Bradley Garmston flying high for West Brom

Yet had he decided on an alternative course, the lightning-quick Lichfield defender might well have found himself excelling in a totally different sport.

Garmston announced his arrival on the senior scene with a thunderbolt of a goal in Tuesday's 3-2 friendly defeat at Port Vale.

But just six years ago the 20-year-old, from Chorley, near Cannock Chase, looked destined for possible stardom on the track, not the football field.

Speed runs in the family for Garmston, whose mother, Sonia Lannaman, won 100m gold at the 1978 Commonwealth games and helped Great Britain to sprint relay glory at the 1980 Olympics.

So it was only natural for the former Lichfield Cathedral School pupil to try his hand at athletics – and to find he was pretty good.

Aged 14, he won a silver medal in the 200m at the English Schools National Championships in Gateshead and was ranked second in the UK over 100m and 200m.

But his football talents had already been identified and, while athletics had an obvious pull, it was never where his future lay.

"It was funny, because I didn't have much experience of sprinting, or the athletics world," he recalled.

"I had a few pointers, and had a few training sessions with my mum actually, in a field with my dad.

"I then went down to Birchfield Harriers in Birmingham, and went to the Birmingham Trials, which I won.

"I then went on to finish second in the National Schools.

"It was just a fantastic experience, running in front of a massive crowd.

"It's just something you take on board, really.

"I had a go at it, I was happy with that, but for me it's always been football, from a very young age.

"Athletics was just something that I wanted to try out and then go straight back into football.

"My mum didn't push me towards athletics at all. My mum and dad are always backing me, in whatever I do.

"But it was always going to be difficult to combine the two sports, and I am 100 per cent focused on the football."

Garmston joined the Baggies at the age of 15 and the former Boley Park junior star progressed through the club's academy before making his Football League debut in January, 2013 after joining Colchester on loan.

He made 13 appearances for the Us and returned to The Hawthorns this summer to find himself included regularly in first-team training.

He had previously helped Albion's successful under-15s team win the National Nike Cup, beating Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Arsenal along the way before seeing off Everton in the final.

He travelled on the pre-season trip to the United States, figured in squads for every friendly and started on Tuesday, scoring after his former youth-team colleague Kemar Roofe, from Walsall, had also found the net.

Head coach Alan Irvine said: "All the young players did well and both Kemar and Brad took their goals well, which was great. It was nice for them to get the chance.

"I had every intention of leaving Brad on for 90 minutes but his hamstring was tightening up so I had to take him off.

"I think that it's really important that you have young players that can make a squad bigger.

"You wouldn't want to be relying on too many young players too soon, but certainly having them around is good. That's why it's been really good to have them come out here.

"They have benefited from the injuries to the senior players because they've been out there to train with us and it's been a good experience for them.

"None of them let themselves down. What the right route is for them I don't know, it depends on what we get in terms of the senior players."