Danks very much! Former West Brom coach wins U20 World Cup with England

The 34-year-old, who was born and raised in Birmingham, spent ten years honing his coaching skills in the Baggies academy, where he climbed the ladder up to under-18s manager.

This time last year he left Albion to join the FA, where he works as an ‘in-possession coach’ for youth teams between under-15 and under-21 level.

He was one of 21 members of staff with the successful under-20s team that lifted the World Cup in South Korea on Sunday.

“What a feeling!” he told the Express & Star. “It’s some achievement, flipping hell. It hasn’t sunk in yet.

"Coming into it, our record previously at this tournament has been really poor. It’s been ages since we’ve won a game, but this group are a great group, they won the Under-17 Euros.

“They’ve got a great winning mentality, great togetherness, and they’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with. I definitely thought they could be competitive.”

Danks’s own story is one of hard work. When he left school he took an apprenticeship coaching role at Birmingham City, and got his qualifications at Solihull College.

He moved to Albion in his early 20s to work on video analysis, and was eventually put in charge of the 12-16 age group. He continued to impress and was later promoted to under-18s manager, but then, the FA came calling.

“West Brom is such a good club, they really looked after me and gave me a chance to develop myself and improve,” said Danks. “I had a great time there, with the likes of (academy manager) Mark Harrison, (under-21s coach) Jimmy Shan, and (academy goalkeeping coach) Mark Naylor.

“There are some really good people there doing a fantastic job, it’s always a place that is close to my heart. But when the opportunity came to work at the FA it was too good to turn down.

"Looking back now, I’m glad I went for it. I did the first camp with the under-18s, and then got phone call from Aidy (Boothroyd) to work with the 20s.

"Since September I’ve been with the under-20s, it’s been such a good experience for me as a coach to work with top quality players.”

Danks knew FA technical director Dan Ashworth from his time at the Baggies, so he was happy to step into his role of ‘in-possession’ coach, which has been created by Ashworth’s ‘England DNA’ manifesto.

“Part of my role is to assist the head coach but I also have an emphasis on the way the England teams play in possession,” he explained. “We will get together with all the in-possession coaches and debrief the summer, and share things across the board.

“We have in-possession and out-of-possession coaches, it’s a slightly different way of working but it’s a really exciting one and it’s given us a real focus and specialism.”

Like many behind the scenes at the FA, Danks is optimistic that Ashworth’s formula is starting to work.

Although he doesn’t want to heap pressure on the World Cup winning youngsters, he hopes England’s biggest trophy since 1966 will be a ‘tipping point’ for their national team.

“FIFA released a video of previous U20 World Cup winning teams and some of the players that have won this competition and done well in it are big names," he said. "You’re talking about players like Messi.

“For an England team to come here and win, for our goalkeeper to get golden glove, and for (Dom) Solanke to get best player, it’s very encouraging.

“We’ve got 20 out of the 21 players on the pitch, and when they’ve been called upon, they’ve all produced. The players have been brilliant.

“It’s not just Dan either, (FA chief executive) Martin Glenn was out there with us, as was head of development coaching Matt Crocker.

“The infrastructure they’ve put in behind the scenes is fantastic. Hopefully this is a beginning of a long era of England teams being successful.

"There’s no guarantees in football, it can be a harsh sport, and bite you on your back side, but the work that Dan and Matt and all the people have done behind the scenes at St George’s Park is very special.

"It’s exciting times for all of us, and hopefully, it’s a tipping point.”