Barrow’s Josh Gordon has been shortlisted for the Sky Bet EFL Goal of the Month Award for September.
It was a remarkable effort by Stoke-born Gordon who will be 27 on Sunday and had basketball as his other sport until deciding to concentrate on football as a teenager.
His goal was the winner in a 2-1 home win over Newport and the superbly taken 20-yarder was a clear winner of Barrow’s own goal of the month competition in September.
Port Vale’s David Worrall and Salford City’s Matt Lund are Gordon’s opposition for the Sky Bet EFL Award for League Two – voting is open now on Twitter and fans have until October 15 to back the Bluebirds man.
Gordon is one of those players who has come up through non-league roots after being released by his hometown professional club Stoke City at 16 years of age. He had joined the Potters as an eight-year-old.
Then followed a steep learning curve with Newcastle Town, Rhyland Stafford Rangers before Leicester City took a punt on him in 2017.
That didn’t work out but on his release, he joined Walsall and finally, his league career blossomed with 107 appearances in three seasons and 21 goals.
It was after rejecting a new contract with the Saddlers that he joined Barrow and so far has netted twice in ten outings.
One bonus for Gordon is that when his pro career didn’t work out initially he studied for a university degree while playing non-league, earning a BA (Hons) in sports development and coaching from Staffordshire University.
About his goal contender, Gordon said: “I saw a little gap and took the ball forward and then let it go. I think I have the ability to hit them from there and I need to shoot a bit more when I can.”