Andros Townsend was named in yet another England squad on Thursday ahead of the national team’s friendly against Denmark at Wembley this week. Regardless of a recent injury setback Townsend is in pole position to make the plane to Brazil this summer. His rise to prominence came back in 2013, where a seemingly quaint loan move ended up benefiting four parties.
The 22-year-old has been at north London club Tottenham Hotspur since the age of eight, rising through the youth academy before making his first team debut in a FA Cup tie against Charlton Athletic back in 2011. Before that Man Of The Match display the pacy right-winger represented four different lower league clubs on loan and went onto play for another four afterwards. The loan system is theoretically in place to give promising young talent a time to shine and gain experience by playing first team football.
Despite the fact he was gaining that much needed experience he was not getting a look at Spurs, something he says was not worried about "The only way that’s [Playing for Spurs] going to happen is if people see you playing. That’s what I did. Every opportunity I had I went out on loan. I put my skills to the test in League One, the Championship, then finally the Premier League. That’s what you have to do. You have to go out there and prove it. It makes you.”
The club where he really made his name was Queens Park Rangers. The R’s were partaking in their second successive season in the Premier League and were struggling to get off the foot of the table due to the ominous position former manager Mark Hughes had left them in at the start of the campaign. One Rangers fan was captured on camera holding up a sign entailing “Come and save us Harry” after a defeat to Southampton. His prayers were answered and the Loftus Road faithful got their man, Harry Redknapp. This was the first time the manager, who was widely tipped for the England job, had taken charge of a club after being sacked from Spurs just a few months earlier.
Inheriting a squad built by his predecessors Neil Warnock and Mark Hughes, the then 65-year-old decided to bring in his own employees which included big money moves for Loic Remy and Christopher Samba along with former player Jermaine Jenas. It was the loan of Andros Townsend, however, that stole the show. Making 12 appearances, he drove his recently adopted team forward with the pace and flare they were drastically lacking before he arrived. Playing an instrumental part in QPR’s 3-1 win over Sunderland, Townsend setup Remy for the opener before he struck a beautifully weighted dipping volley into the bottom left hand corner of Simon Mignolet net. The large contribution on the pitch which was only temporary bliss, gave fans something fond to remember about that disastrous season which saw them relegated with Reading and Wigan.
Coming back to Spurs that summer, Townsend must have realised he had the chance to become the new star man at the club after Gareth Bale was sold to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee. Grasping that opportunity with both hands, Andros has played 14 out of 16 games at the start of the 2013/14 season before obtaining a serious hamstring injury which saw the on-form winger on the sidelines for two months. Expensive summer signing Erik Lamela may have dislodged Townsend from the starting lineup but not only has he failed to impress during his tenure at White Hart Lane, the Italian unfortunately sustained an injury which coincided with the former England youth international’s. Formerly of Roma, Lamela is now having to look his colleague start in the side once again and was in attendance for Townsend’s first Premier League start since the injury against Cardiff on Sunday.
The Premier League experience gained from that loan move to QPR has seemed to have benefited Spurs the most as they now have a lethal attacking threat to add depth to their multimillion pound squad. With the club aiming to break into that top four once again they will need Andros fully fit until May to gift the unstoppable Emmanuel Adebayor with more goalscoring opportunities. Townsend has created 23 chances for his team-mates in just 18 league starts and although he may not have had anyone clinical enough to finish them off at the start of the season, Adebayor has proven he can convert even the most difficult of chances in his lengthy career.
As stated earlier he’s spent his entire career on Tottenham's books and will be looking to follow in the footsteps of captain Michael Dawson who epitomizes the phrase ‘one club man’. Filled with so much potential, Daniel Levy will be hoping more than anyone that they can retain the services of this star unlike others before him.
The third party to reap the rewards of Andre Villa-Boas’ decision to send Townsend out on loan is England. Already putting on the famous white shirt at youth level, Townsend made his debut for the Three Lions in the vital World Cup Qualifier against Montenegro at Wembley. For such a strong amount of pressure thrust upon a young man’s shoulders Townsend shon and scored a simply sublime goal from outside of the box to mark his debut with a goal. He has subsequently gone on to make another four appearances under Roy Hodgson and could go on to earn his fifth and sixth caps before the tournament even begins.
With Theo Walcott missing out on the trip to Brazil through an injury, some Spurs fans seeing that as karma for his taunting of them after the 2-0 defeat at The Emirates, the England manager will see Andros as an indispensable member of his squad. The only other threats are Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner. The former is a raw talent that’s almost untested at international level, but is performing well for his club side this season. The latter is a favorite of Hodgson’s and the former Fulham boss took him to the European Championships two years ago and has put in a number of good performances for his country. ‘The Ox’ has been in and out of Arsenal’s starting 11 this season mainly due to an injury which saw him miss a remarkable first-half of the season for Wenger’s side. All of these factor could swing in Townsend’s favour if he wants to make the final cut.
The fourth beneficiary of the move is of course Townsend. He has done himself and those around him proud courtesy of some fine, hard working and dazzling displays which has seen his stock rise and rise. You could say it was the likes of Watford and Yeovil who made him the player he is today by taking him on loan at a time when he was almost unheard of by the rest of footballing world. Time spent at those clubs game him the platform to get better and actually give him the opportunity to obtain that infamous loan to QPR. That is what many will see as the turning point in this young man’s career so he shouldn't forget that if he goes onto future stardom. With a new Tottenham manager and the World Cup approaching stardom could indeed be imminent.