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The mother of Wales captain Ashley Williams has described watching her son’s rise to fame at Euro 2016 as “surreal”.

Lyn, together with Ashley’s father Errol, will be catching the Eurostar on Wednesday to Lyon so they can cheer on their skipper son as his team face Portugal in the semi-finals.

Errol revealed his pride as he leafed through some of the newspaper cuttings they collected during Ashley’s early career.

And mum Lyn revealed the man-mountain, who is captain of Swansea City as well as his national side, has always been a mad football fan.

She said: “He’s always had a passion for football.

“His first word was ‘Daddy’, his second was ‘ball’, and third was ‘Mamma’.

“His dad was into his football and a football manager at Hednesford and I used to take Ashley to watch him play on Saturdays.

“Ashley played his first proper league match with the Belgrave Bullets when he was six.”

Even though they have followed Ashley’s illustrious career closely she described the experience of seeing them progress through to the semi-finals as “surreal”.

Lyn, a retired probation worker who lives in the Midlands, said: “It’s like Ashley but it’s not Ashley. His dad and I are so proud of him.”

During his fledgling career Williams, 31, took jobs as a teenager at Beefeater, a petrol station, and spent a fortnight running a show at Drayton Manor theme park in the summer holidays.

Aged just nine Ashley wrote to the manufacturers of Subbuteo to complain there were no black players because he wanted to play as his hero John Barnes.

He later got to meet the England and Liverpool winger.

Errol revealed how Ashley played at county level for Tamworth and the cutting showed how he and his team mates enjoyed a special trip to Wembley to see England face Moldova.

Also contained in the clipping are stories from when he was first selected for Wales and his first performance, including player ratings.

Ashley began his career at West Bromwich Albion but was released by the club at 16. He then went on to play for Hednesford Town for two years.

Errol told the Birmingham Mail: “We all knew there was something special. Every manager he has come up against has always said how good he is and he’s just got to keep going because he will be good.

“We are proud of him and for them to get this far is just great and he has captained leading the Welsh team. What more of an honour can you get?”

He moved to Stockport County when he was 19 and in May 2008 moved to Swansea City.

On Wednesday night he will be leading Wales out for the momentous match having qualified to represent the country through his maternal grandfather, Welshman Bill Rowlands.

After scoring the equalising goal in a 3-1 win over Belgium in the quarter-finals the thought of facing Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as international teammates Nani and Pepe, doesn’t faze him.

Lyn said: “The Welsh team are very strong. I’m talking to him every day. We talk about football and family matters as he has three children.

“He keeps his head very well. He’s a very cool and confident person.

“He will do his best and give 100%. He’s worked very hard to get where he is.

“Our hope is they win and they win and they go on to the final and win. I would be ecstatic.”