Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy finds himself in illustrious company at present.
His winning goal against Crystal Palace last Saturday saw him join Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, Emmanuel Adebayor and Mark Stein on the list of players who have scored in seven successive Premier League matches.
Vardy was plying his trade for Fleetwood Town when they were in non-league as recently as 2012.
If he finds the back of the net against West Bromwich Albion today, he will overtake the aforementioned stars and become only the third man to get his name on the scoresheet in eight consecutive encounters since the English top flight was rebranded in 1992.
READ MORE:
– Ahead of Chelsea tie, Jurgen Klopp’s patchy form is the big issue at Liverpool
– Famous wins for Swansea and Palace; Mourinho breathes easier at Chelsea – EPL predictions
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former Manchester United striker, would then be the only marksman in possession of a longer scoring streak than the former part-timer, who used to divide his time between playing football and making carbon fibres for medical splints in a factory in Sheffield.
It has been a remarkable rise for Vardy, 28, whose form has helped propel Leicester into sixth place in the table in a season where they were expected by pundits to face another year fighting against relegation.
There have even been reports of rumoured interest from Real Madrid and comparisons with Barcelona star Neymar.
While Vardy is clearly not of that level, his story is one that should be celebrated, both for his own personal achievements and the wider point that his success at the highest level after a gradual progression through the divisions illustrates.
With clubs’ scouting networks bigger than ever before, it is generally assumed that talented players will all be swept up at an early stage of their development.
Youngsters making their professional debuts often explain that pulling on the first team shirt has been their dream since they joined the club’s youth ranks up to a decade previously, while it is notable that the likes of Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge were transferred between sides at the age of 16 or younger.
It is by far the most common route into the game in the modern day, but Vardy is the perfect example of a late bloomer that the academy system missed and made it in a different way.
After being released by Sheffield Wednesday at 16, Vardy turned out for local outfit Stocksbridge Park Steels for three years between 2007 and 2010, earning £30 (Dh168) a week in the eighth tier of the English football pyramid.
He was then picked up by Halifax Town – one division higher up the food chain – where he spent a single season before moving on to Fleetwood in 2011.
A tally of 34 goals in 40 games convinced Leicester to spend £1 million on a 25-year-old who had never played league football in January 2012.
The rest, as they say, is history, with Vardy going from strength to strength as Nigel Pearson’s side won promotion to the Premier League in 2014 and then stayed up last season.
Claudio Ranieri has taken Leicester to another level again following his appointment in the summer, with Vardy’s 10 goals lifting him to the top of the league scoring charts and capping his tale of obdurate persistence.
There is a wider lesson to be learnt, too.
Even in this era of global talent-spotting networks and transcontinental links involving clubs, academies and agents, there is still value to be had for top-division sides shopping in the lower-league market.
Failing to make the grade at the highest level by the age of 24 or 25 is not necessarily the end for aspiring footballers.
England international Vardy, looking to cement his place in the history books by scoring in an eighth successive Premier League fixture today, is proof of just that.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE