SGS College footballers celebrate England call-ups
Rising South Gloucestershire and Stroud College football stars Megan Bible and Harry Ford have been praised after winning their first England caps.Students Megan and Harry are relishing the opportunity to fly the SGS flag following their selection to represent SGS College and their country for the England Colleges Football Association.They won their call-ups to the 2025/26 season squads after impressing coaches during a series of trials and the action began in earnest when they played in matches against their peers from the Independent Schools FA at the FA’s St George’s Park training base in Derbyshire.Megan featured prominently, playing 65 minutes in a 3–3 draw while Harry helped his side earn a 3–1 victory and they were both honoured with England caps in recognition of their achievements.Wing-back Megan said: “It was a great feeling when the email arrived to confirm I’d made it into the national squad.“It was a very proud moment for my family because they’ve invested so much time and money into taking me all over the place for football.“And I’m sure that overall being in the England colleges squad will be great experience for me.“That’s because I’ll be playing with the top players from college football and if it may also provide a bit more exposure because you never know which club scouts will be watching.“SGS is a great place for me to be to continue my development because the standard of coaching is very high and the intensity we always play at helps too.“Now, looking ahead my aim is to play at the highest level possible and most importantly of all to just keep on enjoying my football.”For central midfielder Harry, selection was a reward for perseverance after just failing to make the grade in the last academic year.“When I got told I made the team, I was really happy because I’d given it a go in the trials the year before and didn’t get through, so to get through this time felt really good,” Harry said.“It’s going to be a really good experience and I’m sure we will get stronger as a squad the more we get to know each other and there will be some really tough challenges ahead, like playing a Chelsea side.“I know this will push me even further in my football journey and I just want to keep playing and get as high up the football pyramid as possible.“I know I’m in great place right now here at SGS because it give us an edge with full-time training alongside academic courses so we can keep our options open while developing our football“Playing for the England college is going to be good exposure to professional teams as we’ll have games against top teams, and it’ll push me further as the players will be just as good, if not better than us.”The pair were commended by SGS director of football Steve Perkins who succeeded Dave Hockaday over the summer.“It’s been great to see Megan and Harry get the recognition they deserve at a national representative level and it’s a credit to both of them with the way they have backed up their talent with a strong work ethic," Perkins said.“It’s also a great reflection on their character that they have been prepared to go out of their comfort zone and because every time you go on trial there’s always that risk of going there and not getting the outcome you want, so it’s brilliant that both Harry and Meg have been called into the England Colleges squads.”He added: “Our learners like Megan and Harry get a lot of training and game experience here at SGS and this shows Megan and Harry are maximising the opportunities we create.“But the biggest thing is that we’re very much a person-first set-up where football comes second because we know they’ve all got busy lives outside football and it’s making sure we support them every inch of the way.“They have a busy weekly scheduled where they’re training three or four days a week and playing fixtures and on top of that there’s the strength and conditioning work they do in the as well as performance analysis and feedback“I think that then enables them to play with a little bit of freedom and just enjoy the game, so it’s creating that environment where football’s fun and football is hard, and we’re always providing an opportunity to learn.“We know that every single of our players’ sporting journey will be different. Some players want to go onto further-education, some might look to get scholarships in America, and some might want to have a career in the professional game.“So, for us, it’s about providing the platform for every one of them to exit SGS College and find the path that they want to explore but we’re all very excited about the future because there’s lots of players who share Megan and Harry’s hunger and talent.”
