I was Tommy Conway’s boss in sixth tier – he’ll take Euros chance if he gets it

THREE seasons ago Tommy Conway was scoring against Concord Rangers in front of 220 fans in the Vanarama National League South.

But Jerry Gill, his former boss at non-league Bath City, says the striker — a late call-up for Steve Clarke’s Euros squad — was always mature enough to deal with whatever came his way.

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Conway was 18 when he joined Bath on loan from Bristol City in October 2020.

Gill said: “We’d already had Antoine Semenyo, who’s at Bournemouth now, on loan and had a good relationship with City.

“So we knew quite a bit about Tommy, not only his ability, but his personality and character.

“We like old-school values. If he hadn’t had those he wouldn’t have been anywhere near us.

“But he was still a young man going into a dressing room full of men. We had some seasoned players, but the best thing I could say about Tommy is that with us he was a Bath City player.

“There wasn’t an attitude that he was a Bristol City player who was just playing at Bath City.

“He was so mature. He scored in the opening minutes of his debut against Winchester City and never looked back.

“He wasn’t a physical presence at first, but he had an ability to nip in behind and create space.

“He was only with us until the league was curtailed by Covid, but he scored nine in 16 games.

“I’d speak to City’s loans manager, Brian Tinnion, and when he went back they were torn between him going somewhere else on loan the next season or staying and trying to break through there.

“They kept him and he went on to become a regular.”

Gill was watching England’s game against Iceland on TV on Friday night but switched channels quickly when he learned Conway had come on at Hampden for his first cap.

He said: “For my sins I was watching England struggle, but I caught the end of the Scotland game and saw him being interviewed afterwards.

“He conducted himself brilliantly. He didn’t look nervous, he looked excited.

“He’s a West Country lad, but he spoke about how proud his grandfather, who’s the reason he can play for Scotland, would have been of him.

“Tommy has a real humility about him and to see a young man who’d been playing at our level a few seasons ago have a chance of playing in the Euros makes me and our club very proud.

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“I sent him a little message on Saturday congratulating him and told him to keep working hard. I’m sure if he gets his chance in Germany he’ll take it.

“I’ll watch Scotland at the Euros with a lot more interest than I would have done!”

Gill admits Bath now use Conway as a lure for other young players to join them.

He said: “We’re a stepping stone and I make no bones about the fact we cite Tommy as an example of what the proper attitude and ability can lead to.”

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