It may look like a rapid rise for James Belshaw, a goalkeeper who made his EFL debut aged 29 and in the space of three years has earned a promotion and hero status with Bristol Rovers, but the reality is years of hard graft in "the depths".
The 32-year-old returned to England in 2013 after three years at Duke University in North Carolina, spending time with Nuneaton Borough and Tamworth before a long spell at Harrogate Town, where he won promotion from the National League North and the National League – with an FA Trophy win at Wembley to boot – to realise his dreams of playing in the Football League.
Almost 18 months on from his departure from Wetherby Road, manager Simon Weaver's decision to let him leave is all the more mystifying – not that Rovers care one iota. Belshaw has been a revelation for Joey Barton's Gas, deservedly winning the player of the year award after a stellar debut campaign in BS7 in which he was a pivotal piece in the promotion puzzle.
So it was perfect timing that his best performance of the season so far came in front of the Sky Sports cameras in the 1-1 draw at Hillsborough with Sheffield Wednesday. This is a player who craved an opportunity at this level and he is certainly making the most of it.
For Belshaw, Rovers is the complete package. He believes in the direction of the club and he enjoys a rare connection with the fanbase, and he believes his journey with the Gas is just getting started.
"I love playing for this football club and I think everyone can see that," he said. "I have worked very hard to get to where I am and I made by Football League debut just before I turned 30, so it’s been a career spent in the depths, and no disrespect to the Chorleys and Bradford Park Avenues of the world, but to have the opportunity to play in front of the Gasheads.
"Saturday at the Mem (against Plymouth Argyle) was the best atmosphere and 3,000 away this Saturday (at Derby County) is a Premier League following, and fair play on Wednesday. A cost of living crisis, the game is on Sky but people travelled up and made themselves heard. Saturday is going to be some atmosphere in that place so I’m looking forward to that one."
Arriving as a professional relatively late compared to most players, has the novelty worn off for Belshaw? He replied: "I think it’s normal because I always believed, given the opportunity, that I always could perform at places like that. I think my Mum still can’t believe it and she texted me before the game; she worries a bit more.
"I’ve got here on merit, I’ve had to work hard to get my opportunity at Rovers and I love playing for the club and I think I’m going to be here for a long time."
Rovers can be happy with 14th place in the League One table after 16 games, but it actually had been a pretty luckless sophomore campaign for Belshaw until Wednesday night. Time and again, he has found himself powerless, be it from unfortunate deflections or the sheer skill of the opposition.
At Hillsborough, there was a different tale. The tale of the game gave Belshaw the chance to be the hero and he snatched it. There were several top-class saves to deny the Owls, but the most important came from efforts by Michael Smith and Lee Gregory.
Gregory's came first, 10 minutes after half time with the Gas a goal down and chasing the game. The veteran striker was well placed to score but Belshaw kept him out at the near post and within five minutes his team were on level terms thanks to Josh Coburn's classy finish.
Drawing to a newly-promoted team on the home patch is perceived as a poor result for Championship-chasing Sheffield Wednesday, and they pushed Rovers hard in the final 10 minutes of normal time but Belshaw thwarted their best effort with an acrobatic fingertip from Smith's header in the final minute of the 90.
His teammates have done the business in recent weeks, with Rovers riding an eight-game unbeaten run, and Belshaw was happy to play his part on Wednesday, rightly scooping the sponsor's man of the match award with a nice trophy for the mantelpiece.
Especially in the 89th minute, as a keeper you live for moments like that when you can pull off saves to get your team a result," Belshaw said. "It’s pleasing to play my part, but it wasn’t just me, it was a solid performance from the 10 lads in front of me and the lads who came off the bench.
"We more than held our own against one of the bigger teams in the league and it shows the progress we are making. Now, we’re going to keep kicking on.
"We’ve got another big game on Saturday and they keep coming thick and fast but the confidence is flowing through the group at the minute.
"We’re not getting ahead of ourselves because we understand the size of the club in the division and we’re newly promoted, but we’re building something here, something special, and it’s a good group of lads to be part of.
"Momentum is a massive thing in football and we’re going into games believing we can win and it sets us up nicely going into Saturday.
"We want to win every game but we’re also realistic. We’re going to Pride Park with nothing to fear. We will look at them and respect them, but we will give them the same amount of respect that we would with anyone in this division.
"The gaffer said before the game that we are in these games on merit, it’s not a cup tie or been drawn out of a hat. We’re here mixing it with big clubs."
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