TED Smith’s former PE teacher at King School, Simon Webb, has expressed his pride at seeing the Southend United shot-stopper earn international honours with England.

The Benfleet based goalkeeper kept a clean sheet for England’s under 18 side in their 4-0 win against Hungary earlier this week.

And that delighted Webb, who worked with Smith during his time at the Thundersley school.

“We’re all really proud of Ted and we were all delighted for him when he got the call up for England,” said Webb.

“He was a very dedicated student and worked very hard on his football.

“When he first went in goal he was actually quite small but he used to devy gravity with how high he could jump to stop shots going in the top corner.

“He’s grown a lot since then and hopefully he can go on to enjoy more success in his career.

“We also seem to have a good record with goalkeepers as well as Sam Baxter at West Ham also came here so it would be great to see them both doing well.”

Smith, who has been with Blues since the age 12, played 80 minutes of England’s emphatic victory at St. George’s Park in Burton.

And the Shrimpers’ head of youth Ricky Duncan was thrilled to see the youngster pick up an international cap.

“I’m massively delighted for Ted,” said Duncan.

“He’s been with the academy for a number of years and he’s deserved this for all his hard work.

“You get out what you put in and this is an excellent example of that.

“Everyone who has ever coached him, including goalkeeping coach Terry Mason, deserve huge credit for his call up and everyone connected with the club should be very proud of him.”