Jamal Lowe: Swansea City's ex-teacher aims to go from non-league to Premier League
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Jamal Lowe (right) celebrates fellow Swansea league debutant Morgan Gibbs-White's winner at Preston on the opening day of the season
The Premier League looked a long way off when Jamal Lowe was teaching at a London primary school and playing part-time football in the seventh tier of English football.
Only four years down the line, the top flight is within sight for Swansea City's close-season recruit from Wigan Athletic.
"That's 100% the aim," Lowe tells BBC Sport Wales.
"It's always been the aim for me. I have worked really hard to get to the Championship, to prove myself at every level.
"I have played in all the leagues from the seventh tier up apart from the Premier League. My aim is to get there with Swansea."
A versatile player who is happy anywhere across the forward line, Lowe's desire to progress also makes him appealing to a manager.
Hence Steve Cooper urged Swansea's owners, who have spent very little on transfer fees in recent times, to stump up around £800,000 to bring the 26-year-old to Wales.
Really, Lowe should have cost considerably more than that, but Wigan's financial problems allowed Swansea to seal a cut-price deal.
Only 13 months ago the Latics paid around £2.3m to sign Lowe from Portsmouth.
Paul Cook, the then Wigan manager, had given Lowe his big break in the EFL during his spell as Pompey boss.
Jamal Lowe's memorable Wembley goal helped Portsmouth to Checkatrade Trophy glory againsy Sunderland in 2019
"He has been a massive influence," Lowe says.
Lowe's early footballing steps were taken in the professional game.
Born in Harrow, he came through the youth ranks at Barnet and played a handful of League Two games for the Bees as an 18-year-old.
After loan spells at various non-league clubs, Lowe left Barnet permanently when then boss Edgar Davids, the former Champions League winner, told him he was not part of his plans.
By this stage Barnet were a non-league club, and Lowe joined sixth-tier St Albans City before dropping down another level to play for Hampton and Richmond Borough.
At the same time he was working at Coombe Hill Junior School.
"I only trained on Tuesday and Thursday," Lowe recalls. "There's no money at that level so I had a full-time job as a PE teacher.
"At some points I thought professional football wasn't going to happen. I'd had a chance in the Football League at 18 but at 19 I was playing, or sometimes not even getting in the squad, in non-league."
Lowe began to shine at Hampton and Richmond, helping them to the 2015-16 Isthmian League title and promotion to the Conference South.
A trial at Millwall followed but came to nothing, then life changed when Lowe was offered a deal by Portsmouth, who paid an initial £15,000 for his services midway through 2016-17.
It proved a smart move by the Fratton Park club. In April 2017, Lowe's brace at Notts County sealed Portsmouth's promotion from League Two and he also netted in their title-clinching victory over Cheltenham.
Cook left that summer for Wigan, but Lowe continued to thrive under Kenny Jackett, scoring 26 goals over the next two seasons, including a memorable lob in the 2019 Checkatrade Trophy final triumph over Sunderland at Wembley.
"I had some good moments at Portsmouth," Lowe says. "I don't want that to be over. I want more at Swansea."
Having stepped up to the Championship, Lowe had another positive year at Wigan - he scored six goals in 48 appearances - before joining the DW Stadium exodus this summer.
Wigan should have finished in mid-table, but dropped into League One having been docked 12 points for going into administration, with their Hong Kong-based owners conceding they could not support the club financially.
"It's really, really sad the way whole club was let down," Lowe says.
"There was nothing the fans, the players or the staff could do about it.
"One minute we were the form team in the league and everything was looking great, then we had a 12-point deduction and a lot of good people were losing their jobs."
Jamal Lowe says he is happy playing on either flank, as a number 10 or a central striker
Cook has since left Wigan, while the vast majority of his players have been picked off by clubs up and down the country.
Lowe, who was linked with numerous Championship sides as well as Celtic, feels he has made a smart move by opting for Swansea.
"The club has had some heartache after losing in the play-offs last season, but I think that only pushes you to make sure you achieve something the next year," he says.
"There's no beating around the bush. The aim for everyone is to reach the Premier League."
Victory at Preston on the opening day of the Championship season was a good start. Next up are Birmingham City on Saturday, when Lowe will make his competitive home debut in a near-empty stadium.
"It would have been a lot better if the fans were going to be there," he says.
"From what I have heard, that's not too far away, so I will have to have a double home debut."