One of the most prolific goalscorers in Non-League, Cheek spent nine years in the National League. He notched up just over 150 league goals in that time, winning the golden boot in 2020-21 with 21 goals for Bromley Yet a move into the EFL. never came about and he had to win promotion with the Ravens at the age of 32 to make his dream come true.
"I feel frustrating is the word," he told The FLP. "I'm not sure why it didn't happen.
I thought I had an opportunity to go into it when I was playing for Braintree, but some bids from Stevenage got rejected.
"That was quite early on in my career and I thought it would happen later, perhaps even at the end of that season.
"In the end I went to Dagenham, who had just come down from the Football League.
John Still (manager) was a big influence on me joining them, although, to be honest, I didn't really have another option!" It is something of a mystery why Nuneaton-born Cheek didn't get a chance earlier.
Perhaps there was a feeling among EFL clubs that he was more of an old-fashioned goal poacher rather than someone with the kind of all-round game that is so in vogue nowadays.
Yet how often do we hear that putting the ball in the back of the net is the hardest thing to do in football? In any case, it certainly wasn't a case of the England international being a shirker because National League defenders will vouch that he was always willing to run the channels and put a shift in.
Later on, clubs may have ruled him out purely on age grounds, which is partly why his only route into the Football League became trying to win promotion into it.
Under the guidance of manager Andy Woodman, goahead Bromley had been inching ever closer to achieving that coveted goal for the first time in their history.
This story is from the October 13, 2024 edition of The Football League Paper.
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This story is from the October 13, 2024 edition of The Football League Paper.
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