Anthony Gordon's path from skinny Liverpool schoolboy to England star

Anthony Gordon's path from skinny schoolboy to England star

When a teenage Anthony Gordon burst onto the scene as a Liverpool schoolboy he was "untouchable" on the football pitch.

Teachers and coaches at his former schools recalled shouting at other boys to simply "give it to Gordo" - and let the skinny but lightening-quick prodigy do the rest.

Now the 25-year-old Barcelona winger is not only living his dream at the highest level - including stand-out performances at the World Cup for the three Lions - but inspiring the kids kicking a ball about on the same pitches he once did.

Matty Deeney, head of school at Wade Deacon High School in Widnes, where Gordon attended from Year 10, said: "It's such an inspiration for children that come to our school and Widnes, little old Widnes, that we've got a World Cup quarter-finalist.

"Whether the interest is sport or whatever it is, just to see what you can achieve with hard work and ambition."

Gordon was born in Norris Green, Liverpool, before moving to Walton where he initially attended Alsop High School.

Despite an early knock-back when he was released by Liverpool FC, he was picked up by Everton FC's academy, where a pre-existing partnership between the club and Wade Deacon saw him transfer for the start of Year 10.

Since breaking into the senior side he has racked up more than 200 appearances for Everton and Newcastle, as well as 23 senior caps for England since 2024.

Former head of PE at Alsop, Jon Weights, said the boy who went by "Gordo" was untouchable on the pitch - scoring "bags and bags of goals".

"With Gordo, though, the thing that made him really stand out was his drive, his mindset.

"He wasn't the biggest, he was very quick but there were boys as quick as him. But that never really deterred him, it always drove him on," he said.

"He had an inner drive that I suppose in hindsight, I probably didn't appreciate at the time."

Weights, who also coached the teenager at Liverpool Schools Football Association, said Gordon's complete focus on football sometimes came at the expense of his other studies.

He joked: "It was interesting watching him with his recent move to Barcelona and he came out speaking Spanish, because I'd spoken to a couple of his Spanish teachers, and he certainly didn't concentrate on Spanish in school at the time.

"Like most of us it was all about the football, everything was about football."

Fellow Alsop PE teacher Steven Griffin, who managed the school's football team, said Gordon was a "lively boy" who was determined to make it in the sport.

"He sort of channelled all of his efforts into making that happen, as opposed to going down the academic route," Griffin said.

He described Gordon scoring seven or eight goals in single games "as if it was nothing".

But Griffin said he is most proud of the way Gordon always "chose the right path".

"We live in and we work in a challenging area," he said.

"Social deprivation is rife around the area.

"Many other possible footballers who could have made it from Liverpool, they haven't chosen the correct path.

"For him to do so, that speaks a testament to everybody around him."

Mike Dickinson, who has since retired, was head of education and welfare for Everton at the time, but spent much of his time at Wade Deacon and first met Gordon as a 13-year-old.

He said the young Gordon was technically excellent and despite his small stature "you could see there was plenty there".

Dickinson pointed to Gordon's single-mindedness as one of the early signs that he would not only make it as a player, but make it to the very top.

"He was a little bit resistant on occasions to people wanting to sort of push him this way or that way over stuff," Dickinson said.

"He knew his own mind, and he knew his own game, but again, as he got a little bit older, another saying that we used to use a lot is 'the penny drops for most of these young people'.

"The penny dropped for Anthony probably around about 15 years of age."

Dickinson said he began to notice Gordon realising what he needed to do and to sacrifice, to make it to the top, with the support of his family

"His mum was a huge part, Nadine, in his development," he said.

"She supported us, supported Anthony, and it was plain to see.

"She would be there whenever progress evenings, watching him play, I think she came abroad once or twice when we went to tournaments."

Deeney, who was Gordon's head of year when he came to Wade Deacon, said: "He had to come here, and they were very, very long days," he said.

"He attended early in the morning, he would leave in the afternoon to take part in the club programme training and then would spend the night with our staff as well at Finch Farm at the training ground."

"Not all kids are meant to sit behind a desk and PE makes kids that like sport feel like they can be themselves."

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