From park football to the Europa League and Tottenham is the reward for London Tigers and Marco Tagbajumi.
Just six years ago the 26-year-old was scoring his first goal for the Perivale based club at home to St Margaretsbury in the Spartan Premier to the delight of 21 paying souls.
He went on to score 13 more the following season before joining AEL Limassol via Portugal and four other Cypriot clubs.
After notching 18 for an AEL rival last season, Limassol snapped up Tagbajumi in time to host the mighty Spurs at home next Thursday.
The forward is looking to spring an upset; his mentor at Tigers is just glad the player has affirmed the club ethos of developing talent.
Mesba Ahmed said: “We don’t pay players, but this is the place for those hoping to kick on to the next level.”
Tagbajumi added: “I want to thank Mesba and Tigers for my time there. It helped me get ready for the next step. Hopefully, we can beat Spurs at home and draw away - that would be fantastic.”
There was a scare for Tigers when they hosted their first home match on Tuesday at home to Hillingdon Borough - no nets, and no corner flags at Avenue Park.
Luckily, a makeshift set of both were dug out in time to herald a thrilling 4-4 draw.
Sebastian Philogene (2), Gabriel Cheidozie, and new Kensington Dragons recruit Ali Soussi all found the net to pull Tigers back from a 3-1 deficit to an 89th minute lead, only to discover Hillingdon had a final ace to play.
Tigers go into the unknown of the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tomorrow (Saturday) at Takeley FC from the Essex Senior League near Bishop’s Stotford alongside Hillingdon and Harefield United in football's most famous domestic competition.
