Goals Galore: Celebrating Michael Cheek and the man whose record he surpassed

Suddenly, there’s movement at the end of the tunnel. Out into the night air steps Michael Cheek, his frame still steaming from the game’s exertions. He’s there to accept the Sky Bet Player of the Match trophy, and he does so with a broad smile and short-sentenced gratitude. Photo taken, plastic trophy in hand, he strides away towards the tunnel, but stops when a young fan calls out to him requesting a selfie. “Of course, mate,” Cheek replies, dipping into the boy’s orbit to smile at the camera once more. Photo taken, plastic trophy in hand, Bromley’s top goalscorer of the modern era slips away into the humid stank of the tunnel, leaving the young fan beaming in his wake. 

Humility is a trait that we attach to footballers with caution. Achieving success demands an inner drive and utter ruthlessness that is hard for the average fan to fathom. It demands you live clean and set a spotless example while surrounded by ads for gambling and booze. It demands sacrifices and repetitions that turn a beloved sport into a near-robotic existence. Eat, sleep, all of the above, repeat. This is the modern athlete. 

So when we see a footballer behaving in an approachable and open-hearted way, there’s a part of us that feels slightly disbelieving. We watch and wait for the mask to fall, revealing the hard-wired cyborg beneath, forgetting of course that footballers are just people. But when we watch “just people” relentlessly scoring goals, topping charts, and winning accolade after accolade, it’s hard to imagine there’s a real person in there and not just a series of pistons and football algorithms.