It is almost 18 months since Rhys Norrington-Davies’s name was up in lights in the headmaster’s weekly newsletter at Royal Russell school in Croydon, celebrating his first call-up to the Wales senior squad. It was there that he achieved A-levels in maths, physics and geology, and was accepted into Southampton University to study civil engineering and architecture, at a time when being part of a Premier League promotion push felt rather unlikely.
“Education was my main focus and the thought of getting back into football was a bonus,” he says. “I was preparing to go to uni. Growing up I used to like structures, building sandcastles on the beaches, so I always had an interest for it.”
But then Sheffield Uni…