RAISING THE Milkybar

Kid is now a man as Bowen rules Europe

- MIKE WALTERS

HE was the Milkybar kid who went from a meek lad in wirerimmed glasses conquering with to Europe West Ham.

And as Jarrod Bowen celebrated his dramatic Europa Conference League winner, like the famous TV advert plugging white chocolate, he laughed: "The Milkybars are on me!"

Bowen's rise from non-League obscurity to East End legend, with Love Island star Dani Dyer as his partner, is one of football's great WAGSto-riches stories.

Nine years ago, when Hereford were expelled from the fifth tier over unpaid debts and grave uncertainty over the ownership of their Edgar Street stadium, Bowen signed for Hull.

Now he is an England international and his sensational winner against Fiorentina will confirm his place in pearly king country like pie and mash itself. When a photo of geeky-looking Bowen as a primary schoolboy resurfaced on social media in the frenzy of tickertape and Bubbles anthems, he seized upon the memory as an example for every kid who dreams of being a hero on the pitch.