Rickie Lambert (bootle) A lifelong Liverpool fan, Rickie Lambert was a local lad from Kirkby and joined the Liverpool Youth Academy. He was released as a 15 year old, which came as a shock for him. After an unsuccessful 3 years at Blackpool without a contract, Lambert had to work part time in a beetroot factory and play part time at local club Macclesfield. The rejections hit Lambert hard, and the young striker experienced a dark time. However his never-say-die attitude led to a career changing move to Stockport, where he established himself as a lower league player. When his talent started to surface, Rochdale scouts swooped him, where the 23 year old formed a devastating partnership with Grant Holt. The pair scored 27 goals in 24 appearances. It got the striker noticed and he moved to Bristol Rovers for for £200,000. As he rose to coverage, he became more popular which led to the famous £1million signing by Southampton. After initial stutter, Lambert scored 30 goals in his first league season winning the Football League Trophy. He followed it by 21 goals the next season, winning the FL Trophy again and also finishing second in League 1, securing promotion to Championship. Lambert scored 27 goals in the Championship, finishing second with Southampton and fired them back to the Premier League. Lambert gained worldwide attention, and was labelled as a player to watch for the 2012/13 season. He was handed his international debut where he scored the winner against Scotland with his first touch of the ball. He followed it with another international goal at Moldova and a key role in the draw 0-0 draw vs Ukraine. Lambert scored 15 goals on his first Premier League campaign and 14 in the second, good enough to get on the plane to Brazil. Now his exploits have attracted other Premier League clubs. Rickie Lambert will now join his former employers Liverpool in the 2014/15 campaign after he signs a contract with the club he supported as a boy. What a truly inspirational story, a reject who fought his way back from the lowest of leagues to the pinnacle of the sport. This is better those Goal movies.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 16:17:30 +0000