Few League Two footballers can boast a CV encompassing 5 different countries, plying their trade against teams as diverse as Beerschot and Manchester United. Even fewer can say they’ve worked under an ex-England manager. Then again, not many players are Alex Fisher, the 28-year old Yeovil striker who seems to have done it all.

When I ask him what he’s learnt about the English game after his experiences abroad, where he has played in Italy, Belgium and Spain, he says:

“Nothing quite compares to the English game. It is much more physical and fast-paced than anything on the continent- the referees let lots more infringements slide here!

He says he prefers it this way, joking that it’s a contact sport. He doesn’t need to tell me: as a striker standing at over 6 foot 3, it doesn’t take a genius to work out he employs a more rugged style of play than many of his European counterparts.

However, he hints that this direct style of football might be detrimental to English youth players- he asserts that “the technical standard of football being played in the lower tiers of European football exceeds the lower league English game.”

Why is this? Fisher thinks it might stem from the varying styles of academy coaching abroad. He says:

“Players are encouraged at a young age to let their feet dictate how they play and have less of a focus on their physical size, so you find more small but technically gifted players (abroad).

“Teams don’t just ‘go long’ when they need to.

This is just seen as a less effective strategy of gaining territory on a pitch as it’s not most teams’ primary plan.”

The striker believes there are underreported reasons why we see more long balls in English football:

“A high press game is easier to implement in English conditions than in places with higher humidity.

Often, especially in Spain, play developed quite slowly as teams backed off until the final third when all of a sudden the game would spring to life for a few minutes.”

Perhaps that bitter cold that we all curse as you trudge out of the stadium could actually be a blessing in disguise?

The Glenn Hoddle Academy

One of the most unusual things about Fisher’s career is his time under the tutelage of Glenn Hoddle. So how did the striker’s career take him under the wing of the ex-England and Chelsea boss?

“I was fortunate enough that Glenn saw me play in a game and invited me out to his academy in Spain.”

Glenn and his coaching team were fantastic. They focused on the technical and tactical sides of football and learning from them was one of the things that kept me in the game, and playing there is a memory that I will cherish forever.”

It’s no wonder, then, that Fisher calls Hoddle someone he’ll “always hold in the highest of esteem”.

So, from the freezing pitches of the Conference North with Brackley Town, to Montecastillo, to Jerez, Tienen, Heist, Monza and now back on familiar ground at Yeovil Town, Alex Fisher’s footballing journey certainly hasn’t been a straightforward one, but it makes one hell of a story.