The men in charge of Barnsley’s academy when England star John Stones came through believe he is capable of helping the Three Lions to glory at the World Cup this summer.
The 24-year-old from Thurlstone was part of the England team which beat Colombia on penalties on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament in Russia.The Manchester City centre-back has received praise from pundits and players for his performance while he is the only outfield player to have started all four of England's games so far.
Stones – who spent a decade in the Reds academy – came off injured in the final group game, a 1-0 loss to Belgium on Thursday, but returned for the last 16 victory which sets up a quarter-final meeting with Sweden tomorrow. Ronnie Branson, who is now retired but ran the Oakwell academy when Stones was in it, said: "It's fantastic, not just that he's playing for England, but that he's playing so well for them.
"The first I remember of him is this little boy with very distinctive blonde hair, then he went through the gangly stage in early teens when his arms, legs and brain were not quite connected. But at 15 or so we knew we had a very, very good player.
"I still speak to him regularly and he's still the same smashing lad with a great family around him. He hasn't been blown off course by money or any other distractions. He's got a lot of steel and determination which a lot of people don't realise about him."
As well as Stones, two other former Reds were in the England back five against Colombia. Right wing-back Kieran Trippier – who made his professional debut for Barnsley on loan from Manchester City in 2010 – scored one of the penalties in the 4-3 shoot-out win. Harry Maguire, who was in the Oakwell academy from under nines to under 11s, completed the trio.
Mark Burton, the former lead coach of the academy who is now at Notts County, said: "It's great to see two players who were in the Barnsley academy playing for England at a World Cup. Harry Maguire was only with us for two years so Sheffield United have to take all the credit for him. But the whole town of Barnsley should be so proud of Stonesy."He has openly said he was brought up at Barnsley to play out from the back and be comfortable on the ball.
"He plays in these big World Cup games as if he was playing for the under 18s round the back of Oakwell. He has no fear and so much freedom. Everyone said 'he won't play like that in the Premier League or in international football'. But he is.
"I've messaged him to say that winning the Premier League with Man City is great but winning the World Cup with England would be something no one will ever forget and would turn him into a legend. I think he could do it."
Stones has been criticised in recent years for defensive errors but Burton said: "He has always had good people around him like his parents. At the top level, you are going to get knockbacks. He's made mistakes but he's dusted himself down. He can defend, there's no doubt about that. He's big, strong and he gets his head on the ball like with the two goals against Panama. He's also got the ability on the ball which makes him special."
Stones played 28 Reds games before moving to Everton in January 2013.
