‘My trip to Ghana put a lot of things into perspective’
Interview Nathan Redmond tells Jeremy Wilson how charity work has helped him find some clarity
There were 10 extraordinary days at the end of last season that changed Nathan Redmond and which he will forever cherish.
This “period in my life that I will always remember” began and ended with recognition of his increasingly consistent on-field potency.
Redmond was voted player of the season by the fans and by team-mates at Southampton before being unexpectedly called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Nations League tournament.
It was, though, the four days in between, which were spent visiting vulnerable and impoverished children in Ghana, that proved utterly lifeaffirming. “Truly humbling and something I will never forget,” he says. “It put a lot of things into perspective. There were times after visiting workshops when I would just be silent. Times when I would be absolutely buzzing at some of the stuff I had seen.
“I got back home late after, woke up after 12 hours’ sleep and found out I was in the England squad. It was a reflective day for me, especially after the four days in Ghana. There are not many moments in your life that will shock you, but also bring a bit of clarity.”
Redmond then pauses before recounting experiences that could take you from despair at some of the living conditions and personal tragedies to absolute awe and wonderment for the human spirit. Inspiration was clearly mutual. “I spoke to locals, teachers and volunteers in different villages and towns. There were stories I could never repeat but that will probably stick with me for a lifetime.
“It was stuff you don’t understand until you go there. Like some of the facilities in which the kids go to school. Girls as young as 13 taking younger siblings to school, going to school themselves, picking them up and then cooking and cleaning. Some kids don’t have parents. Some are in a situation where they had one school uniform for the whole year.” Redmond was in Ghana with Right to Play, a charity he chose to work with after taking time to meet it and understand how it used sport to help communities. “It was the one that touched me the most in terms of what they were trying to achieve,” he says. “I wanted to go out there.
I think if you really throw yourself into something, you will reap rewards that are not materialistic but which will probably help change your perspective on your life, work or family life. You also don’t understand how much impact the Premier League has until you are walking through some of the villages and somebody spots you. Football is an international language – you put a ball in the middle of a school and everyone is running towards it. A smile was infectious.
“There was a lot that made me smile and a lot that made me think. You have to be eternally grateful for the opportunities and what you have. The basic things: waking up every day with heating, clean water, food in the fridge and a bed to sleep in.
“There are a lot of experiences in my life that have made me realise that football is not everything but it is something that I have always loved and wanted to do.”
Redmond grew up in Birmingham and again his eyes light up when the subject shifts to his biggest influence. His mother, Michelle, juggled pub and cleaning jobs to provide for her children but was also just about the ultimate touchline parent. “She knows what I have been doing since I was eight, playing against older kids in the street when she looked out of the window to check I was OK.
“She never missed a game when I was eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Never missed a home game at Norwich unless she was ill or the kids were ill. She never misses a home game at Southampton.”
Such devotion, however, always remained conditional on certain standards. “She taught me about hard work. It was, ‘If you are not performing well in school, you are not going to training. If you misbehave, you don’t go’. And if she said something, she was going to do it. I knew the consequences.
“There were times at school when I misbehaved, came home and there would just be a bed in my room. Everything had been taken out. My mum worked extremely hard to put me in positions to play football and be in an academy.”
Michelle is also always still ready with an assessment of Redmond’s on-field performance and, although he is now 25 and a full England international, it is interesting to hear why her insight remains so valuable. “She might refer to a particular time and be, ‘You are not playing like when you were at Birmingham’, when I was 17 and fearless. I’m like, ‘I’m getting older, more experienced, learning the game to be smarter’. It’s always open and honest. Every morning on the day of the game, she texts me.
“If someone knows you more than you know yourself, and can
still look into your eyes and know if you are lying or telling the truth, then it’s always a bonus to have in a world with superficial materialistic things and people wanting to tell you everything you want to hear. She will be, ‘You did not work this hard to not enjoy it but at the same time showcase what you can do’.”
Redmond has certainly been doing that in recent months. His partnership down Southampton’s left with Ryan Bertrand has been one of the foundations for a revival that makes them deceptively dangerous opposition tomorrow at Anfield.
The Premier League form table has Southampton behind only Liverpool and Manchester City over the past 12 matches and, with wins at Chelsea and Leicester City, they have been especially potent away from home.
Redmond has barely missed a game during the past two seasons but is understated both about his overall form and a spectacular finish against Crystal Palace 10 days ago.
“I managed to jink into an opportunity where it opened up and, if I’m honest, I just hit it as hard as I could,” he says. “I’ve been in form where I’m great and when I’m not so great.”
Southgate’s appreciation for his qualities is certainly well documented and he must have a reasonable chance of returning to the England squad for the March fixtures against Italy and Denmark. It is not something that Redmond will publicly push for – “whatever happens, happens, I’ve never mentioned it and I didn’t expect it when I came back from Ghana” – but he would clearly love to be part of this exciting crop of senior English talent.
Having signed a new contract at Southampton last year, there is also striking confidence that the recent progress under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl can be accelerated. “The focus is consistent performances, seeing what our limitations are and if we can break our limitations. I’m very interested in what we can potentially do because I know the talent, desire and work rate.”
Add in that rounded off-field perspective and you can see why Redmond and Southampton have been thriving.