You know you've arrived in non-League football when you're landed on your backside within 20 seconds. Equally, you know you've arrived in the Premier League when you're asked to keep Mo Salah quiet for the afternoon.
Ethan Pinnock has done both. Rejected by Millwall at 15 and having played the majority of his career in non-League football, he's now the mainstay of a Brentford team in the Premier League taking on Leeds on Sunday.
So how was his introduction to non-League football at Dulwich Hamlet?
Ethan Pinnock (right) was rejected by Millwall at 15 but has battled his way back up the leagues
The centre half (right) is now a key part of Premier League side Brentford's defensive ranks
'It was my first game, not an actual league game, a pre-season match. I got the ball, passed it on and a striker clattered into me two seconds after the ball had gone. I was 17 and in youth football that never really happens!'
His story is quite the ascent, from seventh tier of the Isthmian League at 22, via the National League with Forest Green Rovers and then on to Barnsley and Brentford.
He eventually made it to the Premier League at 28 and is now more than holding his own there in Brentford's back three.
'It's quite late in my career [to get into the Premier League] and maybe the first few games, there are periods when you look at who you're playing or what stadiums you're playing in because you've been playing in lower leagues,' he says.
'But once you're actually playing that all gets put on the back seat. You're focused on your job. We got promoted, we deserve to be here. And we've shown we can compete with the best teams.'
Such as against Liverpool, where Salah might have sneaked a goal in against them but Pinnock himself got one up the other end and Brentford forced a 3-3 draw.
Pinnock scored against Liverpool as Thomas Frank's side secured a 3-3 draw against Liverpool
Life on the pitch may be more challenging but it beats the trips to Lowestoft away on a Tuesday night, getting back at 3am and turning out for lectures at the University of Greenwich at 9am that morning.
'There were a couple of faraway mid-week trips. One I remember is Lowestoft Town. I was at uni all day, rushing to make it in time for the bus. There would be one or two stops along the way to pick up players.
'After you play the game, then you get home at whatever time it is, and then the next day you have to get up for lectures or players going to work, it's really tough. From where I had my lectures you could see Charlton's players training out the window, so we would be doing
