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Most of the players we see strutting their stuff in the world's top leagues have been trained for years in top-class facilities before taking to the field. Players in the Premier League or La Liga don't normally go straight into the game at the highest level.
Professional clubs nurture their players from an incredibly early age, ensuring they have access to the best facilities, coaches and other development opportunities. These youngsters work with dieticians, physiotherapists and analysts who help them grow into world-class athletes.
But not all players have these advantages. Some start their careers in some really obscure places, having to work their way up from local clubs. Instead of playing against other young professionals in world-class facilities, some future Premier League winners got their star earning a pittance playing in local leagues, working menial jobs on the side just to pay the bills.
Here are five players who played for tiny clubs before hitting the big time.
#5 Chris Smalling
He's won two Premier League titles, earned a Europa League medal and played 31 times for England. But Manchester United defender Chris Smalling began his career with a different United; that is, Maidstone United.
Smalling made his debut for the 8th tier side as a teenager, making 11 appearances before moving on to Fulham for a fee rumoured to be £10,000. Not bad for a player who was later sold on to Manchester United for over 100 times that amount.
Smalling also played for the England schoolboys' national team during his formative years, an experience which helped him to develop technically. But the defender thinks he got more enjoyment out of playing at a lower level than he would have done in the high-pressure world of an academy.
#4 Enric Gallego
Striker Enric Gallego spent several years playing as an amateur in Spain's basement divisions, working as a lorry driver and handyman to support himself while playing for clubs in Spain's 4th and 5th tiers. The Spaniard only made his professional debut in 2018 at the age of 31, with second-tier outfit Extremadura.
But the best was yet to come. Gallego's form in the Segunda Division earned him a move to La Liga minnows Huesca, a club who themselves had experienced an amazing rise to the top of Spanish football, and the veteran found himself playing against the likes of Real Madrid; a dream come true for a man who had been working menial jobs only a couple of years before.
#3 Romain Saiss
A key component of Wolves' success under Nuno Espirito Santo, the Moroccan international is one of the most underrated defensive players in the Premier League.
But Saiss actually spent multiple seasons at an amateur level, playing in the lower French tiers with a club called Valence. Saiss excelled, helping his team to six title wins, while washing pots in his father's restaurant to make a living. It was an experience that Saiss said improved his work ethic, driving him to succeed in his football career.
After continued good performances for Valence, Saiss caught the attention of second-tier outfit Clermont Foot, which provided the springboard for his move into Ligue 1 and later the Premier League.
#2 Joe Hart
Hart is known as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation having won the Premier League twice with Manchester City, as well as earning 75 England caps.
But Hart actually began his career with lowly Shrewsbury Town. Initially acting as back up keeper for the minnows when he was as young as 15, Hart made his first senior appearance shortly after his 17th birthday when Shrewsbury were playing in the Football Conference, the 5th tier of English football
After helping Shrewsbury win promotion back to the Football League, Hart attracted the attention of several Premier League clubs including Everton but eventually moved to Manchester City after appearing for England at youth level.
#1 Jamie Vardy
Jamie Vardy has to be one of the biggest "rags to riches" stories in football. He worked his way up the footballing ladder after beginning his career with Yorkshire based Stocksbridge Park Steels in the eighth tier of English football, earning £30 a game.
A £15,000 fee brought him up to Halifax Town before his continued good form saw him transfer to Fleetwood, then one of the biggest clubs in non-league football.
After scoring 31 goals in 36 games for Fleetwood, Leicester came calling and Vardy made his move to the Championship club for a fee of one million pounds, the highest amount ever received by a non-league club.
Vardy quickly helped his new club earn promotion to the Premier League, which might have been enough for an amazing story, given where the striker had come from. But Vardy wasn't done. Scoring 24 league goals in Leicester's Premier League winning season, Vardy capped off a sensational rise from the depths of the English pyramid to the very top of the game.
