February 27, 2011. England Under 17s are contesting the final game of the Algarve Tournament against Portugal and in their team is a Birmingham City winger.
The match kicks off at 11am and finishes in a 2-2 draw. England’s party dash to the airport but the young winger knows the flight back to the UK means he will have no chance to watch his boyhood team contest the League Cup final against Arsenal.
So he does his best to put all thoughts out of his mind until the plane touches down. Then he hears six words that will stay with him for the rest of his life: ‘Nathan, you’ve won the cup final!