I got kicked out of non-league club, one side refused to pay £7 for me – but I ended up setting Premier League record
11/22/2024 07:22 AM
Michail Antonio’s professional career has had plenty of unexpected twists and turns.
From earning his first England call-up as a right-back, to becoming a powerhouse striker with West Ham and representing Jamaica internationally, Antonio‘s journey has certainly been unpredictable.
And while his time at the top of the football pyramid has been packed full of surprises, so too was the rollercoaster ride in non-league which came before.
Antonio began his career with seventh tier side Tooting and Mitcham United, during which time he worked part-time as a lifeguard, before being handed his big break with Reading in 2008.
But the 34-year-old’s route into the professional game was almost over before it started.
Appearing on The Rest is Football podcast, Antonio told Gary Lineker and Micah Richards how he was initially released by the non-league outfit as he sensed a bigger opportunity may be on the cards.
He said: “Before I actually signed for Reading I got kicked out of Tooting and Mitcham.
The Hammers hero went on to explain: "They kicked me out because I refused to sign a contract.
"I was like: 'If someone comes in for me I don’t want to be tied down. I want to be able to go and not you out price me'.”
And there was to be more drama for Antonio next, as he turned to AFC Wimbledon, then a National League side, only to find himself at the centre of a bizarre contract dispute.
The Jamaica international continued: "So they [Tooting] kicked me out of the club and I ended up going to AFC Wimbledon.
“Then AFC Wimbledon refused to pay £7 for my registration fee, and told me to pay it. And I was like: 'I ain’t paying seven quid!'
"So I ended up going back to Tooting and Mitcham, signing the contract, getting paid, and within like five games of signing my contract, I signed for Reading."
And while Antonio’s move to Reading was a career-changing moment, there were plenty more ups and downs as he was loaned out to five different clubs in four years with the Championship side.
This included an brief return to Tooting and Mitcham, before ultimately proving himself at Sheffield Wednesday in the last of his loan spells, which earned him a permanent move in 2012.
It was at this point that Antonio’s career began to take off, as he was snapped up by Nottingham Forest two years later, where he netted 14 Championship goals from the wing in his debut season.
A £7million transfer to West Ham would follow in the 2015 summer transfer window, and he has not looked back since.
After proving himself as a winger, an impressive stint at right-back then prompted Sam Allardyce to name the south Londoner in his first and only England squad in September 2016.
While Antonio failed to make it into the pitch with the Three Lions, this would not be his last experience of international football.
After another surprise positional switch, this time to striker, he made his debut for Jamaica in 2021, as he continued to establish himself as a feared front man with his club side.
His goalscoring exploits then saw Antonio become West Ham’s all-time record goalscorer in the Premier League when he netted his 48th and 49th top-flight goals against Leicester in September 2021.
Having overtaken Paolo Di Canio‘s previous club best, the versatile player then arguably reached the pinnacle of his career as he helped the east Londoners to their first trophy in 43 years by winning the 2023 Europa Conference League.
