‘European football was a long way off – then we qualified for the Europa League!’

From Championship football to potentially starting in goal at the Amsterdam Arena against Ajax next month, it’s been a whirlwind few years for Panathinaikos goalkeeper Luke Steele, who is finally beginning to benefit from his decision to take the plunge and leave Barnsley for Athens.The 32-year-old, who has been capped at U18, U19 and U20 level for England, seeked out a fresh challenge after his Barnsley side were relegated from the Championship in 2014 and it was the prestigious Greek outfit who ended up signing the former Manchester United and West Brom shot stopper.Now in his third season at the club, Steele reflects on his time at the Greens by telling Goal about the challenges he has overcome since arriving in a foreign country two years ago, without speaking a word of the language and knowing little about the Greek Super League.“I’m really enjoying it”, said Steele at Panathinaikos’ training ground in Koropi, Athens.“I’ve been here nearly two years now and it’s just like joining any other new club as a new player – you have ups and downs – but when you’re abroad you sometimes blame it on the fact that you’re abroad. There’s been so many challenges within my life as well as football but it’s been exciting but I’m really enjoying it and I’m happy to stay here at the moment.“You’ve got the distance from your friends and family which is a huge thing. I’ve always had that because I’ve lived away from home but this time it’s not just a couple of hours on the car or train. You have to plan it and you have to have days off to go and see them – so it can be months without seeing the family especially if we’re playing in Europe.“There’s no other English players which means you have to make friends with other nationalities which has been a challenge when there’s different cultures. The day to day life like going to the bank and shops can also be harder than it should be but I’ve enjoyed learning the different things.“My family all live back in England and Peterborough. I’m lucky because my dad travels to a lot of games when he can. This season we’re in Europe and it’s great because I have 10 friends coming over when we play in Belgium against Standard Liege and Ajax in Amsterdam. Although I don’t get to see them longer than 20 minutes after the game they get to see me play in some big games.”Having spent the majority of his career in the Championship, Steele says the experiences now afforded to him are a “dream come true”. He was named in the UEFA Europa League Team of the Week following an impressive goalkeeping performance against Ajax in September.“I’ve played all of my career in one league – the Championship, and although I’ve been at Premier League teams Manchester United and West Brom where I’ve never played. To come here and play in the Greek League was a change because everything’s different and playing teams I’ve never heard of at times in some huge fixtures.“The first year I was here lucky enough to qualify for Europe and play Europa League games which was honestly a dream come true because I just wanted to make another step forward in my career. European football in my mind was a long way away in my mind because I was categorised to Championship football so I had to go down another route and the gamble paid off. I had to prove that I could get into the side and earn a new contract which was great.”Indeed, the gamble has certainly paid off for a goalkeeper who always held the belief that he was capable of going on to great things. English footballers playing abroad are a rarity with Joe Hart the most recent example of a player who was forced to look elsewhere for game time – and Steele says his gamble came with a whole host of differences and challenges.“It was difficult [to adapt] because there’s such a difference in the football from the Championship. I was at Barnsley for six-seven years and knew it inside out and to come to a foreign club there was a big difference. I tried to take everything day by day so each training session I was trying to do well and improve.“Sometimes you may get moaned at by somebody in Greek or Croatian and take offence to it – that was the biggest thing and I took the attitude that I don’t care and have to get in the team. I had a few battles before I got in the side with players and staff but they could see I was trying to go in the right direction. With such a good team like Panathinaikos who were playing from the back, it was always total football and that’s what I wanted rather than a lot of the long ball stuff you tend to get in the Championship.”Olympiacos have won the Greek league for the past six consecutive seasons and the gulf in revenue streams due to the Reds playing Champions League football has been evident for several years. The financial crisis in Greece certainly hasn’t helped matters, but there is a feeling that the gap is starting to close with the likes of Panathinaikos and PAOK both playing Europa league football and giving their rivals a run for their money for the first time in years.“This season is huge”, beams Steele.“Last year we have to admit that wasn’t great even though we came second in the league we were a long, long way behind Olympiacos. I didn’t dare to look at the table towards the end of the season. We came second and missed out on the Champions League but qualified for Europa League. We beat AIK Stockholm and Brondby which are two relatively big clubs. We’re top of the Europa league after four games but it has to still be the league. “We want to show this year that there isn’t a big as gap as there has been in previous seasons. We want to strive towards the title because that’s what this club should be doing every year. It’s a huge club especially outside of Greece – the fans deserve a title chase and that’s what we’re focusing on this season.”