Meet new Jamie Vardy ripping up non-League at just 19 - and big clubs are already sniffing
It was a strike seen over 230,000 times on social media. Danny Ormerod, 19, picked up the ball inside his own half, took a touch and audaciously lifted the ball home - an effort with shades of Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney’s against West Ham United.
The opposition manager in the home dugout? The Three Lions icon's brother, John, at Moss Rose, the home of Macclesfield, where the reigning FA Cup holders, Crystal Palace, were left stunned six weeks earlier.
It was the latest moment of magic from the teenager, rounding off the scoring in an impressive 4-1 win for the promotion hopefuls, AFC Fylde. Ormerod - of no relation to Premier League cult hero Brett - has taken the National League North, the sixth tier of English football, by storm, and is the runaway leader in the hunt for the golden boot with 27 goals.
“Loads of people have said that to me, it's like [Wayne] Rooney's one from the halfway line,” he exclusively told Mirror Football when discussing that strike against Macclesfield.
“I didn't have a clue what to do. It's all bizarre but I was just going mental.”
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Arms outstretched, Ormerod wheeled away across the length of the pitch to the section of Fylde supporters, potentially wrapping up the goal of the season competition in February. Few goals have come close to Ormerod, and none will.
Indeed, it is no surprise that the tweet from one user, showcasing the long-range effort, says: "enjoy him whilst he’s in non-league", with Football League clubs already queuing up and circling for his signature.
"I'm very proud of myself but it's not done yet and it's nowhere near done, there's still games left," Ormerod says.
"The main target is to win the league, I've got my own goals, like top scorer and everything, but the main aim is to win the league and go up.
"I want to play as high as I possibly can, that's the aim at the end. I'm only young. I believe in myself that I can do it; I don't think about the future too much. At the minute I'm just thinking game by game, I want to win the league because that would just be the best thing".
The 19-year-old could see his name in lights with big billing of following Jamie Vardy, non-league’s last major export after signing for Leicester City in excess of £1million from Fleetwood Town - then non-league, or his icons Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.
Kane, who is lighting up the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, endured spells on loan in the lower leagues during his formative years. And Leicester City icon Vardy went on to win the Premier League with the Foxes and net on the international stage for England, a far cry from battling with defenders in the lowly levels for Stocksbridge Park Steels, FC Halifax Town and the Cod Army.
The 19-year-old has his eyes on reaching 35 goals, having eclipsed his target of 20 before a ball was kicked in August. An already incredible feat, having only broken through as an 18-year-old, where he scored eight goals in 59 appearances in the National League, including a five-game spell in the division below with Chorley in which he scored three goals last term.
In his first full season in the sixth tier, he has set it alight and, almost, made it look too easy.
He says: "It's not easy. It's not. I've scored loads of goals for a 19-year-old, it's all a bit mad.
"I know I can finish, I can score goals, I know I've got good movement, I know can run, it's just about believing in yourself that you can score. Obviously, it's worked out.
"I didn't play loads of games last season just coming off the bench here and there. I think physically I'm a bit better now.”
The story of Vardy resonates with non-league players up and down the country: the dream to become a professional footballer doesn't end or begin in academy football. With Ormerod's emergence, he is showing the capabilities of following the trodden path.
Manager Craig Mahon says: “I think he's a little like Harry Kane now, isn't he? For us Danny's just been a joy to watch.
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“He's just grown and grown. I think if you look at the Harry Kane story, when he went out on loan, got game time and got his confidence, then he's gone back and the career he's had.
“I'm hoping Danny can do something like that.”
Mahon was placed in charge of Fylde at the beginning of the season following their relegation from the National League.
The 36-year-old moved into a player-manager role at Curzon Ashton, a Greater Manchester club now at the same level as Fylde in step six, before he was headhunted by the Coasters, having had an impressive playing career.
As he planned to assemble a squad fit for bouncing back from relegation, a striker was one of those positions on the hitlist to secure.
But he stumbled on a highly-rated 19-year-old, Ormerod, who has since fired his way into the frame, becoming indispensable.
Despite his tender age, the forward has that guile and vigour to compete with those hardened centre-backs, with an aerial prowess as well as the pace, power and finishing to make him a nightmare for defenders.
Mahon says: “When we came in, we knew we had to sort of rebuild the squad a bit. What happened last year, getting relegated and a lot of players leaving, we only had about, it was between eight or nine players left in the building.
“So we knew, we had the rebuild. Danny was unproven. We knew he had something, but we didn't know how good he could be.
“We were looking at a striker for a long time, but as time has gone on, and Danny's shown us time and time again how good he is, we didn't need to bring in a striker.
“You can't give him an inch really because if he gets a sniff or if he gets a chance, he's more likely going to score, I'm glad I don't have to worry about that one.”
Ormerod tasted academy heartache in his early teens when he missed out on a scholar's contract at Blackpool. He linked up with Fylde because one of his friends turned out for the Coasters.
Fast forward a handful of years, and he is one of the hottest prospects on the transfer market. During the January transfer window, Bradford City and Gillingham expressed an interest but the League One and Two sides were just one of the many fish in a crowded pond with some Championship clubs circling.
Fylde is leading the race for promotion; they sit top of the table and one point clear of nearest challengers South Shields. The focus is on returning to within one promotion of the Football League.
Their hope is that promotion may well guarantee one more season of Ormerod’s services, but transfer interest remains ongoing in the background.
“It's going to be tough [to keep him],” says Mahon. “That's why our plans are to try and get to the next level and hopefully we can bring Dan along with us.
“The chairman's got ambitions, he wants to go as high as we possibly can and if Dan can see that we're trying to do the right things and that we've got the ambition of where he wants to go, hopefully he might join us for the journey.
“At the moment we couldn't put a price tag on Danny, he's priceless for us, he's one of the many reasons why we are where we are in the league.
"There's always clubs sniffing around and there's people talking about him, but as we spoke to Danny, Danny's just focusing on football, that's just who he is.
"He wants to do something special this year.”