Charting the Yorkshire roots of a champion England team set to make history at Wembley for the final of Euro 2020

That was Armley in Leeds, in the early noughties. A “cheeky chappie” who would grow up to play for England in the men’s first major tournament final in over half a century.

Similar scenes were playing out in playgrounds across Yorkshire that year, with four more boys who would all grow up to become national heroes.

John Stones, in a small village in the Pennine hills, a quiet and bright child who had the potential to become a professional swimmer, but who only ever wanted to play football.

Kyle Walker, in Sheffield, a “skinny” boy whose teachers had watched him grow into his athletic prowess. Harry Maguire, in Mosborough, whose older brothers also had showed significant talent.

And Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had beamed with shy pride when his former PE teacher Rich Mintoft surprised him with a photo album from his days at the Steel City’s Forge Valley School.

This is a Three Lions’ team rooted in Yorkshire, roaring onto the pitch as the beating heart of England’s champion side, and set to make history as they face Italy in tomorrow’s final of Euro 2020.

With manager Gareth Southgate at the helm, himself an adopted Yorkshireman from Harrogate, suggestions mount as to what may be fuelling such talent with homegrown fire.

All the cliches drop, of being raised on Yorkshire grit, with a side of Sheffield steel, or something in the tea perhaps. One words stand out for those that know them – ‘resilience’.

“Win, lose or draw, you get on with it,” said Paul Hatfield of the Wortley Juniors, who had coached an eight-year-old Kalvin Phillips “That’s grit. That’s what he does, and always with a smile.

“What you see now is the same person he’s always been. Just a young lad who loved the game, and loved playing football.”

Mischievous

Midfielder Phillips, now aged 25, was born in Wortley and was spotted at an early age by Leeds United as he played for the juniors club, proving a poster boy for success.

He has long since spoken of a childhood on free school meals, and how his mother Lindsay Crosby and beloved late grandmother ‘Granny Val’ kept him and his three siblings on track.

To Claire Beswick, co-head at Whingate Primary, he was the ‘smiliest’ boy in the class, with those famous dimples to highlight a cheeky grin. Mischievous, she mused.

“Everybody knows who he is now, throughout the world,” she said, in a voice that’s still hoarse from cheering through Wednesday’s semi-finals. “It’s unbelievable, but we see it.