As a 17 year-old, on Gornik’s books, Bart Bialkowski got an offer he could have only dreamt about. Talking to the Guardian, just after winning his first (and so far only Poland cap) in 2018, he explained what happened next “I had a five-year contract offer from Inter Milan,” he says. “But I had to sign with an Italian agent to do it and I already had a big agency, IMG. They told me not to sign anything because they had clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United for me, so I didn’t and then obviously those offers weren’t there.

I went on trial at Wigan and Rangers, nothing really happened and my contract with Gornik expired. I was meant to be one of the biggest prospects in Poland and I ended up without a club.” He then had a trial with Hearts, their manager, George Burley and goalkeeper coach Malcolm Webster, were impressed. So when they left Tynecastle for St Mary’s, soon after, the 18 year-old goalkeeper was promptly signed. Paul Smith had just taken over in goal, following the departure of Antti Niemi, but Bialkowski soon replaced him and, with his confidence belying his inexperience, he seemed quickly to install himself as the first-choice ’keeper. But then, in his seventh game, an FA Cup-tie at Newcastle, he sustained a cruciate-ligament injury that sidelined him for nine months. Kelvin Davis was signed in the meantime and Bartosz’s opportunities to re-establish himself would subsequently be few.

Recovered from his injury, he did regain his place towards the end of 2006-07, as the Saints met Derby in the Championship play-offs, but Burley recalled Davis for the second leg. Bart nevertheless opened the next season, but he lasted only two games. He would have to wait until December 2009 before he started another League game.

He looked comfortable in his month-long spell, which included some penalty shoot-out heroics in the JPT-tie against Norwich. And his defenders looked comfortable with him, what’s more.

Once recovered from injury, however, Davis was soon preferred. Whereupon, Bart continued to be the dependable stand-by all the way into the Saints’ successful Championship season of 2011-12. It was not an encouraging one for him, however. In his one League outing in December, v Blackpool at St Mary’s, he allowed the softest of shots to squeeze under his body, thus helping to shatter the team’s 100 per cent home record.

Then, although he returned for three appearances in the FA Cup, there were times, in the second half of this season, when the manager dispensed with a goalkeeper on the bench. Nigel Adkins was not alone in this risky, yet fashionable, calculation of options for substitutions, but it all helped to add to the speculation that Bart might soon be on his way. Which he was at the end of the season. He joined League One Notts County, where he was the first-choice goalkeeper and then two seasons later he joined Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich, having been recommended by his old mentor Malcolm Webster. After five years sterling service Ipswich were relegated to Division One and agreed to sell Bart toMillwall but there were problems with his medical and the clubs settled on a year’s loan instead. However the transaction did become permanent when the January 2020 window opened.