He was seventeen when Coventry Weavers sold him for a fee that, at the time, was the largest ever paid for a player his age. Fifteen years, four clubs, two Elite Division titles won elsewhere, and one serious knee injury later, he's back at the club that raised him — on a contract worth a tenth of what he was earning at his peak.
"I didn't come back for the money, obviously," he said, laughing, at his unveiling. "I came back because this is where my dad took me to my first match, and I always said if I got the chance to finish here, I would."
The football gamble is real, not just sentimental: at 32 and coming off injury, there's no guarantee he still has the legs for a full Elite Division campaign. But early performances suggest a player using experience to compensate for lost yards of pace — two assists in his first three appearances, and a visible influence on a young squad that's clearly a little starstruck to have him in the dressing room.
For a club that's spent most of the past decade in comfortable mid-table anonymity, having their most famous academy product return — even in the twilight of his career — has given both the supporters and the club shop a noticeably better season than the league table alone would suggest.