Antoine Semenyo has gone from non-league to Premier League and his journey to Wembley hero started at Bath City in the National League South
Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo with the FA Cup
Antoine Semenyo scored the winner for Manchester City in the FA Cup final against Chelsea
View 2 Images
Antoine Semenyo's first start in senior football came in front of fewer than 400 people. One of his most recent saw him score a match-winning wonder goal in the FA Cup final in front of 84,000.
Few can lay claim to a football feel-good story quite like Semenyo's. The 26-year-old was rejected by a number of clubs several times as a youngster and stopped playing for a year at 15. Even when he did get back into the game it was through college football rather than the academy system.
That earned him a trial and then a contract at Bristol City at 18. The Robins then loaned him to Bath City in the National League South. His manager for his four-month spell was former Birmingham City and Cheltenham Town man Jerry Gill, who watched the Manchester City star light up a dreary cup final last week with a moment of magic having handed him his first start in men's football when naming him in the starting XI for a Somerset Premier Cup tie against Welton Rovers. The teenager responded with a hat-trick and went on to score six times in nine appearances for Bath.
"I threw him in and he scored a hat-trick and that was the trigger really," said Gill, speaking to the Manchester Evening News. "We gave him an opportunity, and the rest is history. He was feared by a lot of defences and made a massive contribution. It was all down to him, he had to come in and hit the ground running.
"He was so refreshing because you don't get that physical attribute with an academy player and that was what he had."
Semenyo was so physical he was sent off during his loan spell at Twerton Park and had no qualms about battling with hardened non-league centre halves when leading the line for a Bath side who were pushing for the play-offs before falling six points short.
"Even then he would bump centre backs and put them on the floor," recalls Gill. "If the ball was up in the air between him and the centre-back, he'd look at the centre back first and he'd bump him on the floor and get him out of the way. It was never anything malicious. It was just at that time he was working out how to use his body, which I can see now, I mean if anyone tries to get the ball off him now there's no chance."
It's something Semenyo himself referenced when speaking to the All Out Football Podcast earlier this year. "When I went to Bath, players are playing for mortgages, they need to pay bills and they need wins. It was tough at the start, I was getting red carded, pushed around, elbows flying," he said. "Gradually I got used to it and started performing."
Semenyo was recommended to Bath by former professional Dave Hockaday, who had coached him for South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. Gill then watched him play twice for Bristol City's academy sides and saw enough in him to take him on loan. And while he was impressed by Semenyo's raw talent, it was his attitude and application that set him apart.
"We trained Tuesday and Thursday nights but he would train in the day at Bristol City and then train with us on those nights," said Gill.
"I've had some loan players that they'll come and go 'oh it's a bit cold on a Tuesday night, I've trained today, this is a bit like hard work'. But Antoine trained like a Trojan.
Jerry Gill of Cheltenham Town celebrates after Gabor Gyepes of Northampton Town had scored an own goal during the Coca Cola League One Match between Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town at Sixfields Stadium
Jerry Gill during his playing career for Cheltenham Town
View 2 Images
"Whenever he came in he had a lovely big smile on his face, he never moaned, never whinged, always got on with it. In fact we had to speak about managing his load at times with Bristol City to make sure we wouldn't overcook him because he would just do it without asking!
"He took to the group, you get judged as soon as you come in as a young player by the senior players and he came and he wasn't brash, he wasn't a loud boy, he was quiet but as soon as he went out on the training ground that's what gave him the respect with the way he trained and then suddenly his ability comes through. He was loved by all the staff and the fans. He's just a lovely, lovely lad who's getting the success he deserves."
Gill admits that he didn't see Semenyo turning out for one of the biggest clubs in European football, but felt there was a player who could progress to the top level. And while there was no stunning backheel goal at Bath like there was at Wembley - 'the cross would have bobbled to him on our pitch' joked Gill - there was a moment that cemented a teenage Semenyo as a player with a big future.
"So I always kill this lad called Robbie Cundy, who I ended up signing and then selling to Bristol City actually for good and he is now at Cheltenham and is a good player," said Gill. "So he was playing for Gloucester City and a ball went up in the air and Antoine looks at Robbie, Robbie looks at Antoine and Antoine just bumped him and stuck him on his a***. Then he took a touch and drilled the ball in the bottom corner with his left foot.
"That is when I was like 'yeah this is it'. Firstly, to bump a centre back who is six foot two, and then have the composure, the skill and the ability to go and finish it.
"That was the moment where I thought 'yeah, this boy has got something special'."
Semenyo showed just how special he can be with his Wembley winner. It's a far cry from the Somerset Premier Cup.
Content cannot be displayed without consent