ENGLAND IN BLUES HEAVEN

ENGLAND’S first Under 19 European Championship title owes much to a match-winning backbone of Chelsea talent, according to goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Ramsdale is not one of the Cobham contingent, signed instead to Bournemouth, but he believes Chelsea’s academy, which has produced four straight FA Youth Cup triumphs, provided crucial know-how in Georgia.

Chelsea trio Dujon Sterling, captain Jay Dasilva and Mason Mount played the full 90 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 win over Portugal, while club-mates Reece James and Jacob Maddox were on the bench and Trevoh Chalobah only missed out through injury.

Ramsdale said: ‘Half of the team win trophies every season with Chelsea. They know what it is like to win, they know how to calm everyone down, they just know how to do things.

‘The other half who haven’t won trophies have played first-team football and if you don’t win the manager gets sacked, so it’s all about winning games. We’ve got confidence as a group.’

Mount, who captained Chelsea to their latest FA Youth Cup in April, acknowledged the praise but shared it with those from Manchester City, who are also well represented in England’s age-group sides and provided striker Lukas Nmecha — England’s matchwinner in the semi-final and final.