Figures who worked with striker in his formative years recall a self-belief – even when his talent did not stand out
There is another version of reality in which Harry Kane is not England’s greatest goalscorer but a goalkeeper. On his first day at Ridgeway Rovers, his first club, the coach Dave Bricknell asked whether anyone fancied going in goal. A six-year-old Kane threw up his hand – and he was pretty good.
“I thought I’d found a goalkeeper,” Bricknell says. “At that age, you don’t get many kids that don’t mind standing in front of a ball.” It was quickly pointed out to him by parents that Kane was even better on the pitch. But that wasn’t the only time Kane almost strayed down the goalkeeping path.