From the Homeless World Cup to England’s worst-kept secret – the extraordinary story of an unlikely FA Cup hero, writes MATT BARLOW

If the secret wasn’t out already, an eye-catching goal live on ITV gave a nationwide armchair audience a glimpse of what Wycombe supporters have known for some time – that in Richard Kone they have unearthed a special footballing talent.

Kone came on to score the second in a 2-0 win at Wealdstone in the FA Cup second round on Saturday, his 12th goal of the season. Others have included one against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup and a nine-minute hat-trick against Peterborough in League One.

All at 21 in his first full season as a professional footballer. This time last year Kone was playing for Athletic Newham in the Essex Senior League, scoring for fun before crowds usually below a hundred.

Now he has eyes on promotion to the Championship and the FA Cup third round, and scouts tuning in from around Europe, including strong interest from France and Belgium.

Progress has been rapid since joining Wycombe full-time in January. His physique has taken on a stronger, more athletic quality and his gifts refined. He is powerful, quick off the mark and capable of scoring a range of goals from scruffy tap-ins and screamers to solo goals like the one at Wealdstone, when he held off and rolled past his marker, beat another defender and hit the net.

‘A great year for me,’ Kone beamed afterwards. ‘From where I played to now, I just have to be thankful to God, taking me from where I was and step-by-step bringing me here to improve and learn.

In Richard Kone (above), Wycombe Wanderers have unearthed a special footballing talent

He came on to score the second in a win at Wealdstone in the FA Cup second round on Saturday

Now he has eyes on promotion to the Championship and the FA Cup third round

‘I always knew how to score goals, but all the boys here and the staff are helping me so much with my hold-up play, taking my chances, positioning tactically. I’ve improved a lot. When I first signed, I was all over the place, pressing, chasing everything. Now I know my job. I know what to do. How to manage myself. How to be ready for the ball at my feet.’

Kone was born in the Ivory Coast and came to Cardiff in 2019 to play in the Homeless World Cup, an annual four-a-side competition where organisers might measure success when a player breaks free from an addiction or lands a job driving a bus.

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‘Every single player is a role model and inspiration to people across the globe for their resilience and strength,’ said Matthew Williams at the Homeless World Cup Foundation. ‘Richard’s success on the pitch is testament to its power We’re proud to have been the catalyst for such an exciting career and can’t wait to see where it takes him.’

It was at the tournament that Kone gave an interview in which he said he had been made homeless because his family rejected his homosexuality. The family is reconciled now, he says and, when he signed for Wycombe, he posed for photographs with his girlfriend and daughter.

He has not spoken about his sexuality since and has a right to privacy. He is in a good place at Wycombe, a club with a good heart. They have thrived by embracing players from diverse backgrounds.

‘We absolutely believe you can be who you are 100 per cent in our football club and that goes back many years,’ said boss Matt Bloomfield.

His predecessor Gareth Ainsworth, now Shrewsbury boss, forged his success on personalities like Adebayo Akinfenwa, Joe Jacobson and Darius Charles. Bloomfield, with 558 Wycombe appearances over 19 years, was part of that culture and now blends it into his own leadership style.

At Athletic Newham, Kone’s manager Chris Davis, now in charge of Ilford, went beyond nurturing his footballing career. Davis also became his legal guardian, bringing him the stability to launch this new life.

He is in a good place at Wycombe, a club with a good heart. They have thrived by embracing players from diverse backgrounds

‘We absolutely believe you can be who you are 100 per cent in our football club and that goes back many years,’ said boss Matt Bloomfield (pictured on the left)

The sheer weight of goals in Essex brought him attention. Kone impressed on trials at Colchester and West Ham, but it was Wycombe where he settled in. They showed faith and he could see a route to the first team.

He trained with them for months while continuing to play for Newham as he acquired paperwork to turn professional, which he did in January. Last week, Wycombe triggered an extension to his initial 18-month contract and now have him tied down until 2026.

‘He’s an incredible young man, a big part of what we’re doing and we hope to work with him for a long time yet,’ said Bloomfield. ‘He comes in with a smile on his face and the lads absolutely love him. He’s brought the freshness of someone who doesn’t care for reputation. He just wants to play football and score goals.

‘We’ve got to be careful with how much we expose him because he’s a young boy and developing, but every now and then players like him come along who force your hand, force their way into the team and we’ve got to be respectful of that as well.’

FIVE THINGS I LEARNED THIS WEEK

1. When Tottenham sent Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley on loan to Leyton Orient, they would not have expected the Irish goalkeeper signed from St Patricks to score a goal before their highly rated England Under 19 midfielder.

But Keeley, 21, popped up in the 99th minute to equalise in the FA Cup tie against Oldham on Saturday and joins the ranks of Pat Jennings and Paul Robinson as goalscoring Spurs goalies.

2. Bournemouth’s three penalties in little more than an hour at Wolverhampton will not have gone unnoticed at Sheffield Wednesday where they waited 558 days for a penalty, a wait that spawned its own social media account.

It finally ended on Tuesday with a spot-kick converted by Josh Windass against Hull City, the club where his father Dean is a legend.

Fabio Silva has taken only a dozen La Liga games to surpass the four Premier League goals he has scored for Wolves

3. Fabio Silva has taken only a dozen La Liga games to surpass the four Premier League goals he has scored for Wolves. His fifth Las Palmas goal was the winner against Barcelona on Saturday.

Wolves paid a club record £35.6million for Silva from Porto at 18. Four years on, he looks the part in Spain, a reminder all footballers mature in their own time.

Moise Kean was also one of the world’s most expensive teenagers when Everton paid Juventus £24.5m in 2019. Now 24 at Fiorentina, he is in unstoppable form, with 12 goals in 15 games this season.

4. There cannot have been a more popular weekend scorer than Tom Davies, whose first goal for more than a thousand days sent Sheffield United top of the Championship on Friday.

Davies has spoken openly about mental health during months battling injuries and working hard to get his career back on track. Hopefully, this is a significant corner turned for the former Everton midfielder.

5. Charlton have eight academy graduates in their first-team squad and eight others born in London.

They genuinely reflect their community in south east London and with ex-pro Paul Elliott who made his debut for the club at 16 now in the boardroom as vice-chairman, they are a perfect club to lead new research designed to bring more cultural diversity inside the stadiums of EFL clubs.