Former Millwall and Dulwich Hamlet defender Ethan Pinnock wins promotion to Premier League on his birthday

Former Dulwich Hamlet defender Ethan Pinnock is celebrating promotion to the Premier League – capping a remarkable rise through the football pyramid.

The 27-year-old centre-back played fhe full 90 minutes as Brentford beat Swansea 2-0 at Wembley today to seal promotion to the Premier League.

The Lambeth-born player was released by Millwall at the age of 15 and dropped into the non-league game at Hamlet. He made just shy of 200 appearances for the Champion Hill club before being snapped up by Forest Green Rovers in the summer of 2016.

Pinnock was signed by Brentford in a £3million deal in July 2019 and Dulwich boss Rose backed him to reach the top flight.

The Bees lost to Fulham in the 2020 Championship play-off final but Pinnock signed a new five-year contract to commit his future to the west Londoners.

And Pinnock won promotion on his birthday.

If Carlsberg did birthdays… 🥳 pic.twitter.com/ZdH3X8cLLo

— Ethan Pinnock (@EthanPinnock5) May 29, 2021

“I’m not surprised he has gone to Brentford,” Rose told the South London Press when his former player made the move. “He has got some unbelievable physical attributes. He doesn’t carry any fat, he is left-footed, is brilliant in the air and defends diligently.

“He had so many of those attributes when he was with us. He doesn’t get overawed. He’s very level – on a good day or a bad day – and rises to a challenge, he never shirks it.

“When you have got those characteristics and can be improved at each club by being in and around better players, learning from good coaches, then I can’t see any reason he can’t keep building.

“First he needs to prove to the players around him what he can do, to earn the right to be around them. That doesn’t happen overnight, maybe even a few years.

“But I don’t see any reason [he can’t play in the Premier League].”