The story of Joe Lolley is an extraordinary one. From non-league nobody to Championship prodigy in just eight short months. Following a big money move to Huddersfield Town in January.
Plying his trade in the tenth division of English football, while taking a degree in Sports Coaching at the University of Central Lancashire, Lolley banged in an extraordinary 88 goals in just 83 games for Midland Combination side Littleton. He was beginning to make a name for himself. But did he ever expect to make a career from his ability to find the net?
“Not really, I was just enjoying playing with my friends back home. I just liked playing on a Saturday, and then going out socially with the rest of the team. I got into that habit and I didn’t think anything would really come from it. I’d sort of given up on furthering my career, so to see what’s happened has been strange” he said.
But indeed, in July 2013, Conference side Kidderminster Harriers offered Lolley a trial.
“Somebody called Lee Adams from back home suggested me to Gary Wilde, the assistant manager at Kidderminster. I also played for England universities under Steve Guinan who’s a coach at Kidderminster so it kind of all connected” he said. “They started then coming to a few games, and then they said to come in the summer and have a trial and it went well.”
Went well may be an understatement, Lolley made his debut against Salisbury and scored a hat-trick. Unsurprisingly, then Harriers manager Steve Burr signed Lolley permanently, and he went on to enjoy his time there. He said: “I loved my time at Kidderminster, the fans were brilliant to me and it was probably the best 5 months of football I’ve had.”
He had played 20 games for Kidderminster when the 2014 January transfer window opened, and having scored nine goals in that time, he attracted attention from bigger clubs, namely Peterborough.
“[Peterborough] came in, they sat me down, I spoke with the manager, and they offered a move” he said.
But before he moved, Lolley had one more game to play, an FA Cup third round tie with none other than Peterborough. Lolley scored the winning goal in a 3-2 win, setting up a home fixture with Premier League Sunderland.
Soon afterwards, Championship side Huddersfield tabled an offer. Lolley said: “We had time to think about it and then Huddersfield came in and I just thought Huddersfield was the better move for me. It’s a bigger club, a more professional club in a better division. I thought I’d enhance myself as a player far more here and I just thought it was the right move.”
Without Lolley, Kidderminster were knocked out of the cup, losing 1-0 at the Stadium of Light.
“It was disappointing not to have that chance to play at a Premier League ground, but for my future, I had to move on and it was the right decision” Lolley said.
Lolley made his Huddersfield debut coming off the bench in the 5-1 defeat to local rivals Leeds. Not an ideal start.
“I did quite well personally, it’s hard to take any positives when you’ve just been beaten 5-1 in the derby, but I did alright myself, and there was quite a few Huddersfield travelling fans, so it wasn’t too bad on a personal level” he said.
Lolley has only made three more appearances for the Terriers since then, failing to find the net, and has found himself playing for the under 21 side. So does he regret making the move north, now that he is stuck behind the likes of James Vaughan, Jon Stead and fellow January signing Nahki Wells?
“I know it’s going to be difficult to break into the team. Stepping up the way I have, quite a few divisions, it was always going to be hard to cement my place in the team. I’m hoping this year is more about making an impact from the bench, maybe towards the end of the season I’ll be able to start a few games. And then next pre-season, get more used to the way we play, and what the manager wants from me.
“Hopefully next season I can break in and become a regular fixture in the team” he said.
So how well has Lolley adapted to the whirlwind of life over the last eight months?
He said: “It has been pretty hectic, going from living a uni lifestyle to playing and training every single day and having to become a professional in the way I work, the way I perform. But I’ve really enjoyed it and hopefully I’ll keep rising.”