Just off junction 33 of the M1, a short drive from Rotherham, there is a car park. An anonymous patchwork of painted lines but an indelible staging post on the journey of Aaron Ramsdale. Next stop? The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for derby day.
‘Me and my dad would stay in Travelodge Hotels night after night,’ the 23-year-old recalls. ‘One night, we couldn’t even find a hotel with vacancies. So we both kipped in his van.’
As a youngster, the goalkeeper was used to life on the road. His mother Caroline, who worked at a nearby school, would drive him from Staffordshire to train at Bolton.