Stockport County may regret they didn’t see the best years of future Southampton, Liverpool player | OneFootball

Rickie Lambert may feel like the one who got away to some at Edgeley Park

In 2002, Stockport County landed a future Premier League striker in Rickie Lambert, but he would never reach those heights in a blue and white shirt.

The Hatters managed to tempt him away from local rivals Macclesfield Town while in the old Second Division (now League One).

He was certainly no slouch while at Edgeley Park, but there’s no doubt the highlights of his career all came after he’d left the club.

Given he launched Southampton into the top tier from the same starting position, some at Stockport may wonder what could have been had they kept hold of the forward.

Stockport County went big on Lambert

The Hatters’ purchase of Lambert was not just a gamble on a young prospect – the club clearly saw great potential, splashing £300k on the emerging talent, a club-record sale for the Silkmen at the time.

His first season – notching two goals in 29 appearances – was therefore not the impact most will have expected for the price paid.

But the club persevered and did get their reward to some extent, with the Liverpool-born player netting 12 goals in 40 Second Division appearances in his second season with the club.

That would, however, be his last full season, transferring to another local side, Rochdale, midway through the season, a division lower than the Hatters were operating at the time.

Lambert exploded at Rochdale

It was his move to the Dale that saw Lambert’s career truly kick into gear.

Reports from the time credit Rochdale manager Steve Parkin’s idea to move Lambert further forward, into the striker role, for his rapid rise.

"When I was younger I was always a striker," Lambert said at the time. "I've always preferred playing up front. I do not have to do as much tracking back to the other goal."

And a rapid rise it was.

From a relatively quiet spell at Edgeley Park, in his second season with Dale, Lambert recorded an incredible 22 goals and 15 assists in League Two.

That, understandably, caught the attention of Bristol Rovers in the league above – which was just as successful – before a move to Southampton arose that would change the fortunes of club and player alike.

Lambert’s Southampton, Liverpool rise will come with some Stockport regret

In his first season with Southampton, in League One – the same level he had left County a few years before – he knocked home 30 goals and 13 assists.

If there had been any doubts about Lambert’s productivity, there certainly weren’t anymore.

Two further seasons of similarly decisive attacking for the Saints helped move them – almost in the blink of an eye – into the Premier League, thanks in no small part to Lambert.

Had County spotted Lambert’s scoring instinct, there was no saying the Hatters – on the brink of a stark drop to non-league following board-level mismanagement – would have landed in the top tier themselves as Southampton did, but given the two clubs’ similar starting positions, it’s not that audacious to imagine what might have been had they kept hold of him and drawn out his full potential.

It wasn’t a fluke for Lambert at the top level, either. Two solid Premier League seasons with the Saints earned him a move to boyhood club Liverpool for £4m and also led to almost a dozen England appearances.

It never quite worked out with the Reds, scoring just three goals in total for the club, but to reach that level at all would have seemed an enormous long shot as he was leaving the Hatters to drop down a level.

Knowing now what he went on to become, you couldn’t blame County fans for wondering what might have been if they’d managed to unlock his full potential when they had the chance earlier in his career.