Tom Rogic is once again the hero for Celtic, as his late goal won the Scottish Cup Final and secured the club's historic treble, making it absolutely clear that he is an huge figure in the team.
Originally published on November 29th, 2016.
He's a firm fan-favourite too, as the perfectly timed run and composed finish at Hampden was by no means a flash in the pan. The lanky Aussie has made a habit of scoring spectacular and big goals, something he was always capable of even if the other impressive traits of his box-to-box midfield play took a bit more time to become a consistent feature.
But Celtic have been patient, and now they have a player who is rewarding that with standout performances in big games, something that will inevitably lead to his name popping up in transfer gossip columns all over Europe. That patience is largely due to the manner in which Rogic arrived at the club, as if an expensive young signing or hot prospect was brought in to much fanfare, he made have been expected to deliver far earlier.
Instead, the player who was an integral part of that treble winning side until his injury was picked up for next to nothing after becoming aware of him from what was essentially a YouTube marketing scheme.
Well, that's actually very harsh on the Nike Academy, as the programme is set up to find talent that has been overlooked by professional clubs, and give them a platform to showcase their abilities, and it genuinely does do great work, but at the end of the day it's another of Nike's hugely successful promotional tools.
Some would have wondered where Tom Rogic came from when he made his Celtic debut, on which he made a tidy assist and scooped man of the match honours in a 3-1 win over Inverness, but if they were a fan of A-League football, or even just looking about for interesting football documentaries on YouTube, they would have known exactly where he came from.
In 2013, Nike Football uploaded a documentary called 'The Chance: Undiscovered'. It tracked the progress of a squad of players who won competitions at regional trials from around the world, and then competed against the academy teams of some of Europe's biggest squads in the hopes of impressing and earning a contract.
Few players that play on the Champions League level as Rogic has done and will do have had a journey as publicly visible as the Australian international.
Nike spotted him at regional trials in Sydney after he somehow struggled to find a club willing to take him on down under, and offered him a spot in their academy along with 20 other players. This academy trains like an official youth side at a major club, with proper professional coaching, and participates in regular matches against the academy teams of some of the worlds biggest sides such as Inter Milan, at events set up to allow scouts a chance to run their eye over some raw undiscovered talent.
And it worked. Reading swooped straight in for Rogic, and offered him a deal after a short trial, but due to work permit complications, he was not allowed to join. This left him heartbroken, as he explained on the documentary:
But Celtic were waiting in the wings, and they were more than happy to welcome Rogic to Glasgow and offer him a chance to prove his worth.
Not only does the rise of Rogic reflect very, very well on Nike and their project as a whole, but it shows just how easy it is for top level caliber players to fall through the cracks. Of course, with Jamie Vardy's exploits at Leicester it feels like that point has been hammered home with every goal he scored over the last two seasons, it still is remarkable to think that even if someone like Rogic has a bad day at one of these trials, that can be it. It's a very fine line, and while you'd like to think that quality will always rise to the top and that if a kid really has it, someone will see the potential, that is not really the case.
But Tom Rogic did. His ability blew away the coaches at the Nike Academy, and it quickly became apparent that he was far too good to have his future in the game up in the air. The interviews painted a picture of a shy and humble kid from Australia who had likely been hammered for not using his lanky frame on the rugby pitch in his home of the incredibly Aussie-sounding town of Tuggeranong, or playing the type of 'footy' that really matters over there. But he loved football, he never gave up, he worked his arse off, and now he's rubbing elbows with Andres Iniesta and Kevin De Bruyne on the biggest stage in European club football when he's not lifting trophies over his head.
And again, you can track his story on YouTube. Here he is talking after being sent back to the A-League on loan, just delighted to be where he was at the time.
It's inspiring, and it continues to inspire the higher he climbs for those of us who had been wishing him well since that documentary aired back in 2013. It also featured Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny (then manager of Shamrock Rovers), waxing lyrical about a 19-year-old South African goalkeeper that featured for Rovers for a short spell.
Nike still run their Academy today, and they are still producing players for clubs all over the world, though few have been success stories on the level of the Celtic man.
We all love to watch these shows, like 'Football's Next Star' or 'Football Icon' or whatever, but we watch them with sort of an acceptance that we'll never hear of the kids again. That's why I wanted to draw attention to Rogic's story.
The end credits provided a 'where are they now' type recap, and Rogic's was clearly the standout, but were he to do one now it would look a hell of a lot better.
He is the equivalent of appearing on 'The Voice' and actually having a long and successful career in music as a world renown recording artist, which is seemingly impossible. And that's what sets the Nike Academy apart from other similar ideas, they actually genuinely try to find these kids a job, as opposed to bashing out a Christmas #1 single and then dumping them into the world of glossy magazines and car-crash TV spots.
The chances of making it to where he is now, from where he was, were low. It is not a road well travelled. It's a credit to his own determination and mindset as well as Celtic's scouting and coaching teams.
You can watch 'The Chance: Undiscovered' below if you'd like to see the documentary in full.
