James Ward-Prowse dreams of emulating fellow Portsmouth boy Bobby Stokes' Wembley heroics for Saints

“I’ve heard a little something like that,” the Portsmouth-born midfielder smiles, as he sits down to talk at the club’s Staplewood Training Ground ahead of the League Cup final against Manchester United.

A grin stretches across Ward-Prowse’s face at the mention of one Bobby Stokes, the scorer of Saints’ winning goal in the 1976 FA Cup final victory over United.

The irony was that the dinky forward, who sadly died in 1995 at 44 years of age, like Ward-Prowse, was born in the city of Saints’ fiercest rivals, little more than 30 minutes east down the M27.

In fact, Stokes had nearly joined Pompey earlier in the 1975/76 season and was still on the transfer list when he latched onto Jim McCalliog’s flick and with a swing of his left peg carved his name into Saints’ history forever.

Now, there’s another boy from down the road that wants to follow in Stokes’ footsteps.

Deadball specialist Ward-Prowse, who grew up as a Pompey fan, dreams of curling a free-kick over the United’s wall and into the net at Wembley for Saints.

“That’s my territory,” he says. “Hopefully we can win a free kick.

“Regardless of where you’re from, you put the Southampton shirt on and you want to do your best.”

The 22-year-old went to Wembley as a fan in 2008 when Pompey won the FA Cup and was once a season ticket holder with his dad John and older brother Ben at Fratton Park.

Watching Harry Redknapp’s side triumph 1-0 over Cardiff in ’08 is inspiration for Ward-Prowse as he aims for the first major silverware of his career.

“The final was a great experience to go to, as a big fan, and watch teams win silverware, not only as a supporter but as a young player of the game,” he said.

“That gives you inspiration, and to be in and around that environment, and hopefully that can be replicated against Manchester United.”

Ward-Prowse gave up his Fratton Park season ticket and signed for Saints at the age of eight.

At one point he had a choice to play for Portsmouth or Saints.

In the end there was only one choice for Ward-Prowse.

“I think when I was younger it was a little bit tougher making that decision,” he said. “Obviously growing up a lot of friends of mine were Portsmouth fans, but that’s the way football goes and that’s the career path that I chose.

“It was a tough decision at a young age, but it was the right decision from where I’m sitting now.”

Indeed, at the tender age of 22, he is now the longest-serving member of the Saints squad – having made around 160 first team appearances – and is captain of England Under-21s.

Ward-Prowse made his debut as a 16-year-old in a League Cup tie against Crystal Palace in 2011 and has since grown into an increasingly cultured and versatile midfielder.

He has since helped Saints to become established in the Premier League and qualify for the Europa League in the last two seasons.

“It’s obviously a nice accolade to have,” he said, about being the longest-serving Saints player. “It’s been an amazing journey so far and it’s crazy how quickly the time goes.

“Joining the first team at 16-17 and to be where I am today.

“I’m very lucky to be part of it and hopefully the journey can continue.”

Ward-Prowse, as an academy player and then first teamer, has been ever-present as the club, under the ownership of the Liebherr family, has burst from the doom and gloom of the League One era into a Premier League force aiming to play in the Europa League for a third successive campaign.

He was absent, however, during one of the most significant moments as Saints started to emerge resurgent.

Ward-Prowse and his academy team-mates were away playing a match as Alan Pardew’s side memorably defeated Carlisle United 4-1 in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley in 2010 in front of 44,000 Saints fans.

With Ward-Prowse now a fully fledged first teamer and Saints playing in the elite, he and the club are competing on a different level entirely since 2010 as they aim for League Cup glory.

The academy graduate reflects on the well-documented rise back through the ranks.

“I think it’s strange… it’s not very often you see a club come from League One and have that development so quickly into the Europa League as well,” Ward-Prowse says.

“In many ways you won’t see many clubs doing what Southampton have done, but, again, the club’s got the right people and the right players and installed the right managers to make sure it can progress.

He continues: “It’s credit to the club. They’ve got the right people off the pitch making sure the club can have that stability and that foundation to go out on the pitch and progress.

“There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure come a match day we’re prepared for winning a football match. That’s been evident for a few years now.”

“You can see the training ground’s grown massively,” he adds. “Not only the training ground but the club as well. It’s a worldwide club now and people want to emulate the way the club does things.”

Saints have moved home from The Dell to St Mary’s, built a £30m training complex at Staplewood, suffered numerous downs and celebrated many highs in the 41 years since they last won a major trophy.

But, despite all those changes, the echoes of that famous win in 1976 still reverberate around the bowels of the club’s state of the art facilities.

Remembering Lawrie McMenemy’s famous side and every other iconic moment is something that is important to Ward-Prowse.

“I think that’s important to remember. The club wouldn’t be where it is now without that sort of history and that sort of foundation of success,” he explains.

“You only have to walk down the corridors to see pictures of the club legends and things like that as daily reminders, especially as academy players walking through there, these are the sorts of people who’ve been through the club and these are the successful times and we want to be a part of that.”

While looking up to the legends of Saints’ bygone eras, Ward-Prowse also made role models out of Chelsea legend Frank Lampard and Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard.

“Gerrard and Lampard in central midfield epitomise everything a player should be – the aggression, scoring goals, passing, set piece ability,” he said.

“It’s something that I’ve always watched and wanted to emulate.”

But talking about his idols only goes so far for Ward-Prowse because he is out to make his own stamp on the game.

That is something that has been evident since he was a youngster.

While playing for Saints’ academy, Ward-Prowse made a crucial decision that he feels eventually helped him establish himself in the first team.

As a skinny teenager, Ward-Prowse took a chance to go training with non-league outfit Havant & Waterlooville.

It was a good friend of his, Tony Mount, a former non-league player and manager of Havant Town and Newport Isle of Wight, that helped set-up the sessions with the Hawks.

“I was about 14 or 15 at the time and growing up I wasn’t always the toughest kid,” he explains.

“I didn’t really like tackling. I spoke to my dad and brother and the rest of my family and thought it would be a good chance for extra training sessions.

“That helped me progress.”

It was something that helped the youngster develop.

“They didn’t hold back, they gave me the sort of feeling of men’s football and I think that’s the sort of thing that helped me get into the first team,” he adds.

“It’s the lads banter side of it. It’s not just the physical contact but the swearing, the aggression of it as well and especially at that level as well it’s more highlighted.

“It was make or break of whether I could handle the men’s game and it helped me when it came to my Premier League debut as well.”

Now, Ward-Prowse will come up against the world’s most expensive player in Paul Pogba at one of the most iconic stadiums of the planet.

Some far throw from cold nights training at Westleigh Park.

Yet, through it all, there has been one constant for Ward-Prowse: family.

A large band of relatives attend every game. There will be 14 of them at Wembley.

His dad, John, a barrister, who took his young sons to Fratton Park to watch Portsmouth, will be “will be the first to stand up and celebrate” if Ward-Prowse or Saints score.

“It’s important for them to come. They’ve helped me from a young age, so it’s good to see them supporting me,” he says about his family.

If he starts at Wembley he’ll also have a band of 32,000 Saints fans at his back urging him to become another boy from down the road to become a Saints cup hero.