Andreas Komodikis is hoping to break into QPR’s first team.

It’s rare for a modern-day footballer not to come through an academy system from a young age.

But every now and then there’s an exception, a player that breaks the trend.

Andreas Komodikis is on his way to becoming a Premier League footballer, having played Sunday league football just three years previously.

The 18-year-old winger has taken an unusual route to professional football and now plays for Championship promotion-chasers QPR.


But at the age of 15, his dream of having a career in football looked unlikely as he played at Sunday league level.

He had previously dealt with rejection from a Premier League club’s academy after starting life at Tottenham Hotspur as an eight-year-old in a development squad.

The QPR youngster is hoping for his shot at the big time.

‘I was at the development centre training once a week. I would play there for two months and then go for a trial,’ he told Metro.co.uk.



‘Then I’d carry on in the development centre and have another trial. This went on for about four years.

‘So I kept going there until I was put forward for a six-week trial. I felt I did really well and impressed the people watching.

‘But after the six-week trial, I was told that I was good but I wasn’t good enough.’

It says a lot about Komodikis’ character that he didn’t throw in the towel there and then. While others would have given up on their dream, he felt that his rejection had a double meaning.

Komodikis playing as a young boy

‘I took that to mean that I could have been signed up, but it just meant that now wasn’t my time.

‘I was 13 when I stopped going and I went to my local Sunday league team. I just carried on training with them, playing as much as I could and for my school team.

‘I was scoring goals left, right and centre and was always being told by the manager that I had the X-factor in the team. I didn’t let my dreams get crushed.’

At 15, he received a call from a scout who knew him from his time training with Spurs, but had since moved to QPR. The scout asked him to come for a trial in December 2012.

After no word back from the club by January, he began to fear the worst. But the club signed him in February and made him an academy player.

‘It all happened very quickly. But I didn’t once give up on my dream,’ he added.

Komodikis celebrating with his young teammates

‘While I was playing Sunday league football, I was seeing players come and go.

‘It made me wonder, “Why am I the only one staying here? There must be a reason.”’

QPR soon offered him a two-year scholarship and he didn’t waste any time in making an impact.

He had broken into the QPR Under-18s after starting life on the sidelines and had played four of five matches in a pre-season tournament.

Komodikis scored against Liverpool in the final.

QPR faced big club sides, such as Inter Milan and Liverpool – who Komodikis scored against in the final.

‘I was left out of the first match but the manager gave me a chance in the second,’ he said.



‘When I played, I really impressed him and while I wasn’t the most technically gifted player, I work my socks off.

‘Going to a big tournament and winning a trophy was a great experience.

‘I went on to play five or six consecutive games, which we won. I was then dropped for two matches, which we lost. I was thrown back into the team and we started winning again.

Komidikis was starting to become an important player for the young side, but if he thought his luck was in, he had to think again.

Just as he’d established his place in the team, disaster struck.

His young footballing life has been stop-start.

‘During my first year, I got a horrific injury,’ he explained.

‘I broke my ankle and I ruptured all three ligaments in my ankle.

‘It was December 7 against Millwall. Funnily enough, the other winger broke his ankle on the same day just minutes before me.

‘We went through rehab together. We pushed each other to make sure we made it back.’

Komodikis' career to date 2008 – Joins Tottenham development squad 2011 – Rejected by Spurs after six-week trial and returns to Sunday League 2013 – Signed by QPR

Having been told that it would take eight months to return, his hard work off the pitch ensured that he returned after just six months.

However, he had missed the rest of the season, which further stunted his ability to grow as a player.

‘I’d missed a lot of action. I was six and a half months behind other players. They had all been to academies before as well so technically I was slipping behind.

‘But I kept working as hard as possible and kept myself in contention.’


Komodikis missed out on a professional contract, but the club instead extended his scholarship.

Komodikis suffered many setbacks but was always determined to return.

With his confidence growing, he is now setting his sights on the QPR first team, although he recognises that it won’t be easy.

‘I want to have a career at QPR,’ he said.

‘They’re the club who took a chance on me and gave me hope.

‘They’re letting me fulfill my boyhood dream and I want to give everything back to them.’

Should QPR not want to sign him, though, he won’t be short of options.

His performances this season have not gone unnoticed.

Now Komodikis wants first-team football

He has been taken aside after matches by other teams’ coaches and managers, who insist that he had been the best player on the pitch.

At QPR, it’s a time of change. Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink has just replaced Chris Ramsey as manager. The club have been bouncing up and down from the Premier League in the past few years and are still in contention for promotion this season.

‘I’m confident we’ll be promoted this season. The players are working hard and have the quality to rise up the league,’ Komodikis added.

‘It’s been an unsettled season with all the changes. But everyone wants to give everything for the club and do well together.’

Should QPR go up this season and Komodikis battles his way into contention, he could have taken one of the quickest leaps from Sunday league to the Premier League.

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