Until I looked it up today, I was unaware of James Norwood's history. He's a man with a point to prove. He was born and brought up in Eastbourne on the south coast, where he was privately educated. He captained his school to the English FA Schools Trophy and was capped for England schoolboys, for whom he first played at the new Wembley Stadium. He signed for his local team, Eastbourne Town, but within a year he was snapped up by Exeter City and soon afterwards made his league debut when only 18 years old. He only played four times for Exeter without scoring a goal and was released after two years. He joined Forest Green Rovers and stayed for four years, scoring 48 times in 149 games to become their all-time record NL goalscorer. He became a regular and eventually captain of England's non-league international team, but despite this he was released at the end of his contract.
We all know the rest of his story. I hadn't realised what a rollercoaster he'd been on until he joined Rovers. Sadly, he won't be playing against Exeter this season but he will have another chance to show FGR what they missed out on. It's a triumph for self-belief. Saturday will have given him a lot of satisfaction, having finally scored his first two goals in the Football League - hopefully the first of many with Tranmere Rovers.