Player Profile: Tashan Francis Adeyinka, Striker
Last Updated: 06/10/16 12:29pm
![](https://uatimg.skysports.com/11/03/660x350/academy-blog-posts-playerstashanFrancis-adey_2579441.jpg?20110329171443)
"Basically, I was causing trouble in the house. So my dad grabbed a ball and took me to the park. We were knocking it about when some guy tapped my dad on the shoulder and told him to take me to this Sunday league team. And that's how I got into football. I was about 5 or 6."
"Basically, I was causing trouble in the house. So my dad grabbed a ball and took me to the park. We were knocking it about when some guy tapped my dad on the shoulder and told him to take me to this Sunday league team. And that's how I got into football. I was about 5 or 6."
It only took another couple of years before some of the country's biggest clubs caught onto the kind of trouble this imposing centre forward could cause defenders. "I played with Crystal Palace when I was 8. But my proudest moment came when I got my scholarship at 14.
"For three days a week, I moved from South East London to Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Then at weekends I came back to extra classes my school sorted out so I could catch up. When I was about 15, I moved away full time. Being away from my family was tough, but living in digs with the other lads was a great laugh."
Now Tash is playing with a different group of lads, but his determination to break into the professional game is still the same. "It hasn't worked out for me yet, but I like to prove my critics wrong. I want to make it and say 'look at me now'. My youth team manager would be first on that list, I respect him of course, but I'd love to be able to show him what I've become. It's already starting to happen too; a few managers have come up to me and said 'you know what Tash? I take it back, you're definitely improving'. That feels good; I owe the coaches at the Nike Academy for that. They're top-class."
Follow the remainder of the season on Facebook.com/nikeacademy to see if Tashan makes it.