It's bedsit to Brazil for rising England star Andros Townsend
Spurs winger had a stunning introduction to international level, but he did the hard yards in his path to the top, including nine loan spells
Rising England star Andros Townsend need only recall the days of eating furtively prepared pasta dinners in a spartan hotel room to appreciate the position he is in today.
After a stunning introduction to international soccer, the Tottenham Hotspur winger has his sights set on next year's World Cup in Brazil, but his path to the top has been unique in its circuitousness.
Aged 17, he joined third-tier Yeovil Town for the first of nine loan spells that would include stints at Leyton Orient, Milton Keynes Dons, Ipswich Town, Watford, Millwall, Leeds United, Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers.
In Yeovil, an unglamorous market town in southwest England, Townsend and hotel roommate Jonathan Obika - another Spurs loanee - smuggled in an electric stove in order to maintain a healthy diet.
We took an electric stove and we used to take turns to cook for each other, and clean for each other. It was a humble beginning
"We went so young," recalls Townsend, who is expected to start in England's friendly against Germany tomorrow. "We were so young, naive and professional. We wanted to do everything right and make our loan successful.