Portsmouth FC struck gold with non-league punt that returned a handsome fee | OneFootball

Jamal Lowe joined Portsmouth from Non-League and impressed for Pompey in both League Two and League One

One of the greatest assets English football has at its disposal is the rich and varied nature of its pyramid, which allows phenomenons such as Luton Town's recent rise from the National League all the way to the Premier League over an incredible 10 season period.

Furthermore, supporters up and down the country are familiar with the feel-good tale of Jamie Vardy, who rose from Non-League stints with the likes of Stocksbridge Park Steels and Halifax Town to win the Premier League title with Leicester City in 2016.

Another player who has a rich experience of both the Non-League stratosphere, the Football League and, indeed, the top-flight, is former Portsmouth star Jamal Lowe.

Pompey, then of League Two, took a punt on Lowe midway through the 2016/17 season, after he had produced a return of 15 goals in 22 National League South appearances for Hampton & Richmond during the first half of the campaign.

Lowe gamble could not have gone any better for Pompey

While the forward spent time in the Queens Park Rangers academy, he did not initially make it at senior level for the R's, and instead played his first minutes of professional football for Barnet during the 2012/13 League Two season.

But throughout his time as a Barnet player, Lowe endured several loan moves to the National League South, with the likes of Boreham Wood, Farnborough and Hemel Hempstead.

By 2015, he left Barnet to join St Albans on a permanent basis, and would also return to Hemel before signing for Hampton in 2016, where he would spend his last Non-League days prior to his big Pompey move.

Due to the fact that when Pompey signed him in January 2017, most of Lowe's experience of senior football had come in Non-League, his signature was somewhat of a gamble.

However, he would go on to provide the Hampshire club with two-and-a-half seasons of excellent service, starting with his first few months at Fratton Park.

The end of the 2016/17 season saw Pompey lift the League Two title as they pipped Plymouth Argyle to the prize on goal difference after both sides had picked up 87 points.

After their promotion from the fourth tier to League One, the Fratton Park side had to adjust to a new division, which was arguably particularly challenging for Lowe, who had been plying his trade in the sixth tier just a matter of months before helping his new club to the third tier.

But the Jamaica international took reasonably well to life in League One, scoring six goals and creating seven assists during a 2017/18 season in which Pompey finished outside the play-off spots by just five points.

Then, during a 2018/19 campaign in which Pompey did land a top-six spot alongside the likes of Sunderland, Lowe produced his best ever season in Portsmouth colours as he scored 15 goals and made eight assists in the third tier.

Such a feat enabled the forward to take the next step in his career, as Wigan Athletic, then of the Championship, were clearly impressed by his exploits and snapped up his services ahead of the 2019/20 season.

Since making his move to the Latics, Lowe has established himself as a dangerous second tier player, thanks to further stints with the likes of Swansea City and Bournemouth, who he even represented in the Premier League before returning to both QPR and the Swans on loan prior to a permanent move to Sheffield Wednesday during the summer of 2024.

Pompey earned a handsome fee for Lowe's services

While Pompey had clearly kept tabs on Lowe's progress with Hampton in the National League South before making their swoop for the ace, they may not have anticipated quite how good he would go on to become in League One, or the successful Championship career he would enjoy away from Fratton Park.

But after signing the ace from Non-League, the Hampshire side could never have anticipated that they would go on to sell Lowe for a handsome transfer fee of £2.25m, due to the fact that former Pompey boss Paul Cook was keen to reunite with his former star man at Latics.

However, it is Lowe's goalscoring and assist-making exploits in both League Two and League One which will live long in the memories of the Fratton Park faithful.