Sholing’s FA Vase victory may sound like a surprise inspiration for one of football’s top young talents but watching his uncles win at Wembley helped power Levi Colwill’s rise to prominence.
The 20-year-old centre-back is on the brink of making his senior England debut this month as an “amazing year” continues for the homegrown Chelsea star.
Colwill flourished on loan at Brighton and went on to win the Under-21 European Championship over the summer, before signing a new long-term deal and making his debut for the club he joined aged eight.
Chelsea is his team but Southampton is his home, where the defender’s family ties to local non-league side Sholing have left a lasting impact.
Watching the team was a regular part of his childhood and the pinnacle arrived in 2014, when he was mascot as uncles Barry and Byron Mason won the FA Vase against West Auckland Town.
Asked if that day at Wembley made him realise this is what he wanted to do, Colwill said: “Definitely.
“I remember just waking out with them, feeling the nerves. I saw how serious they were and I remember the celebrations after.
“It was just like a family thing with their team. Everyone was a family and I just love that feeling.
“So being a little boy, I remember walking out and looking up and thinking ‘I’ve got to be here one day, I’ve got to play here – I can’t let my uncles play here and not me’. Hopefully one day that happens with England.”
Colwill left Chelsea training early that day in time to get to Wembley, where he changed into his Sholing kit and waited in the tunnel for his uncles to walk past and lead him out.
He described the 1-0 win as “one of the best feelings ever” and nine years on the ties to Sholing remain as strong as ever.
Uncle Barry may have retired but Byron Mason is still going strong and is closing in on 700 games for Sholing, where Dan – the youngest of the Mason brothers – is scoring for fun.
“I still go there whenever I can,” Colwill said. “I haven’t been this season yet, but I went a few times last season.
“I like going to their ground or even I like going on away days. If I have a chance and they all love me, so it’s good.”
Colwill will have to miss at least two more Sholing games due to England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine on Saturday and the friendly at Scotland three days later.
The defender joked he is “going to have to play catch up” when he returns from an international break that many expect to see the highly-regarded defender make his senior debut in.
Colwill has earned praise for his confidence and composure on the ball, but it has not always been that way, describing himself as “very erratic” up until as recently as three years ago.
The defender did not want the ball and said “if it came to me I’m booming it first time”, but something clicked and the internal drive for more has powered his development.
“I think I’m hard on myself, definitely,” Colwill said. “You know, after games if you had a tough day it’ll play on my head for the rest of the night, and I think I’m someone that has to watch the game back as soon as possible.
“Because if not, I’ll just be laying there trying to sleep and I’m just remembering things. It’s not a nice feeling.
“But I think that’s where I push myself. I think not many people can get to me with what they say or anything, so I have to get myself there and I think it works the best.
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“So, when I’ve told myself ‘you’ve had a bad day at the office’, I feel like I have something to prove against myself.
“Like ‘you’re better than this’ and I think that’s why I’ve done so well so far.”
Asked if he brings works home with him, he said: “Yeah, 100 per cent because, you know, football’s my life. It’s my life, as simple as that, so being at home I can’t switch off.
“I haven’t learned how to switch off yet, anyway, so, yeah, I’m always trying to improve at home whenever I can.”
Germany 7-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Nagelsmann's side thump visitors to confirm top spot
Germany posted a commanding 7-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in their penultimate fixture in Freiburg to secure top spot in Group A3 of the Nations League.
Florian Wirtz and Tim Kleindienst scored two goals each while Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Leroy Sane were also on the scoresheet as the Germans posted their fourth win and maintained a five-point lead over the Netherlands in second place.
Julian Nagelsmann's side made a blistering start as Musiala headed home with just 78 seconds on the clock.
Borussia Monchengladbach striker Kleindienst then opened his account for Germany as Robert Andrich's effort deflected off him on its way into the goal in the 23rd minute.
Havertz ensured the hosts went into the interval with a three-goal lead, while Wirtz added two more, including a superb free-kick, before the clock struck the hour mark, effectively ending Bosnia's hopes of a comeback.
Sane joined the party in the 66th minute with Germany's sixth before Kleindienst sealed the victory with his second of the night, a close-range finish, 11 minutes later.
The hosts will wrap up their group stage campaign with a trip to Budapest to face Hungary on Tuesday, while Bosnia, sitting bottom with one point, will host group runners-up Netherlands.
Netherlands 4-0 Hungary: Hosts cruise into Nations League quarter-finals
The Netherlands booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Nations League with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Hungary on Saturday.
Two first-half penalties had put the hosts in control before Denzel Dumfries and Teun Koopmeiners secured second place in Group A3 at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
A medical emergency on the Hungary bench saw the game suspended after eight minutes, but play resumed with a Netherlands penalty after a Tamas Nikitscher handball, and Wout Weghorst confidently converted.
Cody Gakpo then doubled their lead from the spot in first-half stoppage time when Zsolt Nagy tripped Donyell Malen in the box, and Denes Dibusz was sent the wrong way once more.
Weghorst whipped a delightful, long-range curler against the crossbar shortly after the restart, but Dumfries would get their third in the 64th minute with a drilled finish across goal into the far-bottom corner.
Koopmeiners rounded off the scoring late on, meeting Dumfries' inch-perfect cross to power a header past Dibusz and in at the far post, and was denied a second moments later by the post.
Data Debrief: Oranje march on
The Netherlands knew they needed to avoid defeat to make it to the last eight in the Nations League, but Ronald Koeman's side were not going to settle.
They were on the attack from the very start, registering 22 shots as they created 2.92 expected goals.
Dumfries was at the heart of both goals after half-time, and he became the second player in history to score each of his first nine international goals for the Netherlands in the second half, after Pierre van Hooijdonk (also nine).
'We will bounce back', says Taylor after losing WSL top spot
Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor vowed his side will bounce back after they relinquished the lead in the Women's Super League with a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten both scored in the space of four minutes late in the second half as defending champions Chelsea condemned City to their first league defeat and leapfrogged them to the summit.
Sonia Bompastor's side now have a two-point lead at the top and a game in hand over City, but Taylor was confident his side will continue fighting the Blues for the WSL title.
"We've always done really well on the occasions we have lost, and we don't lose often. It's a tight challenge," Taylor told Sky Sports after the match.
"We are coming to a team that has done well over the years. We will bounce back for certain. The league is never won in November.
"Football is about getting kicked, and it's how you get back up. We are right up there."
The game looked to be heading for a draw for the most part before Ramirez and Reiten struck in the 75th and 79th minutes respectively, as Chelsea ended the game with an xG of 0.85, compared to City's 0.56.
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