Is there anything more seductive in sport than youthful brilliance? It was hard to avoid that feeling reading through The Times’s archives this week of the early sightings of some of England’s greatest footballers; a compelling sift through those first glimpses of careers that blossomed spectacularly.
It is not just the initial, thrilling sight of talent but all the promise it carries — all that hope we invest when we see that first rasping shot from Bobby Charlton or burst of electric pace from Michael Owen, or Wayne Rooney’s muscular impudence belying his years.
We love to have been a witness, giving us connection, involvement, possibilities — and yes, newspaper headlines — which is why it can feel hard not to invest immediately in, say,
