Thanks to his heroics last season, football fans throughout the world now know the story of Jamie Vardy. Less than six years ago, Vardy was winning promotion to the Football League with Fleetwood Town. Today, he is a Premier League champion with Leicester City, he holds the current consecutive goal-scoring record in the top flight and he has scored for England at the European Championships.
However, Vardy is not the only former non-leaguer now plying their trade in England’s top division.
Charlie Austin
Although there have been plenty of players down the decades to ascend from non-league to the top, Charlie is probably the prime example from this current generation and was probably a source of inspiration for Vardy and most non-league players around the country. Austin spent four season banging in the goals in the Hellenic and Wessex Division’s for Kintbury Rangers, Hungerford Town and Poole Athletic, before earning a trial with Swindon Town and eventually getting signed full-time.
A move to championship side Burnley soon followed, before Queens Park Rangers signed him in the Premier League in 2014. His 18 Premier League goals weren’t enough to keep QPR clear of relegation, but he returned to the top flight in January last year and will be hoping for a good second season at Southampton.
Chris Smalling
Smalling only made a handful of appearances for Maidstone United‘s senior team, before being whisked away by Premier League Fulham in 2008, making his top division debut as a fresh-faced 19 year old in the final game of that season against Everton. He joined Manchester United for an eight figure fee in 2010 and has gone on to make 135 Premier League appearances for The Red Devils, winning the Premier League twice, the FA Cup once and winning 29 caps for England.
Michail Antonio
Antonio is a product of the Tooting & Mitcham academy system and went on to score 33 goals in 45 appearances in the Isthmian Premier League, before being snapped up by Reading in 2008.
He was loaned back to the non-league club for the first half of the following season, before spells at Cheltenham, Colchester, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday. He signed permanently for the Yorkshire club after being released by Reading and his form there lead to a move to Nottingham Forest. He continued to shine in the Championship, catching the attention of West Ham, who brought him to the Premier League last summer. Antonio soon established himself as a versatile and popular figure in the Hammers side and almost forced his way into England’s squad for the European Championships this summer.
Jason Puncheon
After Puncheon was released by MK Dons in 2003, he was left scratching around the lower leagues to find himself a new club. Brief spells with Isthmian League Fisher Athletic and Conference South side Lewes followed, before securing a move to Barnet that same season. Puncheon impressed at Barnet and Plymouth Argyle, before moving to Southampton, when they were languishing in League One. Four seasons later, he scored the equalising goal at Stamford Bridge to give Premier League new boys Southampton a creditable 2-2 draw.
Ashley Williams
Williams stated his career as a part-timer at Hednesford Town in 2001, supplementing his football income with jobs at theme parks and various restaurants. He moved to Stockport County two years later, then after impressing in a six month loan spell, he was signed permanently by Swansea City, who were in League One at the time. After leading the Welsh club all the way to the Top flight, Ashley has gone on to make 178 Premier League appearances for Swansea and was the captain and cornerstone of the Wales side who recently reached the semi-finals of the European Championships in France.
