The summer 2026 transfer window has only just creaked open and most of the noise belongs to the World Cup and the eight-figure deals at the top of the pyramid. Yet down in the lower reaches, the quiet annual migration is already underway: non-league footballers earning the move that changes a career. It is the path Jamie Vardy made famous, and every June a new batch of part-time-adjacent players swap Non League grind for a professional contract in the EFL. Here are five who have made that leap so far this summer.
Perhaps the pick of the bunch. A right wing-back who has spent his entire career in non-league playing for Royston Town, Hemel Hempstead, then Southend. Scott-Morriss has been one of the most productive attackers in the National League despite playing from deep, scoring 45 goals in 162 appearances for the Shrimpers. The 29-year-old signed off in the perfect fashion, converting the winning penalty as Southend beat Wealdstone in the FA Trophy final at Wembley, before joining Oldham Athletic on a two-year deal at the end of May. It is his first taste of the Football League, and manager Micky Mellon has been blunt about the ambition: Oldham want out of League Two.
Roberts was the standout forward outside the EFL last season, plundering 20 goals from the wing as captain of a Scunthorpe United side that reached the National League play-offs. That form made a return to the Football League almost inevitable - and it came with a familiar face, as he rejoined former club Notts County, who themselves go up into League One for 2026-27. Roberts was open about his thinking, saying the only club he would leave Scunthorpe for was one in the league. A more lucrative offer at Meadow Lane proved too good to turn down, and the Magpies get a proven match-winner for the step up.
A reminder that the route up is rarely a straight line. Pruti, a commanding 24-year-old centre-back capped by Albania at under-21 level, actually had a brief spell in the EFL with Hartlepool United back in 2023 before drifting back into non-league with Farnborough, Slough Town and then Sutton United. He rebuilt himself at Gander Green Lane, captaining the side and chipping in with three goals from defence, and that consistency earned a two-year deal at Grimsby Town, who narrowly missed promotion via the play-offs last season. Pruti framed it as the right moment, finally ready to show what he can do at that level after his time away.
Released by boyhood club Sheffield United, Maguire took the well-trodden loan circuit through National League North — Bradford Park Avenue, Chester, Kettering, Chorley, before joining Boston United permanently in 2024. Two seasons at the Jakemans Community Stadium yielded a tidy 14 goals and 14 assists from midfield, and the all-action 22-year-old has now been snapped up by York City, who return to League Two as National League champions. Because Maguire is under 24 and was offered fresh terms by Boston, the fee will be settled by a tribunal if the clubs cannot agree -a technicality that does nothing to dim a genuine step up for a player still early in his career.
The longest climb of the lot. Maskell started right down the pyramid with Horden CW in the Northern League, where he was named the division's young player of the season, before a move up to Dunston brought a startling 26 goals in 36 games in 2023-24. That earned him a switch to Darlington in National League North, and two productive years there with 23 goals in 77 appearances. This have now carried the 21-year-old centre-forward all the way to Barnet and his first contract in the EFL. The Bees, who finished eighth in League Two last season, have leaned heavily on the non-league market this summer, and Maskell fits the profile manager Dean Brennan likes: a young, energetic, pressing forward signed permanently for an undisclosed fee. By his own description he is all about high pressing and giving everything from the front, exactly the raw, hungry profile this pathway tends to throw up.
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