NATIONS PREPARE FOR BATTLE
SAM HOWES targeted England C selection this season – and the Wealdstone stopper says his provisional squad inclusion is thanks to the National League Stones.
The 25-year-old has been picked in Paul Fairclough‘s initial squad to take on Cymru C at Altrincham on March 21.
Three Lions chief Fairclough will whittle down the 25-man group to 16 early this week.
Howes has England experience from his youth days – including being part of the England U17 European Championship winners in 2014 – and would love to get the final nod.
“It’s massive honour to play for your country,” Howes told The NLP. “I’ve been fortunate enough to do it a handful of times through youth level.
“But it’s nice to get that recognition – especially with the calibre of players picked in this one. Very, very good players we’ve come up against this season.
“So I am over the moon and I am thankful to the club. They’ve given me that platform to be able to perform and get that recognition.”
“At the start of the season I did set it as an objective to try and get into the squad. Whatever happens from here on in, I’m being thought about in that way, which is a fantastic moment for myself.”
Crazy
Howes, who came through the ranks at West Ham United and Watford, played alongside the likes of Liverpool defender Joe Gomez and Bournemouth‘s Dominic Solanke through the England youth groups, with the highlight an U17 Euros win in Malta after beating Holland on penalties.
“I was very fortunate to travel and see all sorts of different places, but also have a lot of success along the way,” Howes said. “After the tournament of that successful year, it didn’t sink in for ages – partly because as soon as I got off the plane I had to finish my GCSEs!
“It was a crazy year but something that will always be a memory for me. Fingers crossed there can be many more in the future, including this game hopefully.”
Thriving
Former Woking and Dorking keeper Howes set-up his own one-on-one coaching company called SH Coaching when he came out of the academy system.
And he believes his Wealdstone form and England call shows the benefits of lar Non-League game time.
He admits it took time to adapt before really thriving at Horsham last season, winning player of the year, and making the jump back to Step 1.
“If I look back to the Sam at 20 to the Sam now at 25, I am a more focused on just playing,” he said. “That’s the main thing. If you’re playing you’re being seen. And you’re enjoying – that’s why you do it, at the end of the day. That’s been a fundamental of the success I’ve had over the last two years.
“When you come out of the bubble you realise this is real life now. I had experiences with loans when I was at West Ham and Watford.
“But when you come out and you’ve have to say, ‘OK, this is my No.1 shirt, I’ve got to own it’. “I only really found that last year when I had to drop down to make sure I was playing games.
“Hor-sham gave me that plat- form to show what I was about. Then I was really grateful to move to Weald- stone in the sum- mer. It’s going in the right direction for me.”
