Nourdine Hmaimou- The Rising Star Of English Football

Stars are not just born out of the blue. They are formed out of an explosive journey and after they have gone through a lot of ups and downs. It’s no different for a sports star as well. In this industry, there is nothing called having it easy, not even for the most talented or prodigal professional. Footballer Nourdine Hmaimou is no exception. But he sure is exceptional in how he has approached his journey of sportsmanship. The champion of the Hendon Football Club embarked on his journey of football from a very young age. As a child, Hmaimou was more inclined towards football than studies and other things, children of his age are known to do. He developed a passion for the sport in his school days and dreamed of competing against some of the best players at an international stage. Hmaimou had to work hard to taste success at a young age. He hustled and struggled to reach where he sees himself today. At present, he is a student of UCFB, studying a three-year course on football coaching and management.

However, as they say, nothing comes easy, not even for a naturally talented individual. Despite all his focus and dedication, he did face enough failures. He started his football career, professionally to say, at the age of 10. At that time, he spent two years with West Ham Development, followed by a stint at the Sporting Bengal Academy. Hmaimou found himself under the mentorship of retired English footballer Anwar Uddin. His learning with Uddin was short-lived, since he moved to Senrab FC, in their Sunday league team, which had earned its fame from names like John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, and the likes when the league had started initially. This continued for a while until Hmaimou went to participate in the game trials at Charlton, Stevenage, Barnet, and Sutton United. But luck didn’t quite favour him there too. He did gain ample experience playing in different settings and against varied players.

Playing for Wealdstone and Hendon

In 2015, at the age of 16, Nourdine Hmaimou joined Wealdstone FC in their U -17 league for the 2015-2016 season. He came like any aspiring footballer and aimed to give his best foot forward (literally). On his very joining day, he signed the contract and had a warm welcome. The first day at a club is always a little overwhelming for any budding sportsman. But Hmaimou was at ease and managed to score his first goal and first assist in his debut game against Ruislip Town FC, without much ado. This clearly shows how comfortable this player has been in his skin of sportsmanship from the very first day of his career. Soon after a few games, when he displayed good field performance, he was immediately sent to train with his senior teams. But a good start doesn’t necessarily lead to good outcomes. Despite striving hard, the young footballer continued to play for the under-17 league till the end of the season without many results. After the first season, he moved to Hendon FC officially in 2016.

Now, here’s a story to tell about how Hmaimou became the star of Hendon FC and continues to be so. As a captain for Hendon, he was leading his team in a game against Edgware Town, at Silver Jubille Park, Hendon’s home ground. Minutes before the kick-off, the U-18 manager, John Creith spotted him outside the locker room and awarded him the armband for his consistent performance and excellent leadership qualities. This is perhaps the proudest moment for any sportsman and it was Hmaimou. And despite losing the game 3-1, he won his place at Hendon as a leader and a captain, because he put in a performance that his manager described as “magnificent”. Since that day, Nourdine Hmaimou remains a star player of Hendon FC.

And now for some game history of the budding football star

For a sportsman, the first club match always remains memorable. For Hmaimou, it was in September 2015, when we were enlisted at the Wealdstone FC U17s. He on the starting 11 and scored his debut.    

Of all his matches, Hmaimou has three that stand out in both terms of his career and fond memories. He played two of those games for Hendon FC and one for Wealdstone FC. What’s to be noted here is that his club debut happened with Wealdstone and then later, when he moved to Hendon, his debut with the club happened to be against Wealdstone. And this is perhaps one of the reasons why these three matches will always remain significant for Nourdine Hmaimou.

Of his best of three matches that he finds professional landmarks, he gives the third rank to the game he played for Wealdstone. Hmaimou scored his first-ever goal in youth football, making it a proud moment for himself and a milestone that would stay with him for the rest of his career.

For his next two matches, he played for Hendon FC, after he joined them a few months after his first game. In the meantime, Nourdine Hmaimou was no longer with Wealdstone and had been signed with Hendon, where he continues to play. This association was soon to become a significant professional alliance that would catapult his career and brings him on the English football map.

The first match with Hendon FC was against Ashford Town (Middlesex) at the Silver Jubilee Park, the home ground of Hendon. It was a tough game between the two teams, each striving hard to take it all home. Ashford tied it at 3-3 to Hendon, when Hmaimou made his way to the field. With only a minute or two left in the game time, he secures the 3 points and wins a 4-3 for Hendon, making yet another benchmark of his sportsmanship.

And the match that tops his career so far, that he remembers, he was a part of the youth league game that was held at Wealdstone’s stadium at Grosvenor Vale. Wealdstone and Hendon had a local rivalry, but albeit in good faith. Hmaimou comes at 75th minute in the game when it was 3-2 to Hendon and scores a goal to level it to 3-3 and ties the game. But that’s not all. Almost at the final moment, at 89th minute, with almost no gameplay left, Hmaimou scores the winning goal and takes it home with a winning goal and won the game at 4-3 for Hendon. That was his first ever 14 minutes that he played for the club and his first goal at U-18 level.

With small milestones and achievements like these and the conduct of a true leader, Nourdine Hmaimou has proven at every stage that he has the true potential to become a name that England can see in its future of football, and we can’t wait to see this prodigy turn into a legend.