England's lower leagues are no longer exclusively populated by journeymen. Increasingly, teams across the football pyramid are built from players who came within touching distance of Premier League careers before their paths diverged, derailed by injury, bad luck, or the ruthless nature of elite competition.

Last weekend's FA Cup fourth round illustrates the trend. Wigan could field alumni from Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham, Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Bournemouth academies. Grimsby's squad contains graduates from Arsenal, West Ham, and Manchester United. The pattern extends to sixth-tier Macclesfield, where Max Woltman played for Liverpool at San Siro in the Champions League and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts spent seven years at Manchester City.

Matt Smith's journey exemplifies the fine margins. He joined Arsenal at age seven, progressed through the academy alongside Emile Smith Rowe, Folarin Balogun, and Dan Ballard, and reached the 2018 FA Youth Cup final, where he was replaced by Bukayo Saka. He trained with Arsenal's first team under Mikel Arteta and earned a medal as an unused substitute in the 2020 FA Cup final.

His path diverged from his peers. Saka became a superstar. Ballard, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Smith Rowe, and Joe Willock established themselves in the Premier League. Balogun plays Champions League football.

Smith built an impressive career in less exclusive surroundings. On Sunday, he played in midfield for Wigan Athletic, currently battling relegation from League One, when they visited the Emirates in the FA Cup to play Arsenal.

"What's brilliant about the English pyramid is that you can go to the sixth tier and it's an incredible standard of football," said Luke Matheson, who scored at Old Trafford as a 16-year-old while at Rochdale and now plays for Macclesfield.

Smith described the challenge in a 2024 interview with The Athletic: "It is a sink-or-swim environment. You've got to be better than the guy in your position, no matter how old they are." His task was effectively to replace Granit Xhaka.

Of the 72 clubs in the EFL, 67 operate academies. Teams are investing over $100 million in youth development beyond grant funding, according to EFL chief operating officer Nick Craig.

"We're seeing a lot of teams making the push to go from Category 3 to Category 2, which is a big leap," Craig said.