It's where it all began and, even then, the pitch was an issue.
On a gloomy winter's afternoon on January 15th, 2011 amidst the inauspicious surroundings of Rochdale's Spotland in a League One clash, football's latest global superstar made his unlikely entrance.
The man making way for him was Scott McGleish, then 36 and a veteran of the lower leagues, with distinguished spells at Barnet, Colchester, Northampton and Wycombe.
He trotted off and shook hands with the gangly 17-year-old on from Tottenham preparing to make his professional debut for Leyton Orient in an attempt to glean a late winner, the score being 1-1 at that time.