Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Kane, standing at 6ft 2in, is widely acknowledged as one of the best strikers in world football and is Spurs and England’s all-time leading goal scorer. Kane is a product of the club’s academy.

He began his career with local club Ridgeway Rovers after initially joining in 1999 before going on to sign for the Arsenal youth academy in 2001 before being released by the Gunners. This led to him returning to Ridgeway Rovers a year later in 2002.

Watford then came calling in 2004, and after impressing with the Hornets he earned a second chance with Spurs the same year, going on to be awarded his scholarship by the Lilywhites in July 2009 aged 16.

The 2009/10 season saw Kane spend the season in Spurs’ Under 18 side where he scored a total of 18 goals in just 22 matches. He was also featured on the bench for the first team twice that season – against Everton and Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup and FA Cup respectively.

After signing his first ever professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in July 2010, he was sent out for his maiden loan spell with League One (Third Division) side Leyton Orient for the duration of the 2010/11 season.

His first goal for the club came in his second appearance against Sheffield Wednesday. Kane went on to make 18 appearances in all competitions for the O’s, scoring 5 goals.

Orient missed out on the play-offs by one point, finishing in 7^th. Bournemouth took the final promotion play-off spot.

After his loan spell, Kane made his senior Tottenham Hotspur debut in the second leg of a Europa League play-off match against Scottish side Hearts.

The forward made 6 appearances in Europe that season, scoring his very first goal in a 4-0 away win against Shamrock Rovers at the Tallaght Stadium. The other goal scorers that night were Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe.

Halfway through the 2011/12 season, he was sent out on loan to Championship (Second Division) side Millwall for the remainder of the season, going on to score 9 goals in 27 appearances for the club. Spurs finished that season in 4^th place, qualifying for European football. Meanwhile, the Lions finished in 16^th place.

A loan spell at Norwich City for the 2012/13 season was interrupted by a severe injury, with Kane only making 3 appearances for the Canaries before returning to Tottenham.

It did not take long for Kane to find his next loan spell. This time it was with Leicester City for the remainder of the 2012/13 season. The Foxes were in the Championship at the time, and he made 13 appearances for them scoring 2 goals. Kane helped Leicester reach the Championship Play-Off Semi Final where they lost 3-2 on aggregate over two legs to Watford.

The 2014/15 season saw Kane finally become a regular in the first team for Spurs. His first appearance came against West Ham on the opening day, providing the pass for the winning goal, scored by Eric Dier. His first goals of the season came in the Europa League play-offs against Cyprus’ AEL Limassol.

His first Premier League goal of that season came against Aston Villa in a 1-0 victory at Villa Park in November 2014. Kane scored the first of his many hat-tricks for the Lilywhites in a 5-1 thrashing of Asteras Tripolis (Greece) in the Europa League Group Stage. He finished the season with 31 goals in 51 matches, with Spurs finishing 5^th in the Premier League and the Round of 32 in the Europa League.

Kane has gone on to become Spurs’ all-time leading goal scorer, surpassing club legend Jimmy Greaves. Kane was instrumental in the club’s run to the Champions League Final in 2019 and he has won the Premier League Golden Boot 3 times (2015/16, 2016/17 & 2020/21).

At the time of writing, Harry Kane has scored 274 goals in 429 appearances in all competitions for Spurs. He also has 63 assists to boot.

The forward also became an England international for the first time in March 2015 and has since surpassed Wayne Rooney on his nation’s all-time goal scoring charts and is now on 55 goals from his 82 caps at the time of writing.