Icons of sport: Harry Kane
It's time to explore Harry Kane. Another icon of sport.
With the player on the verge of breaking the goalscoring record for club and country, we thought we'd look at the career of Harry Kane. Unlike many players featured in the icons of sport series, he has not retired yet.
Brief introduction
Harry Edward Kane plays as a striker for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, he is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world.
Early life and early career
Born and raised in the London borough of Waltham Forest, Kane began his career at Tottenham Hotspur, where, after fast progression through the team's youth academy, he was promoted to the senior team in 2009, at age 16. He was loaned out to clubs across the English football pyramid, including Leyton Orient, Millwall, Leicester City, and Norwich City. Kane's involvement at Tottenham increased after Mauricio Pochettino became head coach in 2014.
Kane starts to rise
In his first full season at the club, Kane scored 31 goals across all competitions, was the Premier League's second-highest goalscorer, and was named PFA Young Player of the Year. In the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, he finished as the league's top goal scorer. In the latter campaign, he helped Tottenham finish as the competition's runners-up and was named PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Kane registered his best campaign statistically to date in the 2017–18 season, with 41 goals scored in 48 games across all competitions, and in the following season, he finished as a runner-up in the UEFA Champions League. He ended the 2020–21 season as the top goalscorer and top assist provider in the league.
International career
Kane has scored 53 goals in 80 appearances for England. He appeared and scored at every youth level and at 21 years of age made a goalscoring debut with the senior team in March 2015. Kane featured and scored during England's successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and represented the country at the tournament.
He was named England captain just before the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he finished as the competition's top goalscorer, winning the Golden Boot, leading England to fourth place, their highest finish in the competition since 1990.
He also led England to the runner-up position at UEFA Euro 2020, marking their first appearance in a final at the tournament and their first major final since 1966. For all his success as a player, he has never won a major trophy. Could this soon end for him or should move on from the club?
What do people say about him?
His former Tottenham under-21 coach Les Ferdinand likened Kane's movement to their former forward Teddy Sheringham and the power and accuracy of his shots to Alan Shearer.
Greg, one of our contributors and Spurs fan, said: "I think he's the best Spurs player ever. Just a shame that he won't win anything with the club. I almost hope he moves on from us at the end of this season."