Harry Kane: The making of England’s number nine

Harry Kane was released from the Arsenal academy aged eight. But he worked hard, learned, improved and believed in himself. He’s now one of the world’s best strikers.

Kane was raised in Chingford, east London. On his path to the Premier League, he played for local junior teams, London academies and lower league sides.

He eventually broke through at Tottenham Hotspur, where he went on to become one of the north-London club’s all-time greats.

Now he leads an England team who’ve come together against racism – and got nail-bitingly close to European or World Cup glory. He’s a Londoner worth celebrating, someone children and adults can look to as they chase their dreams.

Kane was born in Walthamstow, east London and later moved with his parents and brother to Chingford, also in east London.

He joined local club Ridgeway Rovers when he was six, but played for Gladstone Rangers at the same time.

For a school project, aged five, Kane wrote: “I could crawl / I could cry / I can swim / I want to play football”.

“Don’t worry, Harry. We’ll work harder – and we’ll go on and we’ll find another club, alright?”

This was the moment Pat Kane told his eight-year-old son that Arsenal had released him after a year. Arsenal thought Kane was too slow, too small. This wouldn’t be the last time Kane would hear that he didn’t look like a striker.

Kane admits being dropped was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. It gave him “a drive that wasn’t there before”.

Just three years later, playing at Ridgeway Rovers, Kane was scouted by Watford FC, who are based in Hertfordshire, just outside of London.

Kane was only with Watford a few weeks when he scored a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur’s youth team.

Spurs invited him to join their youth academy and Kane signed his first contract with them on his 16th birthday.

After signing with Tottenham, Kane had to prove that he could play at the senior level. He was sent on loan to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City.

Returning to Spurs from Leicester, Kane wanted to prove that he could make it in the first team. He backed himself. He knew he had the ability and now he was going to show it.

After the highs and lows, hard work and persistence, Kane started his first full Premier League game on 7 April 2014, scoring his first ever Premier League goal.

After a breakthrough season in 2014/15, Kane went on to score 213 Premier League goals for Tottenham. He’s the second highest all-time scorer in the league after Alan Shearer.

Kane played for England at every youth level, and scored 79 seconds after coming on for his senior England debut in a Euro 2016 qualifier.

Kane was 24 years old when he was named England captain for the FIFA World Cup 2018 – the youngest captain in a major tournament, leading the youngest team.

The Three Lions made it to a World Cup semi-final. Kane became the second Englishman to win a World Cup Golden Boot.

The next tournament had added meaning. Postponed due to Covid-19, Euro 2020 offered fans some normality, some hope.

Kane delivered, leading the England team to their first major tournament final in 55 years at Wembley Stadium.

This was a different England team. A different captain. An England team building a new relationship with a new generation of football fans.

The young team were taking action in a way never before seen from an England side. Unified, the team continued to take the knee throughout the tournament to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Kane also marked Pride month by wearing a rainbow captain’s armband.

At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Kane’s England side lost 2–1 to France in the quarter-final. Kane missed a crucial penalty which could have levelled the match.

It was a major blow – but again Kane used it to his advantage. "I had a bit of time away after, just to reflect, and it's made me even more hungry to come back and be successful.”

In 2023 he moved from Tottenham to Bayern Munich, taking his family with him to Germany. In his first season he scored 36 goals in the Bundesliga, more than any other striker that season in Europe’s top divisions.

At the 2024 Euros, Kane and England once again missed out on international glory by the narrowest of margins. The team made it through several tense games and a penalty shootout against Switzerland, but their luck ran out in the final.

The loss to Spain was a crushing disappointment, and led to the resignation of England's manager, Gareth Southgate. As manager and captain, the pair had inspired a nation of football fans.

Kane has bounced back so many time before – could he do it again?