From the Bronx to Burton: England U21s new boy and New York City FC's Jack Harrison gives his story

Wednesday 04 Oct 2017

I’ve only been here for just over a day, but it’s all gone so fast and I just can’t wait to get out on the pitch and get to work.

I’ve met all of the guys and all of the coaching staff and they’ve all been great with me in what has been a pretty hectic few days.

To start with, I didn’t really know whether a call-up was on the cards at all. A few people had mentioned it to me over the last few months, but I’d never heard anything and I wasn’t aware until before the Chicago game at the weekend when Patrick [Vieira] actually told me I’d been selected and that was such a proud moment for me.

It was a whirlwind from there. Even last week, we’d travelled up to Montreal and then went straight to Chicago from there for the game. Then it was back to New York, where I was scheduled to fly from a different airport and with the traffic and everything, I ended up missing my first flight.

By the time I tried to get in touch with somebody at the England end, everyone was asleep over here so I just decided to book a flight by myself and flew into London the next morning and then got a car up here, so it was a bit hectic but I’m just so happy to finally be here.

I only arrived in the camp late on Monday evening, but I’ve had a good look around St. George’s Park to find my bearings a little bit and it’s an incredible facility, it’s fabulous here and the equipment and everything they have is unbelievable.

Then I had to go and have a medical check on Tuesday morning, but I’ve been around the guys for a while now and I’m just excited to get back on the pitch for my first session.

I’ve settled in quickly and the other guys have welcomed me really well. They’ve all been asking so many questions about New York, so it’s nice to know that they observe and know the MLS. It’s good and they seem intrigued about how life is over there and my story.

So what is my story? Well, I grew up in Bolton just playing football at school and with friends and I was with Manchester United’s academy from the age of six until 14.

It was then that I left and made the decision to go. I went to the Berkshire School in the USA after my mum had introduced the idea of a football scholarship to me, that I should have an education as a back-up if anything happened with football and I wasn’t able to play anymore.

When I left United, the idea of going to America was frowned upon a little, but it was something that I wanted to do in the situation I was in.

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Looking back at my time with United and some of those who I played with, there was James Wilson, who was in the year above me, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Scott McTominay were in my age group and of course, Marcus Rashford was in the year below so it’s nice to see how they’ve progressed in their careers too.

At the time though, I’d passed the school tests and was invited to go over for a visit but we didn’t have enough money for us all to go at the same time so I went there on my own. It was to just go out initially to see if I liked it and if I did, I would stay out there and if I didn’t, I’d come back home.

So I spent five days there and absolutely loved it. The campus, facilities and the community were brilliant and on top of that I was getting an education as well as a football scholarship which was massive for me

The standard was a lot better than I expected too. A lot of people don’t think much of the MLS or American soccer in general over here, but it was much better than what I thought it would be and I spent four years there before I went to Wake Forest University for six months.

It was then that I got drafted for the MLS and it’s now my second year of playing with New York City FC. At that moment in time, I never thought I would end up back here with the U21s so it’s all an honour for me really.

I’ve had great support behind me at New York, from the likes of David Villa and Frank Lampard. I’ve learned a lot from those guys on and off the field, they’ve been incredible with me and I’m really grateful for my relationship with them.

They’ve offered so much to me without really knowing it, especially Frank. Even in the past year, despite being in England, he always reaches out to me and we’ll speak a lot and if he’s seen a goal or something, he’ll text me. He was in touch again when I was on the way up here.

He’s been massive for me and is such a role model in my eyes and I aspire to be like him one day.

Aside from the honour of the call-up, it’s great to be back in England again, as I don’t really find myself back that often because of what is a long season in the MLS.

I only get a chance to come home at Christmas, which is a nice time to enjoy spending a few weeks with my family, as we have to be back for pre-season at the end of January and then the season runs all the way through with the play-offs at the start of December.

I’m looking forward to the games this week too, especially the first one with Scotland and I’m just excited to be a part of it all.

I think I’ve going to have quite a lot of my family coming to the game, all of my dad’s side of the family, my uncle and my cousins too, so I’m hoping to find a way to get them enough tickets for them all.

After that, it’s Andorra which will be something very different and a bit of an eye-opener to what I’ve been used to in the States, but it’s another opportunity which I’m looking forward to and I’m excited by the experience.

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels