse.’ After a prolific stint at Solihull, Afolayan was picked up by West Ham and scored on his debut – an FA Cup match – but again ended up on the scrap-heap and did not make it there.
‘I felt in my head I’d made a great step because I was at West Ham,’ he says. ‘But in reality I had not.’ After not making it at two attempts at a top club, many would have given up on their dream. But not Afolayan, who again fought back to the top by joining Bolton.
He later joined St Pauli, a left-wing club with a political fanbase and intimidating atmosphere including a ‘Welcome To Hell’ banner in the tunnel plus a skull and crossbones motif. ‘Coming to Germany was very daunting,’ he says. ‘Not because I was scared of playing football here.
Now at St Pauli, he scored twice and assisted another in the final game to achieve promotion to the Bundesliga
Now, the forward will finally complete his dream of becoming a top-flight player
‘But I thought I was too late, not many my age come over here. My end goal was to play in the Premier League. The manager (Fabian Hurzeler) here is so special, he has turned things around for me and the club.
‘I think I prefer the food back home, though! Even little things here, the road is empty and people are standing, waiting for the green man. On a football level, the detail is crazy. We go through every single detail of what might happen on the pitch, meetings every day.
‘It was alien at first and a lot to take in. When I came over here, I could count to 10 in German – that was about it! Now I can read or understand pretty much anything.’
From the ninth tier to the Bundesliga, it has been quite the journey. There have been plenty of bumps in the road for Afolayan but, at 26, he can enjoy his summer safely in the knowledge that he has finally made it at the top level.
Championship games see record attendance numbers
Wonders readers may remember Plymouth owner Simon Hallett outlining a five-year plan for the club to get to the Premier League after completing a previous goal of winning promotion to the Championship way ahead of schedule.
Also crucial to Hallett was improving the fan experience and the Pilgrims have this week been awarded the inaugural family excellence award by improving matchdays for supporters of all ages.
‘Attendances across the EFL are at a modern high and it’s really encouraging to see more than one million junior supporters attend a match for the third season in a row,’ says EFL chief executive Trevor Birch. In total, 68 clubs were commended in a family excellence scheme.
Plymouth’s Simon Hallett previously launched a five-year plan to become a Championship side
From the playground to Wembley!
Southampton will be hoping for a glorious Wembley weekend when they take on Leeds in the play-off final on Sunday – but the city will be represented in more than one way under the arch.
Schoolchildren from St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Southampton will take part in the final of a prestigious kids’ tournament that will take place on the Wembley turf before the big match, against a team from Walkwood C of E Middle School in Redditch.
Utilita Kids Cup Final will take place ahead of Southampton against Leeds game at Wembley
Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala once played in the event. Football League legend Glenn Murray popped into the Southampton school recently to share some advice with the kids. He tells Wonders: ‘The importance of an event like this is huge.
‘It’s not about the final but getting kids involved. There’s a 10 per cent increase in last year’s numbers. I have played in kids’ tournaments like this, some of my best days. They might not appreciate the magnitude but it’s a day they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.’