Stockport keeper Owain Fon Williams tells Chris Burton how he has gone about chasing his dreams.
As part of skysports.com's League One Spotlight, Chris Burton catches up with highly-rated Stockport keeper Owain Fon Williams.
In order to reach the top, you more often than not have to work your way up from the bottom.
Starting this ascent can be tricky, with a methodical approach required in order to map out a route before the first tentative steps can be taken.
For example, you wouldn't just stroll up to Mount Everest and start lugging yourself up a sheer rock face, you would spend hours mulling over the best way in which to tackle the challenge which lay ahead.
Throwing yourself headfirst into the unknown is a tactic best avoided at all times, as crushing disappointment is the most logical outcome.
There is much to be said for taking your time, not getting too far ahead of yourself and ensuring that each step up the proverbial mountain is planted solidly before contemplating the next.
Occasionally, it may even be necessary to take a few strides backwards, or sideways, in order to enable you to successfully negotiate barriers which cross your path.
There is no harm in taking the scenic route, provided you keep your eyes firmly locked on the summit.
It may take longer for the ultimate goal to be reached, but getting there in one piece is the most important thing.
It is precisely that kind of approach which makes men out of boys, heroes out of mere mortals and superstars out of potential world beaters.
Remember, no-one is going to hand you anything on a plate, if you want something you have got to go and grab it with both hands.
That is the thought process which flashed through the mind of Welsh starlet Owain Fon Williams in the summer of 2008 as he found himself stuck in a rut at Crewe Alexandra.
Despite having established a burgeoning reputation with the Wales U21 side, the highly-rated keeper was finding first-team opportunities impossible to come by at Gresty Road.
At 21 years old he could have been forgiven for biting his lip, accepting the hand he had been dealt and deciding to bide his time until an opportunity came along.
However, ambition burnt bright inside the youngster and he decided to take matters into his own hands.
He hopes his footballing destiny will one day take him to the very top of the game, but in order to get there he accepted that he needed to make a few difficult decisions.
The first of those came when he chose to pack his bags at Crewe and try his luck down the road at Stockport.
That call could have gone one of two ways but, as
skysports.com's Chris Burton recently discovered, Fon Williams appears to have mapped out his course up the Football League pyramid just about right.
"I had seen it so often happening to young lads where they hang about and try to keep fit and try to hang onto a club. I didn't want to do that," he said on his time with the Railwaymen.
"The only games I was playing at the time were with the Wales U21s. Luckily enough we were doing quite well as a group and we went quite far.
"I was lucky I was playing for Wales. If it wasn't for those games I don't know what would have happened. I would have been stuck because at that time I wasn't playing any reserve games either. So playing for the U21s was a big, big part of getting me out of Crewe."
He added: "It was very difficult at the time though. I was there for about five years. I broke my leg in my second or third year there and I was out for a year. I broke it playing against Manchester City in an U18 academy game.
"After that I got back, got my pro contract, but I didn't feel it was the right place to be as a goalkeeper at that time. I thought I had to look elsewhere for a game and to kick-start my career.
"It was difficult for me. They offered me a contract to stay, but I couldn't stay there with everything that had gone on. I felt the best thing for me to do was to get out of the place and try to find somewhere to start again."
That somewhere proved to be Edgeley Park, with former Stockport boss Jim Gannon only too happy to snap up Fon Williams' undoubted potential.
A successful debut campaign with the Hatters quickly saw the talented shot-stopper become a first-team regular, and he admits things could not have really gone much better for him.
He said: "It was a good first season. I managed to get my professional career going after a difficult spell with Crewe. And again this season has started quite well, so hopefully I can continue playing as many games as I can.
"It was quite easy for me to settle in because the average age of the squad was something like 21 or 22. All of the lads were fairly young, so having a young group it was very easy to settle.
"We all had the same mentality and knew exactly what we wanted. It's good, because after training we can go away from training together or go and do something because the squad is so young."
The only blip in the perfect start came in April 2009 when Stockport were placed into administration.
Suddenly the very existence of the club was thrown into doubt, and Fon Williams admits there were a few twitchy moments for all concerned.
"It was quite tough for everyone, with everything that went on," he said.
"I remember going in for the awards night and I was presented with the Player of the Season award by the manager and the following day I got told he had been sacked, which was a bit strange.
"Then we went into administration and we weren't sure which way the club was going to go, whether it was going to go into liquidation or whether someone was going to come in and buy the club and keep them going.
"We are still in administration, but we have got a very good manager with us now and very good coaching staff. Gary Ablett has come in and been like a breath of fresh air compared to what had gone on during the close-season.
"All the lads were sitting by their phones waiting for a call to tell them good news, but no-one was sure what was going on.
"When Gary Ablett was announced as manager and we met him for the first time we knew exactly which way he wanted to go and it's been fantastic what he has done so far, on and off the pitch."
To help counter the troubled times at Stockport, Fon Williams was able to comfort himself in the knowledge that he was now a member of the senior Wales squad - having received his first call-up in February 2009.
The 22-year-old admits his selection by John Toshack topped an idyllic period in his blossoming career, with everything he touched seemingly turning to gold.
"To be fair, I have had everything I have dreamt of over the last 12 months," he said coyly.
"I have been a bit unlucky with injuries at times, but apart from that it's been great.
"I'm at a great club, I have played games and I have been included in the Welsh team, which is always a bonus. That's nice to be part of that."
The next challenge for Fon Williams is to start moving up the League ladder, as he will soon outgrow his current home in League One.
There was rumoured interest from the Premier League and the Championship during the January transfer window, while that speculation resurfaced over the summer as Stockport's situation became increasingly unstable.
Such a switch failed to materialise, but Fon Williams admits he harbours ambitions of one day working his way to the top of the tree.
"It's always nice to hear about these things," he said.
"I tend to just play my football and get on with it. I'm happy to just be playing football and training hard. But the bonus is obviously getting your name in the paper or on
Sky Sports.
"Being linked with clubs is very nice. My ambition is to play at the highest level and hopefully that will be the Premier League. That would be very nice. So if I manage to progress and play at that level, it would be a dream come true."
If past experiences are anything to go by it would be foolish to bet against Fon Williams realising those dreams in the not too distant future.
