Tommy Conway admits he FROZE when he found out he was going to Euro 2024 with Scotland.
The Bristol City striker was with Scot Gemmill’s Under-21 squad for a friendly in Turkey last week when he got the news.
Gemmill delivered it in front of the entire squad, leaving Conway stunned.
The 21-year-old then made his full debut for Steve Clarke’s side against Finland at Hampden.
And he’s now in Germany preparing to take on the hosts in Munich in front of 80,000 fans on Friday night.
It’s been a whirlwind for the English-born forward, who qualifies for Scotland through his late grandfather Daniel.
And as he relived the moment he was told to get set for the Euros, Conway says it only felt real when team-mates started jumping on top of him. He said:
Where I’ve come from in the space of a week – I just couldn’t have dreamt it. Life comes at you quick and I’m just trying to take everything in my stride.
The U21s’ game against Turkey finished and Scot did his debrief straight after it. With the whole squad in front of him he said: ‘I want to congratulate Tommy for getting a call-up to the full squad’.
I honestly thought: ‘Is this real life’? For a second, I couldn’t quite believe it. I next day I was flying back to Glasgow and everyone was quiet.
Then Lewis Fiorini, who was sitting next to me, started jumping on me and hugging me. I just froze. I didn’t know what to do. It eventually sunk in and I realised what was about to happen. It was just pride, a really proud moment.
Conway is gutted that his grandad Daniel didn’t get to see him make his Scotland debut at Hampden on Friday night.
But he knows how proud he’d have felt – along with the rest of his Scottish-based family – to see him pull on the dark blue shirt and be heading to a major tournament.
Conway said:
He’s (Daniel) not with us any more but he means a lot to me. The role he played in my football career and journey, coming up through the academy, was unbelievable.
He had no right to be picking me up from school and taking me to training at his age, when my mum and dad couldn’t do it. So I’m forever thankful to him for that. I’m glad to have done that on Friday night for him.
He was from Stirling and I still have lots of family in Scotland, who were at the game.They were as buzzing as I was. It was a proud moment for the family. I’m hoping he was looking down proud.
I don’t think I could have dreamt of this, especially after the provisional squad was named. But in football, anything can happen. I wasn’t expecting it.
It was a shock, I’m not going to lie. It’s surreal and full of ‘pinch me’ moments. The welcome we got from the locals in Germany when we arrived was unbelievable. This is a good base for us and hopefully we can build from that in the tournament. I’ll be ready when I’m called upon, whenever the gaffer needs me. I’m going to train hard every day and if I’m needed on the pitch, I’m going to go for it. For the fans who are here and the ones who are back home, we’re going to do it all for them and try to get as far as we can.