Football / News
Former Weston-super-Mare player Watkins sends England into Euro 2024 final
Only a decade ago, England hero Ollie Watkins was playing for Weston-super-Mare AFC in the Conference South while on loan from Exeter City.
“Dreams do come true,” tweeted the Seagulls’ official account on Wednesday evening.
That tweet came just after Watkins, who now plays for Aston Villa in the Premiership, had scored for England in the 90th minute against the Netherlands to send the Three Lions into the final of Euro 2024.
“I never thought I’d be playing in the Euros for England,” said man-of-the-match Watkins after the final whistle.
“Obviously, you can dream but I’m a realist. I was focusing on getting back into the first team at Exeter.
“I put in a lot of hard work to get to this point. It’s not just this season. It’s cumulative.”
View this post on Instagram
Moving to Weston-super-Mare in the sixth tier of English men’s football when he was 18, Watkins played 24 times for the club between 2014 and 2015, scoring ten goals.
After returning to Exeter from his loan spell, the Torquay-born forward was signed by Brentford before he joined Villa in 2020 and now starring in Germany for Gareth Southgate’s England.
Main photo: Weston-super-Mare FC
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
