be a short one. In 1990, Earnshaw's father contracted typhoid fever and died in May of that year. Following the death of her husband, Rita decided to move the family to Bedwas, a small Welsh town near Caerphilly where her sister lived, in 1991. Earnshaw later commented, "It was the first time I had been away from Africa. [...] It was much colder as well, just every little thing was different, everyone spoke English over here and although I could speak a little bit I had to learn. But when you're a kid you just get on with it." While living in Bedwas he became friends with David Pipe who lived nearby. It was in Wales that he began playing football, kicking a ball around with friends between and after classes at Cardinal Newman RC School, Pontypridd, the school he moved on to after a spell at St. Helen's Primary. He grew up supporting Manchester United and also excelled at gymnastics and basketball. Cardinal Newman was a rugby union-playing school so Earnshaw's first organised football match came at the age of 11 with local youth side Llanbradach. After a year, he joined GE Wales where he gained reputation as a prolific goalscorer, netting 80 times in a single season. Club career Cardiff City Earnshaw's youth team, GE Wales, played their home matches in Treforest on a pitch nearby to the youth team base of Cardiff City. In 1997, Earnshaw scored a hat-trick during a youth match that was being watched by Gavin Tait, then a youth team coach for Cardiff, who invited Earnshaw and some of his teammates to training and, on 1 August, he signed a one-year YTS contract at Ninian Park. He had also previously been watched by scouts from Manchester United. He progressed through Cardiff's youth development programme, scoring over 47 goals for the club's youth side during a single season including a hat-trick in a Welsh Youth Cup final victory over Llanelli, before being handed his debut in an FAW Invitation Cup match against Wrexham on 27 October 1997 at the age of sixteen. He made his professional debut on 6 September 1997 as a substitute in place of Scott Partridge during a 2–0 defeat to Millwall in the Football League Trophy. He made his league debut four months later, again as a substitute in place of Wayne O'Sullivan during a 0–0 draw with Brighton &