Aston Villa ace Ollie Watkins and the move now "inspiring" Non-League stars
Aston Villa talisman Ollie Watkins wasn't always destined for stardom.
In fact, his Non-League baptism of fire at Weston-super-Mare proved to be the moment Exeter City truly realised they had a serious talent on their books. Weston were struggling to keep their head above water in the National League South back in December 2014 - so manager Ryan Northmore gave his old boss Paul Tisdale a call. Northmore said: "I picked the phone up to Tis, who I played under at Team Bath and said 'mate, I need some goals'.
"He was kind enough to loan me Ollie and Matt Jay but it was solely about getting them some senior experience then going back into the fold at Exeter. None of the conversations regarding Ollie were 'this guy is special - keep him for a little bit but he's a future Premier League star and England international'.
"If you watch Ollie's performances at Aston Villa and see how he's settled in with England, you would think it was a foregone conclusion that he was headed for the top but that wasn't necessarily the case."
It soon became clear that Watkins, who recently netted his third England goal in their 1-0 friendly win over Australia, had the quality required to make the grade in League Two with Exeter. The hungry and hard-working teenage frontman made an immediate impression - so much so that Weston later extended the 18-year-old's initial one-month loan deal until the end of the season.
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He netted 10 goals in 25 outings under Northmore to fire Weston to safety and Watkins' success on the Somerset coastline has since proven to be a fundamental step in his ascendancy to the top.
"He scored some really important goals," adds Northmore. "We played away at Ebbsfleet United and for context - it would be like Luton Town playing Manchester City at the moment - they were full-time and had players earning fantastic money for that level of football. We went up there, Ollie scored and we won 1-0. He chased all night long. He didn't stop."
Ollie Watkins in action for Weston-Super-Mare (Mark Atherton)Yet there was one match in particular that would prove to be a turning point in the career of Watkins - a 3-1 win on the road at Wealdstone in February 2015.
Northmore continues: "Dean Smith came to one of our games and that's the first time he saw Ollie play. Dean was at Walsall at the time, Ollie scored and he obviously made a note. Then when he went in at Brentford, he pressed the button."
Smith snapped up Watkins for a fee of £1.8million and three summers later, he also sanctioned a £28m club-record deal to bring his former frontman to Aston Villa in September 2020. Watkins has not looked back. The 27-year-old centre-forward is now the focal point in Unai Emery's attack after firing Villa into Europe last season with 14 Premier League goals.
After recently penning a new long-term contract at Villa Park - he is on course to smash his best top-flight tally while he is also making a strong case to cement a place in Gareth Southgate's squad for Euro 2024. Last month, Watkins netted a hat-trick and recorded two assists in front of Southgate as Villa smashed Brighton 6-1.
Northmore was always aware there was far more to Watkins' game than purely goals. He added: "You saw then that it wasn't just about his goalscoring, he was willing to do what he needed. He was really good to have around. He was completely down to earth.
"Sometimes when loan players come in they feel a sense of superiority but there was nothing like that with Ollie. He went away on their end-of-season do, he rolled his sleeves up and got in the mix with it all. At Weston our training pitch was next to the main pitch at the back of the main stand and it used to just fill up with water. If it rained it was just full of mud but it didn't bother him and he'd just get out there and give 110 per cent.
"Character wise, I'm sat at home watching him go out for England and it's one of those stories where you just feel so happy for the guy to be living this experience. He really deserves it. It's a story that is inspiring for a lot of other people."
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