Cheltenham Town's former loanee Michail Antonio recalls his debut at Elland Road, where he suffered an injury that ended his brief spell with the Robins. The Premier League star was just 18 when he arrived at Whaddon Road from Reading, making his EFL debut at Elland Road during a brief loan spell with the Robins. Long before he became West Ham United's leading Premier League goalscorer and a Jamaica international, Michail Antonio enjoyed a loan spell at Cheltenham Town. He had just been plucked from non-league Tooting & Mitcham by Reading when he was lent to the then League One Robins, who were managed by Martin Allen. Allen's team were four points adrift at the bottom of the table and Antonio, who was 18, was thrown in for his debut away to Leeds United. He made an impressive start to his EFL career, with fellow Reading loanee Nicholas Bignall also in Cheltenham's front three, but it ended painfully. ## What happened? "I went from playing in front of 200 to 500 people at Tooting to 20,000 people at Elland Road in the space of six months. Unbelievable," Antonio told FourFourTwo. "The first 28 minutes, I was on absolute fire, beating people for fun, doing long throws, taking corners – I was doing it all. Then, after 28 minutes I tore three ligaments in my ankle." After hobbling off, Antonio was replaced by fellow teenager Marley Watkins and a second-half double from Jonny Howson sealed a 2-0 win for Leeds, who went on to lose to Millwall in the play-off semi-finals that season. ## Why it matters for Cheltenham Cheltenham Town currently sits 18th in England League Two, 52 points, 14W-10D-22L from 46 games, recent form LLLWW. The Robins are 35 points behind leaders Bromley in the title race. Their next fixture is against Barnet on August 29. ## What comes next? Antonio was ruled out for the next five weeks, but after regaining fitness he returned to make another eight Cheltenham appearances, six of which were starts. He was kept out of the team by youth team forward Jake Lee for a 1-0 home win over Yeovil Town, but did come on at half-time, only to be replaced by Lee Ridley in the 87th minute. Antonio was only on the winning side twice and his obvious talent was not enough to prevent Allen's team being relegated on the penultimate Saturday of the campaign after a 1-1 home draw with Carlisle United. ## The impact on Antonio's career Being here at Cheltenham has shown me the real life of football," he told Gloucestershire Live ahead of his final appearance for the club. His next loan was to Southampton, who were also in League One, the following season. He broke into the Reading first-team picture, but was then sent out on loan to Colchester United and Sheffield Wednesday, with the latter becoming a permanent switch in 2012. Nottingham Forest paid £1.5m for him two years later and he was named their Player of the Year in 2014/15. Antonio’s remarkable rise was complete 12 months later when West Ham signed him for £7m. He made more than 300 appearances for the Hammers in all competitions across a decade, netting 83 goals and helping them win the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022/23.