One former Arsenal player has now lifted the lid on how he came to football relatively late in life in his younger days.
Certainly in Britain, it is very common for talented youngsters to be within an academy system at an extremely young age. In some cases, they are little older than toddlers before they are snapped up by a club. This has been the norm for some time.
However, there are players who come into the game a little later, and still prove themselves capable of making the grade and progressing all the way to senior level.
One former Arsenal star certainly had a later-than-most start to life in football. Theo Walcott has now opened up about how he discovered his love for the game in a belated fashion.
Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott opens up about late start in football
Speaking on the Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast, Walcott revealed: “I started very late, I started at 10. Was never really interested in football… I started to actually enjoy football because, one of my friends actually was going to play a football match at the time and needed an extra body. So I came along with my shoes on and scored a perfect hat-trick that time. I kind of liked football after that.”
Having come to the game relatively late, Walcott very quickly made up for lost time. He was snapped up by the Southampton academy as a teenager, and made his first-team debut for the club in the Championship when he was just 16-years-old.
At the age of 17, before having ever played a Premier League game, Walcott was both signed by Arsenal and selected as part of the England squad that travelled to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. However, the youngster did not ultimately make an appearance in the tournament.
Theo Walcott’s Arsenal legacy
The 35-year-old went on to make almost 400 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 108 goals, across all competitions, and winning three FA Cups.
After leaving the club in 2018, he enjoyed a spell with Everton before returning to Southampton to see out his career.
Walcott retired at end of the 2022/23 season, and scored against Mikel Arteta’s side in one of his final outings for the Saints. Walcott recently revealed that some Arsenal fans still haven’t forgiven him for that goal as it derailed the Gunners’ title push.
Walcott still remains supportive of Arsenal, and is fondly remembered at the Emirates Stadium.