​But many do not make it, damaged by the mental blow of being rejected on the basis of a physical trait impossible for them to change.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd that could have been the case for Jay Tabb, who was let go by Crystal Palace for that very reason, aged 16, in the summer of 2000.“It was devastating when I was told I wasn’t going to get a youth-team contract,” he admits.“I had my heart set on being a footballer, and that was the first knock back I’d ever had. It took a while to get over.“Geoff Taylor was my old manager and he’d left Palace and gone to Brentford, so when I was told I wasn’t needed at Palace anymore, I got in touch with Geoff, and he invited me down for a trial.“It didn’t go very well actually, and Geoff wasn’t there that day, but luckily he gave me a chance and offered me a youth-team contract and Brentford welcomed me in with open arms.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Bees were training in Tolworth at the time, just a stone’s throw from where Tabb lived in Motspur Park, which made life simpler. He regained his confidence there, looking up to captain Paul Evans, who also played in the middle of the park.“It was just carefree and fun. I loved being in the youth team there and, on the odd occasion you’d get to train with the first team, they’d definitely help you out.”Safe from relegation, Brentford were playing only for league position at the end of the 2000/01 season, which concluded with two home games.A matter of hours before the visit of Luton Town on 3 May, Taylor called Tabb – who had only turned 17 less than three months earlier – to tell him manager Ray Lewington wanted him to be part of the squad and that he should come down to Griffin Park straightaway.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I thought I might have been on the bench or on the stands, just as a bit of experience, but he went through the team and read my name out – I was taken aback and I thought he’d made a mistake. It was a massive shock.“I’d had quite a good first season in the youth team, but never in a million years did I think I’d ever be given the chance to play in the first team that young.“We’d been at all the first-team games that season. We used to go on the pitch and tread in the divots at half-time and full-time. I would look at the players thinking hopefully I’d get there one day, then all of a sudden, I got an opportunity.“It was so close to the end of the season, so they didn’t have enough kit in stock, and I had to wear an extra-large shirt and shorts. When I came out for the game with these massive shirt and shorts on it just looked ridiculous!AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I had time to ring my mum and dad and a few friends and they all came down and watched the game. It was incredible.”“I thought I might have been on the bench or on the stands, just as a bit of experience, but he went through the team and read my name out – I was taken aback and I thought