If things had worked out differently, Glenn Kirkham could have been preparing for a first visit to the Broadfield Stadium.

Instead, the 29-year-old one-time Scunthorpe United youth team player will be a key figure in Great Britain's bid for a medal at the London Olympics.

As a sports mad teenager, Kirkham had the choice of two sports as he looked to carve out a career in the game.

He choose hockey and that decision has been vindicated several times over but perhaps never more so than when he pulls on his shirt for Great Britain's London Games opener against Argentina at the Riverbank Arena on Monday July 30.

Kirkham is now one of his country's most experienced players, a leader on the park if not in name. This will be his second Olympics, he has 145 England caps to his name, 69 Great Britain caps, more than 200 international appearances in total and a string of successes during this country's hockey revival in the last few years.

Those include winning the England Championships in 2009, taking a bronze medal at the same event last year, a silver in the 2010 Champions Trophy, finishing fourth at both the World Cup in 2010 and the Commonwealth Games the same year.

So would he have swapped all that for a career at Glandford Park with Scunthorpe, the team he appeared for in the FA Youth Cup all those years ago?

Kirkham said: “I always say I picked hockey but I don't think there ever really was a point where it said you have got to choose. Hockey really took over.

“At the time I was playing (hockey) for England under-18s and was just about to be selected for the under-21 squad. I weighed it up.

“I had always said to my parents I wanted to play whichever sport to the highest level I could. At the time, Scunthorpe United were League Two, something like that, and I thought even if I do make it there it is still quite low down the pecking order and I was doing so well at hockey.

“I had realistic aims and ambitions of going to an Olympic Games, which for most athletes is the pinnacle of a sports career. I don't think there was ever really that choice and if there was I think I made the right one in the end.”

Great Britain coach Jason Lee will agree with that, so too will East Grinstead where Kirkham has played his club hockey since 2006.

Kirkham, who has captained England in the past, has been a fundamental part of East Grinstead's rise to become the dominant force of domestic hockey as well as a genuine contender in Europe.

It is no coincidence that the international team - be it England or Great Britain for the Olympic cycle - have mirrored Grinstead's year-on-year improvement.

Britain go into the London Games ranked fourth in the world and tipped to be strong contenders to claim a first Olympic gold medal since 1988 when Sean Kerly et al gripped the imagination of the British public.

Kirkham is a considered, thoughtful, measured character, not prone to wild predictions but he does not see why Great Britain cannot push to emulate the success of the boys from Seoul 24 years ago.

He said: “We were fifth in Beijing four years ago. When we say we were close to the semi-finals, I'm not so sure how close we were really.

“Fifth place at that time was a really good finish for us. Now, coming into these Games, if you gave us fifth place we would be absolutely heartbroken about it.

“We are going in expecting and wanting to get to those medal games and once you get to those games anything can happen. I genuinely think we are in a position where we can do well in a semi-final and hopefully get to that final and win a gold medal.

“The squad is made up of the majority of the England squad that won the European Cup in 2009, who have done well on the world stage. The Commonwealth Games was a little bit disappointing in that we didn't medal there but, again, getting to the semi-finals, that has been key in the evolution of the team.”

Playing for East Grinstead is important to Kirkham, who is delighted to be joined in the squad by clubmates Ashley Jackson, Barry Middleton and Iain Lewers.

He is also immensely proud to be part of a home Olympics.

Kirkham said: “I have been at the club now for six years and training with Ashley and seeing him improve from such a young age as well has been great.

“It is fantastic to have those players you have trained so hard with over a long period of time with you. I enjoy club hockey and it is nice to have that same feeling on the international stage.

“Being selected for Beijing four years ago was massive because that was my first Games.

“As an experience it was great, the razzmatazz it had around it was fantastic.

“Not many people can say they have been to an Olympics, let alone a home Olympics and the way the crowd as a home nation will get behind each and every one of the sports can only be good for those athletes competing.”

FACTFILE

• Age: 29.
• Club: East Grinstead.
• Position: Midfield.
• England caps/goals: 145/7.
• GB caps/goals: 69/7.
• Olympic history: 2008.