Striker Connor Wickham says scoring the goal which won England the European U17s Championships for the first time was the perfect way to end a season which has seen him establish himself in the Town squad and sign his first professional contract. The 17-year-old, who had previously scored both goals in the 2-1 semi-final against France, netted England’s second just after half-time in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Spain.
Wickham said: "I’m buzzing still. We’re champions of Europe and that’s a great feeling. To score two goals to get us through the semi-final and then to score the winning goal in a final is amazing. It caps the season off perfectly. To be crowned a European champion with England is a bit surreal, but I’m delighted.
"It’s a great achievement. I’m proud of what we’ve done and I know our families are as well. We’ve never won it before and were the first England team to lift the trophy. It’s great.”
Coach John Peacock was similarly chuffed: "I’m absolutely delighted. It’s the first time we’ve won this competition [and it’s] 17 years since we last won a European title, so it’s a great day for all of us. I’m absolutely delighted for all 18 players because they have worked so hard and the spirit in the camp has been first class.
"This was never going to be a 2-0 or a 3-0 game. It was always going to be tight. We rode our luck but we also had some fantastic blocks and some fantastic defending and all the players contributed to a fantastic game of football.”
Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director of football development, felt there were fine displays throughout the England side: "Spain had some very good players, obviously, but wherever you look, there were good performances from our players as well.
"I thought our two central defenders were outstanding. Nathaniel Chalobah [of Chelsea] is still only 15-and-a-half and he was playing against players that are nearly two whole years older than him. He was excellent.
"Connor Wickham put in another good performance up top, getting a great winner, to add to his two in the semi-final, but, more than anything it was a great team performance and you can see this group have got a great team spirit.
"It is important to get that taste of winning early on and I can see how much they enjoyed it, but we must remember that it’s just a little sample for them. There’s still a long way to go in their development.
"Having said that, it’s really good for this group because it has whetted their appetite. They know what it feels like and they now know they can do it. Hopefully there will be a few of these that will progress into the U21 and senior teams.
"It’s a long time since an England men’s side won a European title and that’s a magnificent achievement. Let’s hope it rubs off on the senior team ahead of the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, striker Ronan Murray and goalkeeper Ian McLoughlin will hope to be in the Republic of Ireland side facing Bosnia-Herzegovina in the final match of their European U19 Championship elite group qualifiers in Ukraine this afternoon.
The Irish youngsters are still in with an outside chance of taking the only qualifying place if England lose to Ukraine and they comfortably beat the Bosnians, the group’s whipping boys.
Murray, who has 13 U19 caps, has played in both games so far, once starting, once as a sub, while McLoughlin, with one cap to his name, has been an unused substitute.