Ollie Watkins: The rise of Aston Villa's international superstar

If you had have asked Ollie Watkins ten years ago, whilst he was on-loan at Weston-Super-Mare, if he could imagine in 2024 he would be scoring a winning goal for England in the knock out stages of a major tournament, he would probably say "absolutely!". However, in reality even he would have admitted that was unlikely. Ollie Watkins' rise to the top has not been a straightforward one and there have been highs and lows along the way that have moulded him into one of the best strikers in Europe.

The look on his face as he sprinted towards the England dugout, as you can see in the video below, in celebration after an out-of-this-world finish to send England through to a major tournament final was a picture of realisation. The strike was that of a forward that has worked tirelessly to improve his game, day after day, since his career began at Exeter City. That career, to date, has included a loan move to Weston-Super-Mare in the sixth tier of English football, a move up the EFL to Brentford before heading to Premier League Aston Villa in 2020.

Prior to the start of this summer's European Championships Ollie Watkins had completed his most successful club season so far. Watkins finished the season with 27 goals and 13 assists across all competitions and was an instrumental figure in Aston Villa's qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League. As a club, that is the first time Villa have achieved that in over forty years. Watkins was just the ninth English player in history to have more than 30 goal involvements in a single Premier League campaign. His form was incredible and he was simply waiting for his opportunity to shine at Euro 2024.

Since signing for Aston Villa in September 2020, Watkins has 86 goal contributions which is only bettered by Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min and Mo Salah who are rightly considered Premier League legends. Should the 28-year-old's remarkable form in the last couple of seasons continue well into his thirties then he will end up being held in the high regard of those other names mentioned.

As already touched upon though, Watkins' journey didn't start in a Premier League academy with a quick rise into the first team of a well-established and successful Prem team. It started at a much lower level and we are going to dig into that to gain a true understanding of his meteoritic rise to the international stage.

Watkins route into professional football began by joining the Exeter City academy at the age of 10 and this was after previously failing a trial the year prior. An early example of his drive to succeed and prove people wrong. Having risen through the ranks as a junior he scored an impressive 30 goals for the Under-18's in 2013-14 season where his team won the South-West conference. Off the back of that success, Watkins signed a two-year professional contract with the club.

Despite making the matchday squad most weekends in the first half of the 2014-15 season, he made just three appearances off the bench and it was decided that a loan spell was in the best interests of both Watkins and Exeter. That loan spell was to Weston-Super-Mare so Watkins made the 56.7 mile journey down the M5 to his new home in December 2014. He would be at the club for the remainder of the season.

At the age of 19, to be chucked into a non-league team that were fighting relegation is not easy for any player. As a striker in particular, the pressure to score goals for a young kid with just one goal in professional football to his name was a huge weight on his shoulders.

Speaking to Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, Watkins' Weston teammate Tom Jordan had this to say about Watkins' time at the club:

""When he first came he didn't have the presence he has now. We were losing more than we were winning but we tried to play good football, so he suited us because he had good technical attributes. He was doing his best to make bad balls good and he was learning the other side of the game of chasing things down and battling again bigger, more seasoned men. He didn't have it easy.""

Watkins had a good loan spell however and started to show what he was made of. The chasing down of lost causes, the strength to outmuscle opposing centre-halves and the instinctive finishing was beginning to shine through, the qualities he displays regularly today. He went on to score 10 goals in his 24 appearances for Weston and helped the club to survive relegation, fairly comfortably in the end.

His attitude as a player is one that has always been praised by his coaches and teammates at every level he has played and that is no different to his time at Weston. Jordan, again speaking to Jacob Tanswell of The Athletic, said:

""When lads are loaned to you from Football League clubs they often turn up and think, I'm better than this. But he trained wanting to get something out of each session. He had a good attitude to the mixed service he was getting and didn't show any negativity.""

Following his impressive spell with The Seagulls, Watkins headed back to Exeter City and it took a while for him to make his breakthrough for the first team. Having not made the squad for the first three months of the 2015-16 season, Watkins finally made his full debut in Exeter's League 2 victory over Plymouth Argyle in late November. This initial breakthrough into the team started to result in more regular minutes but it wasn't until March that Exeter fans got to see what Watkins was all about.

The final 13 games of the League 2 season saw Watkins start 12 of them and score 8 goals in the process. Watkins went down as a local hero after scoring a brace in the teams 2-1 victory, once more, over local rivals Plymouth Argyle. The second of those goals was voted as the clubs Goal of the Season. As a result of this breakthrough and impressive form the following season saw Watkins start the 2016-17 season as a confident and well-established member of the starting XI.

That season saw Watkins start to mould into the forward Villa fans watch every week. The ability to press high up the pitch, create space for others with his dynamic movement and finish off chances that come his way were all becoming a regular part of his game. Watkins scored 13 goals, including his first professional hattrick in a 4-1 win against Newport County, and produced 10 assists to help guide the club to a fifth placed finish to qualify for the League 2 play-offs. After a 3-3 draw in the semi-final first leg against Carlisle United, Watkins was the hero as his brace in the second leg gave Exeter a 3-2 win (6-5 on aggregate). Sadly for Watkins and Exeter though the club would go on to lose the play-off final at Wembley. A 2-1 defeat to Blackpool brought an end to Watkins' time at the club. He picked up the EFL Young Player of the Year award for a brilliant season and earned himself a move to Championship club Brentford.

After signing for Brentford, boss Dean Smith said:

""Ollie is a player with an awful lot of potential. He showed last season what great talent he has and he has developed into a goal scorer. There is more development to come and we believe we can bring that out of him.""

His first Championship season saw him start all-but-one of Brentford's 46 Championship games. Watkins bagged 10 goals in his first season at the club as Brentford finished 10th. The 2018-19 season saw Watkins produce similar numbers with 10 goals and 8 assists in the league. However, Watkins was spending the majority of his time on the wing with Neal Maupay preferred in the central forward position. Maupay did score 25 goals that season and a number of them were created by Watkins' play on the wings. After the club failed to gain promotion it was obvious that Watkins was starting to reach a level that was beyond that of the Championship. However, he signed a contract extension in the summer of 2019 to commit his future to the club.

The 2018-19 season saw Watkins all-round game and numbers hit new heights. Neal Maupay earned himself a move to Premier League Brighton following his excellent campaign and so Watkins was trusted to lead the line for Dean Smith's side. His faith paid off. Watkins scored 25 goals and steered Brentford to the Championship play-off final. Thomas Frank, who took over as Head Coach following Smith's appointment by Aston Villa in October 2019, heaped praise on Watkins by saying this after their 3-1 win over QPR in which he scored twice:

""I can only praise him for his work ethic – look how hard he works throughout the game. That's a big thing for us. We were pressing high constantly in the second half – chasing everything and keep on pushing up. His focus is on developing and wanting to get better.""

That ability to chase lost causes and press high up the pitch all started during his development at Weston-Super-Mare all those years ago and what has made him such a brilliant impact substitution for England at this European Championships. In contrast to Harry Kane, Watkins puts defenders under pressure and gets his team up the pitch to play more attacking football. A trait that was developed in the sixth tier of English football and is now the weapon that has got England into a major final.

Three years on from his play-off final heartbreak for Exeter, Watkins suffered a similar fate as Brentford lost to Fulham at Wembley to miss out on promotion to the Premier League. However, after such a good season surely someone would ensure Watkins would play in the top flight next season. And so his former manager, Dean Smith, signed him for Aston Villa in September 2020.

As they say, the rest is history. Watkins development through the lower leagues and in his four years at Villa has seen him become one of the top strikers in not just the league, but in Europe. Last season saw Watkins pick up the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award for most assists to go along with his 19 league goals. Watkins' goals helped Villa to reach a European semi-final and to finish in the top four and qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League. Watkins will next season become Aston Villa's all-time top scorer if he manages to score 17 to overtake Gabriel Agbonlahor's tally of 86.

When you think of all the attributes that make an elite centre forward, what would you think of? Pressing, aerial ability, movement off the ball, connecting with the midfield and most importantly scoring a lot of goals. Watkins has all these skills in abundance and should go on to cement his place as one of the Premier League's all-time top forwards over the next few years.

"“From my perspective, the media underestimated me. I had a really good year, got the most assists in the league, scored a lot of goals and people still wrestled including me in their squads to come to the Euros.""

- Ollie Watkins

Watkins is of course known for his ability on the pitch, but as the quote above suggests he is still underrated by many. He will continue to prove people wrong but will also remain a humble and hard working individual. Danny Butterfield, former mentor of Watkins at Exeter City, had this to say following Ollie's recent success on the international stage and is a fitting way to end this tribute to Villa's main man:

""I'm massively proud. The biggest compliment I can give Ollie is he is one of the most kind, honest and hard-working players I've played with. He deserved everything he gets.""

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