Ten years ago today, Reuben Noble-Lazarus’ family received a phonecall which would change his life and lead to him breaking a national record which still stands a decade on.
A day after scoring a hat-trick for Barnsley’s under 18s against Sheffield United, 15-year-old Reuben was about to go to sleep on a Sunday evening as he had school the next day after starting year 11 three weeks earlier.
At about 10pm, his parents answered a call from then Barnsley FC academy coach Ronnie Branson who explained that Reuben needed to be at Oakwell the next day to travel to Ipswich Town with Simon Davey’s first team for a midweek Championship fixture.
“I remember my family panicking a little bit,” said Reuben, who is now 25 and without a club following a serious injury which was treated at Oakwell over the summer.
“There was a chance I might come on and, as it was quite late notice, they weren’t sure how they’d get to and from Ipswich. It was organised they would travel down in a helicopter. It was all a bit surreal.”
Noble-Lazarus was brought on for Martin Devaney in the 84th minute when the goals had been scored in a 3-0 loss. He said: “I was a bit of a blur. I didn’t realise how much of it big deal it was, and what it would mean if I came on.
“I wasn’t nervous, I had nothing to lose. In my head I remember just not wanting to lose the ball, which I didn’t. It was a shame about the result but a good experience.”
Reuben was 15 years and 45 days old when he entered the Portman Road pitch on September 30, 2008. He broke a Football League record for youngest player which had stood for 79 years, then was back in school the following morning.
“It’s a massive achievement but, if I’m honest, it’s something I don’t speak about very much at all. It’s something I will forever be grateful for but I’m sure the record will be broken sooner rather than later.”
Reuben’s pictures were used in many national newspapers the following day and his profile rose significantly. But he says he never saw the broken record as a burden.
“I didn’t feel any extra pressure. Whether other people might have expected more from me because I broke onto the scene so young may be another story. It was strange how much the whole thing blew up, with people coming into the school to take pictures and stuff. I was quite a shy quiet lad at the time so I didn’t really like all the attention and I didn’t really get it if I’m honest.”
Noble-Lazarus, from Huddersfield, made his home debut four days later in a 4-1 win over Doncaster Rovers, replacing Iain Hume in the 87th minute. Those were his only appearances of a season which ended just before he took his GCSE exams in the summer of 2009 and then he celebrated his 16th birthday in August of that year.
Clubs such as Manchester United were linked with him, but he remained at Oakwell. After 18 months out of the first team, he played another two games then, following another year wait, he made his first start against Doncaster Rovers on Easter Monday 2011 and scored his maiden career goal in the 1-0 win over Millwall at Oakwell on the final day of that season.
He struggled to kick on from those achievements with injuries haunting him while he was tried in various different positions including up front, on the wing and at left-back during the ‘great escape’ of 2013 under David Flitcroft. His other goals were an impressive bicycle kick in a 2-2 draw at Leicester City in December 2012 and a stunning chip in the 3-1 success at Reading in March 2014.
But, following loans to Scunthorpe and Rochale, he eventually moved on to the latter permanently in January 2015. In total he played 49 games for the Oakwell club, 38 off the substitute’s bench, scoring three goals and working under five different managers across seven seasons.
“I loved my time at Barnsley. As cliche as it sounds, it’s my footballing home. I would have liked to have played more for them, but I had my problems with injuries which happens in football. I had my setbacks as everyone does and I just wanted to help the team whenever I got on the pitch.
“I enjoyed coming through the academy, when we had a great team with coaches like Ronnie Branson and Mark Burton. Then to break into the first team so young and play with some really quality players was a great experience. I didn’t score as many as I would have liked but I think the ones I scored weren’t bad. I had one or two not so great times there but that’s football and, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it at Barnsley.”
Reuben played 50 games and scored five goals for Rochdale, who he left in the summer of 2017 and he has only recently recovered from an injury he sustained a year ago. He has considered leaving the sport but is currently looking for a new club.
“Hopefully something will come up. I’m just grateful I’m able to play again. There were a few times I thought about packing it in and I questioned if I’d even get back fit enough to play after rupturing my achilles last September. It was a hard time going through that without being signed at a club and having to do it all by myself.
“But Craig Sedgwick, the Barnsley first team physio who I worked with when I was in the academy, got wind of my injury and offered to help me with treatment which was such a nice gesture. I can’t thank him and Vikki Stevens (another Barnsley physio) enough for helping me for two months.
“I’m at a stage now where I’ve been training a bit and just need to be back in that footballing environment and playing some sort of football again to get sharp and matchfit which I hope can be resolved as soon as possible.”
