'I'm a Portsmouth lad - and had Ryan Giggs on the phone asking me to play for Wales'

But firstly he’s focusing on regaining his Newport County first-team spot.

The 25-year-old goalkeeper has featured in five Wales squads since November 2019 – despite previously representing England at under-16 and under-17 levels.

Qualifying through Cardiff-born mum Sally, King was last on duty for Ryan Giggs’ men in November, serving as an unused substitute against the USA, Republic of Ireland and Finland.

Although still to make an appearance, it’s a taste of international football he treasures.

Yet with the delayed Euros on the horizon in June, he’s presently concentrating on club form with League Two Newport.

He told The News: ‘I’ve played for England, qualified for Gibraltar and been in five Wales squads. I am an absolute mongrel!

‘My first call-up was in November 2019. I can’t even remember what Ryan Giggs said when he rang to tell me, I was so nervous.

‘I’m not sure I was meant to know, but I had been pre-warned the call was coming. Then I saw this unknown number.

‘At the time I was in my front room with a lad I lived with at the time. It was “This is going to be him!”.

‘To hear his voice. You see him on the TV and now he knows me by name. Just to have that connection with him. I’m a Pompey lad!

‘He’s congratulating me and I’m thinking “Cor, you’ve won everything there is in the game, the highest amount of Premier League title, and you’re congratulating me”.

‘My first call-up was an extremely proud moment for my family. My Nan is fluent in Welsh, I can’t understand it, while my mum was born in Cardiff.

‘It was an unbelievable experience to be around those elite professionals. There were two European Championship qualifiers, we managed to win both. I can take a little bit of credit for that!

‘That got us to the Euros, but for me it didn’t really sink in at the time because I was new to it and wasn’t friendly with a lot of the boys, I was the newbie in the camp.

‘Then, two or three months afterwards, I got that sense of “Oh my god, I was part of something that not every footballer gets to taste in their life.’

The Plymouth-born King moved to Portsmouth at the age of five and went under the surname Fry while on the Blues’ books.

Such was the high esteem he was held him, he was involved for England’s under-16s against Slovenia.

Following King’s departure for Crystal Palace in the summer of 2011, the former Admiral Lord Nelson School pupil then featured for the Three Lions’ under-17s side against the Czech Republic.

He also qualifies for Gibraltar, having spent three years living in the country before the age of 12.

Yet it’s Wales who King has pledged international commitment.

He added: ‘Luckily, I got to taste it again in November. I only get called up in November!

‘Wales had a bit of a goalkeeping injury crisis, with Wayne Hennessey out, while Stoke’s Adam Davies collected an injury two weeks before the camp.

‘The call-up was a surprise to me as I wasn’t in Newport’s team at the time. It was unbelievable really.

‘I know there were other goalies playing who were Welsh, but they decided to go with me because of how I fitted in with the group previously, while they obviously saw a lot of potential in me.

‘I went from the extreme negatives of not being in Newport’s side and waiting for my chance, to then called up by my national team!

‘There were three matches and I was on the bench with the other goalkeeper, Owain Fon Williams, from Dunfermline.

‘The Euros are this summer, but I have to get my Newport place back before I can even think about making it with Wales. It’s at the back of my mind at the minute.

‘If I don’t get there, I remain so proud of being part of a team which qualified for the Euros.’

MORE: From world record holder to Newport’s bench – why Tom King isn’t celebrating new-found fame

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