'Remember the name' - The story of Matty Fryatt's stratospheric rise at Walsall

Fryatt, who had once been likened to Wayne Rooney, had his very own 'remember the name' moment in front of the Walsall fans at Bescot.

It was the standout strike in a performance that heralded his first senior hat-trick in a memorable 4-3 comeback win over Huddersfield Town in January 2005.

He had already been on the first team radar for 16 months, but the 2005-06 season presented him with his big break.

Fryatt had made waves in the Walsall academy after joining their youth ranks aged 12. He had once scored 54 goals in a season for the Saddlers' youth team and was beginning to turn heads at the likes of Everton and Manchester United.

Instead, the Nuneaton-born frontman stayed in the West Midlands and launched his professional career under Colin Lee in 2003.

"We feel he is a player with a lot of potential and very much one for the future," Lee said at the time.

He was handed a two-year contract and made his professional debut just months later in a 3-1 defeat at Premier League side Bolton Wanderers in September 2003.

This would not be the catalyst to a breakthrough though and he ventured north to Cumbria for crucial minutes on loan at Carlisle United.

Upon his return, Fryatt played 21 times for Walsall in the Championship, scoring his first goal in a 2-1 victory over Preston North End in March 2004.

Relegation would follow for the Saddlers, but a drop down into the third-tier created a platform for Fryatt to finally explode on to the scene.

Fryatt played alongside player-manager Paul Merson and immediately struck up a strong understanding with the former Arsenal and England midfielder.

"It made me realise that he was a special player to play on the football pitch with," he said in an interview with Birmingham Live in 2018.

"The main thing with him was that he was always looking for the centre-forward.

"Looking back, that was a dream because all any forward asks for is one decent chance on goal and most of the time he provided that."

With a starting place nailed down, Merson in the supply chain and confidence in full flow: Fryatt completed the 2004-05 season with 15 goals in 37 games.

That included his match-winning treble against Huddersfield Town and the fastest goal in the Saddlers' history when he scored after nine seconds against Bournemouth.

Fryatt scooped the Supporters' Player of the Season award and inevitably had vultures circling for his signature in the summer of 2005.

His stake was increased further by a mesmerising display at the Under-19 European Championship, which saw England reach the final in Northern Ireland.

He got off the mark with a strike past Hugo Lloris in a 1-1 draw against France, before netting a hat-trick in a 3-1 success over Serbia & Montenegro in the semi-finals.

Walsall rejected a bid from Nottingham Forest later that summer, but 14 goals in the first half of the following campaign ultimately saw them accept their fate.

After 30 goals in 78 games, with almost half of those appearances coming from the bench, Fryatt completed his switch to Leicester City.