"Football mad" Ramsdale opens up on his Saints start and England prospects

That’s in spite of a disjointed fortnight too, with the Saints squad split between international duty and a long weekend off – one their new goalkeeper used to help him settle into his new life back on the south coast, where he previously spent three years on Bournemouth’s books either side of two stints at Sheffield United.

By the middle of last week Russell Martin was working with a full squad again, and Ramsdale the shot-stopper fits in like a glove. He’s a vibrant personality, already knew “eight or ten” of his new teammates prior to signing, and has friends right across the sporting spectrum.

“I’m football mad,” he grins. “I’ve got a really weird knowledge of football, going back a long way. I think it comes from when I was younger, just watching Soccer Saturday with my mum, watching the scores come in, and remembering a lot of things about that.

“We’re a sports family, I’ve got a sporty background. My mum and dad both ran track – athletics. My brother plays rugby, I love my cricket. I’m fortunate to know a few people in other sports, which always helps. Cricket, F1, golf, football, rugby – any live sport I lock in to watch. I think it’s just in me, I’m never really standing still.”

Ramsdale, warm company and an open book to talk to, reveals his friendship with cricketer Ollie Pope, an Arsenal fan, who captained England in the recent Test series against Sri Lanka. “I look after him and he looks after me,” he smiles. The pair have swapped tickets to each other’s matches.

The unique manner in which then-Gunner Ramsdale introduced himself to Southampton, initially at the end of May, feels less obscure the more you get to know him. But it’s still a great story.

It’s a tradition among the England international’s closest friends in football: whenever one of them plays at Wembley, the group will go together to show their support – in fancy dress.

“We’ve won three times from it, so we’re not going to break tradition now,” says Ramsdale, who dressed as Hagrid from Harry Potter to watch former Sheffield United and Bournemouth teammate David Brooks help Saints win a nerve-shredding Championship play-off final that will forever hold its own special place in Southampton folklore.

Not only was he at Wembley, but Ramsdale – still head to toe in Hagrid – was a guest of Brooks for the Saints promotion party that night, where he posed for photos with staff members and chatted away, enjoying the celebrations.

“I’ve got some really good memories and insights of changing rooms and behind the scenes stuff – similar to the play-off final. I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in,” he acknowledges. Having friends in high places is good fun when you’re a social butterfly.

Ramsdale met his next manager that night too – not that he knew it at the time. “To be honest, if you’d have asked me at the end of May if I’d have been sat here having a conversation as a Southampton player, I’d have said you’re probably crazy.”

The first impression was a good one (he thinks). “I don’t remember too much of the party! I do remember going up to him (Russell Martin) with Brooksy and I think Broosky said ‘double deal?’ From that day I saw what the club was really about behind the scenes, inside the ropes – all the people around it.

“When Brooksy signed in January he always spoke so highly of him, so I heard snippets from him for four, five months. I already knew about the gaffer through MK and how they played, but also other players who worked with him at Swansea.

“Goalkeeping’s a small world as well. I know the goalkeeper at Swansea who worked under him and I spoke to him, so it’s a small world, but he’s a special manager and a great guy with the amount of confidence he gives you, the enthusiasm he has for the team and the players. It just gives you belief.”

Saints’ collective belief reached a crescendo at Wembley, and remained intact following an encouraging Premier League opener at Newcastle, but subsequent defeats to Nottingham Forest and Brentford, where Ramsdale made his debut, and Manchester United have been tough to stomach.

As an England goalkeeper, there is always scrutiny, but the transition to Martin’s possession-based style should be more seamless than most given his arrival from Arsenal, where Arsène Wenger’s influence can still be felt as one of his former players and Ramsdale’s ex-manager, Mikel Arteta, continues to build a title-chasing team in that same slick style that has been at the heart of the London club’s DNA since the late ‘90s.

“It’s easier, definitely easier, because I was asked to play a certain way there and the principles are still the same,” he explains. Martin’s approach, by the manager’s admission, takes some getting used to, and requires a strong character to play in goal and have the bravery to bait the opposition.

“The only things that change really are the movements and the patterns of the football club, which take time to get used to, but the fundamentals of being comfortable on the ball, waiting for players to press and finding a spare man are all the same,” Ramsdale says.

Aaron Ramsdale saves bravely at the feet of Bryan Mbeumo on his Saints debut

“For me, once I heard about how he played, I wasn’t sceptical or afraid of it taking a while. There will be mistakes along the way, which we’ve seen in the first few games, but there are so many positives and I’ve been really, really pleasantly surprised by how good the team can move the football and create chances.

“He’ll always say, ‘I’m the one asking you to play this way, I’ll take it on the chin’. Ultimately, we’re the ones on the pitch so we take responsibility, but I’ve been around long enough and made enough mistakes to also know that if it needs to be kicked or put into row Z, I’ll do that.

“At the minute he’s been top, because he’s allowing me to express myself and, like I said, I’ll be able to choose when I think the right time to play is. It’s down to me, I’m the footballer on the pitch, he’s the one coaching me, and at the moment I’m loving it.”

A lot has happened in Ramsdale’s first fortnight, from his deadline-day switch and debut defeat to relocating his family, all whilst Lee Carsley was getting to grips with his first camp as interim head coach of the England Men’s team.

Carsley is now widely tipped to land the position full time, potentially pivotal news in the international career of Ramsdale, who is a strong advocate of the stand-in boss despite being overlooked for his first squad.

Ramsdale, who has five caps, celebrates during England's win over Scotland last September

The pair already have a strong relationship that stretches back to the keeper’s England youth days when he played alongside Adam Armstrong and Kyle Walker-Peters in the Under-21s. Carsley, who subsequently won the Euros as manager of that age group last year, was the assistant in the days of the Saints trio.

“I worked with him quite a bit,” Ramsdale reveals. “I was in and around the third, fourth choice keeper. Me just loving football, whenever we were with the seniors I’d go back and see Jenni (Wisdom, Team Manager) with the Under-21s and I’d have a sit down with Cars and the goalie coach I’d worked with for four or five years.

“He’s a man of football. As you’ve seen in his interviews, talk to him about coaching and about the football rather than the political side, because that’s what he’s good at. I’ve got a real good relationship with him and can’t wait to get working with him.”

Ramsdale admits he feared for his place at EURO 2024 after losing his starting spot at Arsenal, and remains fiercely motivated to become England’s No 1 one day.

Ramsdale celebrates with England's regular stopper Jordan Pickford at EURO 2024, but hopes to compete for his shirt again soon

In the end he did make Gareth Southgate’s final 26-man squad in Germany as understudy to Jordan Pickford, but missed out on Carsley’s first audition.

“The manager (Carsley) spoke to me, and the goalie coach, and just said ‘find your feet at Southampton, give yourself two weeks to bed in with the team, get back playing, get back to doing what you do best and force your way back in’. It was like, ‘it’s got nothing to do with anything other than game time’, and I respected it because he rang me. Now I’ve got to try and push out one of the three that are in there,” Ramsdale added.

Should he do so, the Stoke-born stopper believes Martin’s way will serve him well if Carsley does secure the top job.

“Under Gareth we did play football, but Cars is more on the side of the gaffer here – wants to play, play, play, but ultimately win games. I don’t think it’ll be too much of a shift, especially if I’m getting picked at Southampton,” he reasons.

“Hopefully it should be quite seamless and I can just move straight into it – do what you do for your club, for your country. At the end of the day we need to win games of football for England. There’s no right or wrong way, but the fact that he gets to try and play the same way as Southampton can only benefit me.”

This interview was originally printed inside SAINTS, our popular matchday programme, for the Premier League game against Manchester United. You can order the programme here, or sign up to a seasonal subscription.