He was one of the most consistent performers in the Portsmouth side fighting for second consecutive increase, but Jamal Lowe, he could have been so different.
Swept up on a raft of loan moves from the parent to the Barnet club, non-League clubs, with rare success, he was in HAMPTON and Richmond, where he first caught the eye of scouts in the professional game.
Barely in his 20s, the harrow-born striker scored 29 goals in 48 games, and the Beavers not only promotion, but also established itself in the southern conference.
It was just reward for the energetic youngster, who quietly took his chance, but one that in other circumstances might not have any symptoms.
“Before I eventually signed the Hamptons, no one wanted me,” He tells sky sports. “My wife, my mom and dad, no, because at this stage of my career has looked like it was going in a downward spiral.
“I had to take another step down and at that time everyone thought it was a bit too much. HAMPTON were in the Isthmian Premier, but I could go to welling in the conference. They finished what was left in that season, but I went to the Hamptons in the end and it was probably one of the best decisions I ever made.”
Lowe is from rags to riches: a success story part starry-eyed young people can only dream of, such is the nature of the football industry, but, in fact, from humble beginnings, where the wheels were set in motion.
‘Love’ reads Lowe’s Twitter bio, the motto is confirmed as his career gained progress; he was in an unusual situation when he was still to pay for the luxury wrapped for the Barnet youth team until first team debut in August 2012 at the age of 18 years.
He continues: “when I was 17, I enrolled in a program of College, where you paid £200 terms and worked in the shadow of the youth team at Barnet. I was doing well there, scoring a hat-trick almost every week and youth-team Manager said, ‘why don’t you come and train with us?’
“I started playing for the youth team, then I was offered a scholarship quite early, but I still had to finish my year in College scheme, so I played in the first team when I was still on the course, which was a little insane.”
In 2012 at the age of 20 years, Lowe left the bees to sign for conference South side St Albans and after 14 games and one goal went to former loan employers Hemel Hempstead.
Something of a non-League journeyman at the ripe old age of 22, becoming of no less than 10 clubs below the football League, Lowe became a full-time physical education teacher and recognizes that he was in a better financial position, playing in the League, with his football commitments in the periphery.
Thousands of promising professions, of course, was interrupted in this manner for many years, with the professional game seemingly unattainable milestone, a 23-year-old admits that he felt there were times he could throw it throughout their life ambitions.
“There were times when I was in a non-League side not to play, but I knew in my head that I was better than some of the front players,” he added. “It depends on how the Manager wants to play you, but there are a lot of factors, such as the Manager loves you if you show the right attitude and the like.
“There’s absolutely been cases where I thought, ‘maybe I’m not going to do it, maybe I’m not cut out for this. but when you have to dig and stay with him.”
Then came the long-awaited upturn in fortunes. He left Hemel with identical parameters to that in his time in neighbouring St Albans to connect with HAMPTON under the direction of Alan Dawson.
Playing for a close friend Nicke Kabamba on the Beveree stadium, the goals flowed. In 2016/17 the pair scored 38 goals in all competitions, and the nature of their attacking combination failed to go unnoticed.
“The first time I was aware of her interests Portsmouth], when they [the scouts] came down to game HAMPTON and were right in the front row,” recalls Lowe. “As you can imagine in the HAMPTON game, not many people there so you can see two people in the big blue Portsmouth costumes!
“It was the first time I knew they were there, and I thought, ‘I’ve done that recently, I hope they are here to see me. It turned out, they were.
“There were several clubs that were interested or offer contracts, but Portsmouth is the largest of all. Was leading the conference and other League two clubs, but when you get the opportunity to play for a club like Portsmouth, regardless of any other situation, you should take it.”
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In October 2016, Lowe’s agreed 18-month contract with a January move to fratton Park four days after he made his debut in a 2-1 victory over the “Leyton Orient”, a former teammate Kabamba joined him on the South coast.
The coals from the fairy tale seems to be flickering out for the last, gave only six appearances for the first team before being farmed out to Colchester and Aldershot on loan Pompey boss Kenny Jackett, but it is quite a contrast to Lowe, who hopes to repeat the steps Jamie Vardy et al to the top.
“Of course, you look at them as inspiration. Everyone wants to play in the Premier League, everyone wants to play as high as they can so that You can’t help but look at them and to be inspired,” he said.
“You can see that they were able to do this at later stages in their careers than I, and they were much older when they finally broke through. All the players in the Premier League, really, what you’re looking for, but when you see someone who came from the same type of background, it is good to see.”
Objectives may have since decreased in frequency, allowing Lowe to focus on other aspects of his game, most of which is spent on the flank, but his talent continues to blossom; he put on two assists Brett Pitman double clean last Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Oxford.
With the new agreement signed in January – what he describes as ‘the best feeling’ – two years is provided in Hampshire. But after scoring in a 6-1 win over Cheltenham that Pompey won champion’s title in the past, perhaps if he believed in the prospect of a third promotion in three seasons for the cards?
“I don’t think we’re far,” he adds. “I think we have the quality to do it, we know what to do and what is required from us. We have a young team, but it also means that we have a hungry, enthusiastic team – we’ll get close as we can.
“But whatever happened, it was probably the best season of my career to date. This is the highest level that I ever played and most consecutive games I’ve played in my career, so that’s a big achievement for me that I was able to keep his place.
“I just didn’t think I would play every week in the conference South to play every week in League one, so I’m just surprised and happy that all this happened.”
Don’t miss the sky bet League one clash between Portsmouth and Wigan on Easter Monday, live on Sky Sports and the main event from 5.15 PM.
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