Ramsden: 'It Took A Little While For Me To Realise What I’d Achieved'

Writes: Rhys Pountain

Rhyce Ramsden alongside his girlfriend Ellé - Image: Jake Kirkman

Not one, not two, but three trophies in a week for Rhyce Ramsden who believes he is reaping the rewards for his strength in character on and off the pitch.

Ramsden was the joint top goal scorer alongside his clubmate David Tweed as England lifted the 2023 Nations League trophy, before picking up the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his performance in Saturday’s FA Disability Cup final.

The Bolton-born attacker scored two and assisted one as his side claimed their first FA Cup trophy since 2019, following a 4-2 victory over Portsmouth at St George’s Park.

Reflecting on the result, Ramsden said: “With it being my first final at the home of English football and playing in front of the TV cameras, it was surreal.

“It took a little while for me to realise what I’d just achieved, and then it finally dawned on me, I’d just won player of the match live on BT Sport in an FA Cup final. I was in shock.”

Ramsden talks to Sky Sports - Image: Jake Kirkman

Although his Jack Grealish-styled haircut splits opinion, his performances only receive praise, and the electric winger puts it down to his attitude towards achieving his dreams, he said: “I pride myself on having a strong mentality and work ethic.

“If you don’t do the work away from training, you're not going to be able to perform to your best potential.

“In both the Nations League and FA Disability Cup finals, we were seen as the underdogs but believing in my ability and my teammates was enough to know that we can beat anyone on our day.”

While it’s been a week like no other for Ramsden’s amputee career, he did admit that experiencing the 2017 European Championship final will take some beating.

“This week has been my best in terms of reaping the reward for trophies, it’s been up there with playing in the 2017 European Championship Final in front of 40,000 or so fans in Turkey,” said the 22-year-old.

“But winning two trophies back-to-back alongside the ‘Player of the Match’ is something I couldn’t have dreamt of.”