Former North Nibley star set to represent England (From Gazette Series)

Former North Nibley star set to represent England

BUDDING football star Chris Davis is keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite achieving selection for England schoolboys.

Amazingly, the former North Nibley star was playing in the Stroud League last season and is currently making a big impact in the Hellenic League.

"I can't believe it really. Being called to play for your country is great but I'm taking nothing for granted and will keep my feet on the ground," said Davis.

The talented 17-year-old student could one day emulate players such as current England stars Michael Owen and Sol Campbell, who also began their careers at the same England school level as Davis.

His elevation to the England under-18 set-up will undoubtedly attract a host of scouts to his current club Shortwood United, whom he joined in the summer after a blistering season at North Nibley.

Playing in Division Six of the Stroud League, Davis formed a prolific strike partnership with veteran forward Greg Smith last season and proved to be a highly popular player at the club. A natural goalscorer, he is now hitting the target regularly in the Hellenic League with Shortwood.

Representatives from both Cheltenham Town and Gloucester City were in attendance during Shortwood's 5-2 defeat at Fairford last week, in a game that saw Davis hit two goals.

He has previously turned down an offer from Plymouth.

"At the moment I'm playing probably too much football as I represent the school and both the Shortwood first team and the youth side, so this is something I need to think about," admitted Davis.

The teenage striker is now targeting an England starting place against Northern Ireland at Belfast's Windsor Park on February 27.

"I think I have got a good chance of making the starting eleven but I will have to wait and see," he said.

Other matches in his forthcoming schedule include games against the Republic of Ireland at Northampton, Scotland in Jersey and a match against the Rest of the World at Aston Villa's Villa Park in May.

His progression has been closely monitored by Darren Perrin, youth team manager at Forest Green. And Perrin was full of praise for Davis.

"Everyone at Forest Green is delighted for him. He is a great player and a smashing lad," said Perrin.

"It is good for the area of Nailsworth and he follows in the international footsteps of Adie Adams, Danny Allen and Luke Jones at Forest Green," said Perrin.

But Davis has not forgotten his North Nibley days, and the club is immensely proud of him. Representative Steve Pennington said: "Everyone at the club is extremely proud of Chris and his achievement and would like to wish him well. He proved to be a very popular player with his team-mates and with the fans while at the club.

"As soon as the dates are confirmed, a trip from Nibley to support at one of the home games is planned."

Davis began playing for Nibley while studying at Stroud's Downfield School, which has been a highly useful source of players for the club with Pete Ralph, who is also now at Shortwood, and impressive winger Jim Warring both arriving from the school.

Davis made a dramatic debut for the club at Avening, scoring a hat-trick in the first twenty minutes of the game only for Nibley to lose 9-4. However, the promise that had been shown in this debut match would be lived up to throughout the season as Davis maintained his prolific form through to the end of his first year at the club.

In the end, he failed to score in only two of his 15 appearances for Nibley and finished the season with 18 goals. This fine form complimented a remarkable year for the team, as former star defender Shaun Willey returned to strengthen the backline, while a lift in the performances of loyal players Ollie Brown, Paul Reynolds, Sammy Rousseau, John Wilde and Greg Smith saw Nibley stage an awesome run at the end of the season and gain 26 points from their last 14 games.

This incredible sequence of events was suitably lamented last week with news of the international call-up of Davis.

Despite his huge promise, the youngster is taking his education very seriously and is hoping to go to Loughborough University to study sports science later this year.

"Education is important to me but if an offer came along from a league club I would have to think about it very seriously."