Eddie Nketiah: “A lot of the boys all grew up around the same area, so you knew them well away from football too. You all helped each other out, and your parents might drop your friends in, or your friends’ parents would take you and vice-versa. Especially when you move to an academy, it’s a bit further away to travel.
“I was at Chelsea from the age of nine so it was quite a journey. The boys who came in from similar areas like south-east London, Lewisham, would come in together. We’d get the train together or one of the parents would drop us. It made us closer as friends and was good fun. We all grew up as one big family.
“We’d go on tour together, our parents and family would be around together all the time, so we all got to know each other, and obviously Deccers was part of that too.
“That’s why we have such a good relationship now. We’ve got a lot of memories together, I know his dad and he knows my parents too. It’s a big family that always stays with you.”