FANS hailed Ollie Watkins for “never forgetting his roots” as the non-league loanee turned England striker watched his sixth-tier hometown club.
The Torquay-born Aston Villa hero saw the former EFL club take on Truro City in a National League South relegation battle between two sides hit by incredible problems this season.
Torquay have gone into administration after having 10 points deducted.
And Truro face one of football’s most packed schedules just to finish the campaign due to being groundless AND enduring terrible weather at their alternative venues.
But you would never have guessed all that from the smile of Truro skipper Connor Riley-Lowe as he shared pics with close friend Watkins.
They were at their first club Exeter City together from 2014-2017.
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During that time Watkins spent half a season on loan at part-timers Weston-super-Mare.
The late-developer, now 28, then found lower-league fame with Brentford from 2017-2020 and has since earned 11 caps since joining Villa
Meanwhile, same-aged left-back Riley-Lowe went on loan from Exeter to Weymouth and Truro, who he signed for permanently then rejoined from Bath four years ago.
Watkins looked on unobtrusively from the sidelines with the hood up on his winter coat amid wild conditions as Torquay beat Riley-Lowe’s team 2-1 in.
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One fan posted: “Fair play Ollie, never forgets his roots.”
Another said: “Top lad, definitely deserves the England call up over Toney.”
And a third wrote on X: “At least he hasn’t had to travel far with Truro now being in Gloucestershire.”
With each side sitting nervously just above the drop zone, it was Truro’s “home” game – but with a big difference.
They are now playing at Northern League North side Gloucester City – 197 miles away.
Truro have been without a true venue of their own this season as they wait to move into a new ground.
They started the campaign 53 miles away at Plymouth Parkway’s Bolitho Park before switching to Taunton Town’s Wordsworth Drive stadium 125 miles off.
Incredibly, both stays became rain-hit nightmares, with the pitches often waterlogged, forcing the move to Gloucester.
But whatever the distances, it’s a million miles away from the type of issues Watkins deals with as he targets Euro qualification with Villa and a Euro 2024 spot with the Three Lions.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
