FOR those who believe youngsters have it too easy in modern day football, just a glance at Junior Hoilett’s early career would quickly make them think again.

Turning down Manchester United at the age of 12 was the simple part.

Since then the Blackburn Rovers starlet has had to overcome a work permit nightmare, serious homesickness and playing football in five different countries to reach the big stage of the Premier League.

Tied down at Ewood Park until the summer of 2012, the 19-year-old Canadian has earned the chance to establish himself as a regular in the world’s biggest league, but there were times when even he doubted it would ever happen.

Like when the government refused him a visa to play in England aged 16, having spent the last three years of his life learning his trade in Rovers’ youth set-up, or when he missed his family so much it would have been easy to have turned his back on his dreams and return to Canada.

Now, having finally agreed a new contract at Ewood Park, Hoilett can look forward to a more settled future but he won’t forget the long and, often frustrating, journey he has taken to get where he has.

He said: “I have had to go over a few hurdles but they have all helped me. They have all made me stronger and I feel I am ready for anything.

“They have made me stronger as a player and a person.

“This is just the start but it feels as though I have been through a lot to get here. There were times when I had little doubts and I guess it would have been easy to have taken the easy option and gone home.

“I have always wanted to be a professional footballer though and that helped me through some difficult times. My family have been brilliant and I wouldn’t be here without them and the club has also been great for me.”

David ‘Junior’ Hoilett was born in Brampton, Ontario, in June 1990, where he was brought up in a competitive, sporting environment with an older and younger brother and a younger sister.

Parents, of Jamaican descent, David senior and Ingrid supported all their children and ultimately proved the catalyst that saw Junior take the plunge and swap Canada for England.

“It was a very sporty childhood,” he said. “We used to compete against each other all the time. If it was basketball, American football, baseball, soccer, we didn’t care. It was very competitive.

“We always wanted to win against each other and that has not changed now. I am the same at Blackburn, I always want to win but maybe having two brothers increased that competitive streak.

“I tried baseball for a couple of years but I didn’t really like it. It was soccer and basketball for me and at the age of 11 I had to choose and I decided soccer – look at my height.

“My dad used to kick around with us in the back garden. He helped us a lot as children. He always tried to develop our skills and has been really good.”

It was a tournament in Wales that was to prove the turning point in his life though as an 11-year-old Hoilett travelled with a Canadian team to play against teams from around the world.

He was competing for fun but, by the end of the 10 days, a plethora of league scouts had spotted his obvious potential and his Premier League adventure was about to begin.

“I didn’t know a tournament that lasted 10 days was going to change my life,” he said.

“But a Blackburn scout came up to my father, a number of scouts came up to my father actually.

“They all asked me to come on trial. Manchester United was the first club I came to on trial to but I decided to come to Blackburn and I liked Blackburn so I came here.

“I thought there would be more of a chance to break through at Blackburn and the way they talked about looking after me at a young age was fantastic. They did everything they said as well so I don’t regret the decision at all.

“Manchester United were quite keen on me at the time and asked me back but I had decided to come to Blackburn. The tournament was in July and I came over in March to Blackburn. Then I went back in the summer.

“They wanted me to move over but I needed a year to think about it.

“It was a very hard decision because my life was starting all over again. I liked my life in Canada and I had good friends but my family and friends supported me.”

Blackburn Rovers and a new life in East Lancashire it was then, albeit not before a year of soul searching for him and his family about him leaving home in pursuit of a professional football career.

Mother Ingrid took three months off work to help Junior settle in but, while Hoilett senior also regularly flew back and forth to support his middle son, life was far from plain sailing in those early days.

He said: “The first year was very difficult but I got used to it. Everyone supported me and it showed with my football. The first year I was doing school at St Bedes and I had my own house and my mum and dad were moving back and forth to take care of me. Some nights I would stay in digs as well and it was very difficult.

“I did feel homesick and did miss my family and my brothers and sister. But the second year things settled down and everything was better. My parents were very supportive and I owe them a lot.

“There are times when you just want to go home but my friends here helped me through and helped me forget about things. Other team mates helped me forget about it. They played head tennis or something to help me forget about it.”

It all seemed worth it though when he signed his first deal aged 16 having impressed in the youth ranks, with younger brother Jaineil having also embarked on a three-year spell at Brockhall - before swapping England for current German club Mainz.

The dream quickly threatened to become a nightmare though after work permit complications made him temporarily quit England and move to Germany, first with SC Paderborn and then FC St Pauli.

He said: “It was another dark time after all that effort to find I could not get a work permit in England. It was a real downhill moment but ultimately it was a blessing.

“It gave me the chance to experience playing in Germany and that helped me develop and helped me work my way back to the Premier League.

“It was a headache all over again when I was told I couldn’t get a work permit. But the same way as I got over the homesickness I got over this and that was by family and friends being there for me and the club of course.

“They first wanted me to move to Belgium, I didn’t like it there, then France and I didn’t like it there, then Germany was the one for me.

“In the end it has helped me maybe. Maybe I wouldn’t have broken through at such an early age in England but I was able to learn so much in Germany. It gave me experience of playing in front of thousands and helped me develop me skills as well.”

It didn’t all end there either. As his return from a two-year loan spell in Germany last summer brought with it another failure to land a work permit.

Rovers though fought his cause, winning a visa on appeal, and after seeing him break into the first team this season, rewarded him with a more certain Rover future and a contract extension.

“We couldn’t believe it when I didn’t get the permit again and again all things go through your mind,” Hoilett said. You wonder what the future has in store for you.

“That appeal was a difficult time but it all worked well. I am looking forward to the future. I still have to work hard and develop and improve. This is still the beginning of my career.”