The ‘Holy Trinity’ of George Boyd, Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron Mclean are prime examples, but they don’t all work out quite so well.
Here are a selection of good and bad signings from the non-league game. We’ve ignored the aforementioned Trinity as they’ve had millions of words written about them over the years, and also only included players who were signed direct from non-league clubs.
Can you think of any we have missed out?
13. GOOD - ROBBIE COOKE
Lethal marksman signed from Grantham Town for a pittance in 1980. Great finisher who netted 68 goals in 137 Posh appearances. Photo: David Lowndes
14. BAD - ALEX PENNY (centre)
Yet another signing from Nuneaton who flopped although this right-back was nothing to do with Graham Westley. Penny moved to Posh in July 2017 and played 11 times before moving on. Photo: Joe Dent
15. GOOD - BILLY KELLOCK
Attacking midfielder who cost Posh £25k from Kettering in August 1979. Scorer of great goals. He managed 48 goals in 156 appearances before First Division Luton paid £30k for him in 1982. Photo: David Lowndes
16. BAD - RICKY MILLER
A lot of hype accompanied a striker who grew up in Bretton when he arrived at Posh in July, 2017 after a prolific scoring stay at Dover Athletic. Didn't manager a single goal for Posh and had gone to Port Vale within 12 months. Started just 5 first-team games for Posh. Photo: Joe Dent