David Watson is 'delighted' to have been named as the new England goalkeeping coach, 14 years after his dreams of playing for the national team were destroyed by injury.
The Royston man played more than 200 times for his hometown club Barnsley including 30 games in the Premier League.
He appeared for the England under 21s and harboured ambitions of a full call-up before he sustained a knee injury in a match against Norwich City in September 1998 that ended his career.
"It was a life-changing moment," said Watson, 39. "My whole life was geared towards playing football and that was taken away from me. But I had a lot of support from my friends and family and decided to pursue a career in coaching."
Watson spent time as a goalkeeping coach at Northampton, Oldham Athletic and Huddersfield Town before joining Birmingham City in 2008. He is credited with the improvement of England stoppers Joe Hart and Ben Foster who spent time at St Andrew's under his tutelege.
"I am delighted to be part of the England set up. It is a fantastic opportunity for me and I am really looking forward to getting involved."
Watson will meet up with the national team on Sunday then spend three weeks preparing the goalkeepers for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine that begins in June.
