Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin says his spell in non-league football was the making of him.
He was just 17 when Sheffield United shipped him on loan to Stalybridge in the Conference North.
"It was a humbling experience. We trained on a leisure centre pitch they'd rented for a week and was playing alongside people who had been in the league, while others had jobs and played," he recalled to the Daily Mail.
"I signed two days prior to my debut and within 20 minutes I'd been smashed in the face with an elbow. I had a big black eye and went to A&E that night. That was my first taste of it and they said to me “welcome to non-league football."
"I could hardly see but I played the full 90 minutes, scored two and set one up. From that moment on I knew I was going to enjoy it. I could have turned around and said 'this ain't for me' but I rose to it. As soon as I got smashed in the face I wanted to smash the player that did it. That's just the way I've been brought up.
"Briggsy (Keith Briggs, manager at Stalybridge) still messages me now to say well done if I've scored goals or put in good performances. For me, Stalybridge doesn't seem that long ago but it came at a crucial time in my development.
"It was my first bash at men's football, competitive football. It was massive in toughening me up and enabling me to produce what I'm capable of now."
