Millwall In search of….
While many Premier League players have played at the highest level their whole careers, Toffolo, who just made his top-flight debut at the age of 27, cannot be claimed to have done so.
Despite beginning his career in the top division with Norwich City, he never managed to log any league minutes with the first team and instead played on loan for Swindon Town, Rotherham United, Peterborough United, Scunthorpe United, and Doncaster Rovers.
Toffolo was practically shaped into the Premier League player he is now with each of his loan stints. Toffolo’s future hinged on his ability to learn his craft in League One and, for a little while, the Championship with Rotherham, since he was receiving very few opportunities with his parent club, Norwich.
Toffolo will always have happy memories of his tenure with Swindon Town in 2014–15, when he scored one goal in his first complete senior football campaign and assisted eight league goals from left-back.
Swindon, Toffolo
Toffolo left Carrow Road after a few seasons on loan with the hopes of playing first team football permanently, but it wasn’t exactly easy going from the start.
Harry Toffolo was a non-factor at Millwall.
In January 2018, the left-back agreed to a short-term, permanent contract with Millwall. For both sides, it was a fascinating transfer since Toffolo appeared prepared for the step up into the Championship with the Lions, having demonstrated promising potential while on loan in League One.
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He talked to the Millwall FC reporters after joining and conveyed his joy.
He stated: “It’s brilliant to sign – I can’t wait to get started,”
“Every time I’ve played at The Den against Millwall, they’ve always been a great team to play against; very well-structured and I look forward to working with the manager and his group of players.”
It’s wonderful to be able to refer to The Den as “home” for the upcoming few months. I’m eager to get going. The energy has always been amazing when I’ve performed here, and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be on the other side of the fence. I am now, Imay take pleasure in it and eagerly await my first game.”
Sadly, Toffolo did not play in that first game; he played 0 minutes for Millwall. The manager at the time, Neil Harris, was so certain that James Meredith would start as his left-back that Toffolo didn’t even make the bench and was only used as a replacement once.
He left the Den in the summer of 2018, and Millwall will now be permanently haunted by his future moves in the professional world.
Since leaving The Den, Harry Toffolo has only gotten better.
The finest move of the 28-year-old’s career thus far was to play for Lincoln City in League Two after leaving Millwall. The Imps had recently been promoted from the non-league ranks and would later earn consecutive promotions.
Despite his setback at Millwall, Toffolo was a major contributor to that League Two promotion season, starting all ten of Lincoln’s league games at left-back and grabbing ten league goals.
Lincoln played in League One for the first half of the 2019–20 season before moving to Huddersfield Town, where he was able to establish himself in the second division.
During his two and a half years in Huddersfield, he made vital contributions to the Championship team, coming dangerously close to helping them win promotion to the Premier League. His goal of playing in the top division of football started when he joined with freshly promoted Nottingham Forest after losing in the play-off final.
He has proven to be a valuable left-back option for Forest since joining them in 2022 as they battle to stay in the Premier League.
While Toffolo never made an impression at The Den, Millwall supporters may have watched him with great remorse over the last several years. Nevertheless, he has subsequently grown stronger.
The Lions and their supporters will undoubtedly view him as the one who got away.