IF BERMUDA CAN PRODUCE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALLERS, WHY CAN’T HONG KONG?

• West Ham's Nathan Trott is EPL's latest Bermudian, whereas talent from Hong Kong, with 100 times the population, does not thrive abroad

While playing European club football remains a pipe dream for Hong Kong's players, a man from tiny Bermuda has been carving out a career on the continent.

Nathan Trott was 13 when he chose joining Spanish club Valencia over staying on his home island - whose population of 63,500 people is less than 1 per cent of Hong Kong's 7.5 million.

The goalkeeper recently signed a two-year contract extension with West Ham United of the English Premier League, following two successful seasons on loan at Vejle BK in Denmark.

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Growing up, Trott, 25, had ready access to facilities, and inspiration from Bermudians who cracked English football: Clyde Best at West Ham, the Manchester City cult hero Shaun Goater, and now Nahki Wells at Bristol City.

Most of Hong Kong's Premier League clubs have limited training hours on public pitches. Youngsters' access to facilities is rationed, and there are no players flying the Hong Kong flag in a major league.

"I always believed I could reach a decent level, but [Best, Goater, and Wells] made it seem more possible," Trott said.

"I had a coach who worked extra hours with me, and it was never difficult to find a pitch for practice."

Relatively few Hongkongers flourish in the Chinese Super League (CSL). Jesse Yu Joy-yin, one of the city's most promising talents, recently said he was not ready to make the move, and a leading Hong Kong team player was incredulous at the suggestion he could pursue a European transfer.

Trott wanted to move to Valencia, who spotted him at a Bermudian academy, from age 10, three years before his parents granted him permission.

"I felt I needed to go as soon as possible ... if you want to make it in any sport, you have to leave Bermuda," he said.

Hong Kong's rising stars, such as Ellison Tsang Yi-hang and Kyle Lau Ka-kiu, both members of its Asian Games semi-final team, tend to relocate overseas to study, abandoning top-level football aspirations.

The intensity of competition among aspiring pros had a "huge influence" on Trott, who was "really angry" when, on his mum's demand, he returned to Bermuda to finish school.

"It felt like a step back, I knew how good I was," he said.

Remarkably, only during the year back home did Trott switch from outfield to goal, because of a keeper injury crisis in the Bermuda youth team.

The agent of his cousin, Brandon Phillips, who played for Millwall, organised trials in England and West Ham snapped him up. Measuring himself against elite performers aged 17 was invaluable. The nearest comparable Hong Kong experience is Anthony Pinto's two years, now over, at Bolton Wanderers.

Playing for West Ham under-23s, Trott was a teammate of Declan Rice. The Arsenal and England midfielder was "levels above everyone else, extremely professional and so consistent".

Sharing a first-team dressing room with Premier League winners Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Hernandez "was crazy", he said.

"I wanted to impress them as much as I could," Trott added.

Trott was understudy to Arsenal 'keeper Aaron Ramsdale during England's victorious 2017 European Under-19 Championship campaign.

"We were together in three different England age groups, swapping who was playing," Trott said. "I feel I have the same quality, if not a bit more, so it gives me confidence to see where he is now. My opportunities will come."

Trott is still targeting full England honours, and wants to reach the "highest possible level in Europe".

His single West Ham appearance, in the FA Cup against Doncaster Rovers in 2021, was sandwiched by loans at AFC Wimbledon and French side AS Nancy.

With League One Wimbledon, he had a first taste of "playing under pressure, with people playing for their families". He went to Nancy because "I felt I would develop better abroad".

After moving to Vejle in 2022 to "play games, and make a name for myself", Trott won promotion then conceded only 35 goals as they survived their Superliga return.

"It has been the best two years of my career," said Trott, who is considering another loan. "I have to continue playing games, otherwise it would kill the momentum."

There is "massive interest" in Trott's exploits back home.

"Everything I do is for Bermuda," he said. "I have the whole island supporting me."

Hong Kong's wait for a football star to cheer overseas, meanwhile, goes on.

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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2024-06-16T00:20:00Z dg43tfdfdgfd