But after a startling recovery from snapped knee ligaments, 16-year-old Tom has signed a scholarship with Nottingham Forest.
The injury, suffered while on schoolboy terms at the club, was expected to keep him out for a full season and could have seriously jeopardised his chance of a scholarship.

Tom, of Netherton Road, Worksop, said: "I did my ligaments in the first few months and I didn't play at all from October to February."
"It was a career-threatening injury – it forces some players to retire."
Tom's dad Jason said: "They told him that he wouldn't play for the rest of the season, but he got his head down with his rehabilitation and came back early."

Not only did he make an early comeback, but he also scored two goals in a trial game in his first appearance against Grimsby. He then scored the only goal in a win against Sheffield Wednesday – the club he had left as a 10-year-old.

Jason said: "At Wednesday, when he was about 10, he scored the winning goal against Manchester United's academy, then came off and said he didn't want to play any more."
"We were dumbfounded the way he just came out with it."
Tom moved on to play for his home club Worksop Town.

"It was his own choice to leave so he could enjoy his football playing with his mates, " added Jason. "It has all paid off in the end."
Despite the injury sustained as a schoolboy at Forest, Tom still managed to bag 22 goals in just 20 outings and is confident he can now take this form on with the club.

He said: "If you put the ball in the box for me I'll score. I'm pacy and look to get in behind the backline."
"I look up to Wayne Rooney for his attitude on the pitch and how he gives 100 per cent in every game. He really gets stuck in and I think I'm a similar type of player."

He is no stranger to success, enjoying several fruitful years with the Worksop youth set-up and winning the English School's Trophy with Bassetlaw Boys, scoring two decisive goals in the final.
"Blackburn Rovers saw me play in the national schoolboy final when I came off the bench to score two goals when we were 2-1 down," said Tom.
"There was an option to move there but I wanted to stick with Forest."

His youth team manager at Worksop, Paul Cavell, who is now academy coach at Sheffield United, said he had expected Tom to find success.
He said: "You could always see the potential that he had to offer. It was a question of whether a coach could develop him into an all-round footballer."

"He was like a George Best sort of player – he always kept the ball to himself. But that wasn't a problem because he scored plenty of goals and as a winger his assists were good."
"I knew there was something special there."

Now Tom is aiming to make the most of the chance he's been given.
"I've always wanted to be a professional footballer. I have never thought of doing anything else," he said.
"The plan is to get my head down in the youth team and score as many goals as I can. Hopefully I can break into the reserves and then, by next season, I can start looking up."