Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Jed Ward has been called up for by England under-19s for a training camp, just weeks after making his first-team debut for the club.
Ward, 18, will never forget May 2021, playing his first game in senior football for his boyhood club before his 18th birthday, followed by national recognition.
Bristol-born Ward, who turned 18 on Thursday, has been named in a 28-man squad by England under-19s boss Ian Foster for a five-day training camp at St George's Park next week as preparations begin for the under-19s European Championships in 2022.
Gas boss Joey Barton is a huge admirer of Ward, who had been a regular feature in first-team training at The Quarters before making his debut at Blackpool on May 9 – when he was Rovers' consensus man of the match after making a series of impressive saves.
Ward will be joined by some of the top talents across the country, including Manchester United academy goal machine Joe Hugill and Dane Scarlett, who has already made his Premier League debut for Tottenham.
Ward has been at Rovers since the age of eight and is rapidly becoming a success story for the club's academy.
He will be desperate to impress Forster and put himself in contention for a place at the Euro qualifiers in the autumn, when the Young Lions will face Sweden, Switzerland and Andorra in hope of booking a place at the tournament, which will be held in Slovakia next summer.
