England's Kalvin Phillips remembers his 'caring, nosey and lovely' grandma ahead of Euro 2020 game against Scotland
'She was very caring, she's very nosey and she was a lovely woman', Kalvin Phillips remembers his nan Val
When Kalvin Phillips got his England call up last year, his grandmother was one of the first people he phoned to tell the news, but just months before the Euros began, she died.
The midfielder put in a standout performance as the Three Lions beat their Group D rivals Croatia 1-0 at Wembley on Sunday.
Phillips laid on the only goal of the game for Raheem Sterling to cap off a fine individual display which earned him plenty of plaudits.
Speaking ahead of the Three Lions' match against Scotland on Friday, the 25-year-old told how his grandmother, Val, pushed him to succeed and supported him in his football career.
In an interview with ITV, the rising star listed Val amongst his all-time fans including his girlfriend Ashley and his mum Lindsey - who raised him and his two siblings almost single-handedly while working two jobs.
Granny Val became a star in her own right in Leeds United's Amazon documentary series.
She passed away in February just months before her grandson took centre stage at England's opening match in the Euro 2020 tournament.
Reminiscing over his nan and her support for him and his football career, Phillips said: "She always listened to it on the radio and then would ring me five or six times after the game, ask if I'm alright, ask how I played, if I did something wrong.
"She'd ring me up and be like, 'what have you done?', 'what are you doing?', you know I'll always remember her as being, not an annoying one but, she would always ring me up every single day and, you know, just make sure how I am."
"She was very caring, she's very nosey but she was a lovely, lovely woman," he added.