The 20-year-old Scottish star put in a man of the match performance against England. As anyone would, he rang his Nan to discuss how mint he was
After bossing the middle of the park alongside his partners John McGinn and Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour did what any young man would do after putting in a man of the match performance against your nation’s oldest rivals: he called his Nana to share the moment with her. Lovely stuff.
The 20-year-old Chelsea player’s grandmother played a big role in his early footballing days and life in general, so it was only fitting that he had to call to discuss his impressive performance and how thrilled he was to be representing Scotland in general.
Speaking in The Daily Record, his Nana, Alison Clifford, said: “He used to run rings around me with a ball when he was young and now he’s running rings around England players at Wembley.
“We were never in any doubt that he would make it to a high level. The whole family are football-daft and it’s always been a big part of our life.
“We weren’t able to travel to Wembley because of Covid restrictions but we watched it on TV. However, his mum and dad went down.
The 61-year-old said, “I had tears of joy streaming down my cheeks when I saw him in his Scotland strip. It’s such a proud moment for our family.
“He called me on FaceTime to tell me all about it. He was so calm about it but said he was ‘buzzing’ about his first Scotland start. He’s like that – nothing fazes him.”
This was Gilmour’s first start for the Tartan Army and likely the first of a long international career. Former player and current coach of Alloa Athletic, Barry Ferguson, told the Glasgow Times that he believes Gilmour is one of several that “Scotland can build a team around for the next 10-15 years.”
Alison went on to reveal how Billy, his brother Harvey and mum Carrie stayed with her in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, when Gilmour’s dad, Billy Senior, was in the Royal Navy.
She said: “I’ve got four grandkids and Billy is the oldest but I still call him ‘my boy’.
“When his dad was in the Navy Billy and his mum and wee brother Harvey lived with me for two or three years. The boys were always out kicking a ball about.
“His mum and dad, who just live around the corner now, are super-proud, as you would expect”.
They’re not the only ones, it would seem, as Gilmour is already being hailed as the pride of Scotland. Everyone from his James Grady, Andy Murray and even ex-First Minister, Henry McLeish, came out to praise his Wembley masterclass. Well deserved, indeed.
