Henry Fieldson's pride in Scotland U21 call up

The 21-year-old was given the call by new Scotland U21 boss Tony Docherty for upcoming UEFA Euro qualifying matches against Azerbaijan and Bulgaria after a promising start to life at St Mirren.

Scotland face Azerbaijan at BBSP Rugby Park in Kilmarnock on Wednesday evening before taking on Bulgaria at the Georgi Benkovski Stadium in Pazardijk the following Tuesday.

Joining Saints in the summer after two seasons at Queen's Park, the defender has impressed on his step up to the top-flight, featuring 10 times for the Buddies this season. That early season form has seen him join up with the U21s for the first time alongside St Mirren teammates Louis Jackson and Ryan Carr.

"It's obviously a real proud moment for me," he told stmirren.com.

"I think the season's gone very well. Coming into it I might not have expected to play the part that I have so far, but I've come in, I've done quite well and I'm just happy it's paid off and I've got the international recognition.

"I found out a couple of days before it was announced when Tony Docherty gave me the call on the phone to let me know and I was buzzing. Obviously anyone wants to play at the international stage and it just proves that you're doing well and that you're progressing, so it's a massive positive.

"He rang me and he mentioned that he thought I'm doing really well, which is another big credit because to hear that from someone who's obviously got stature in the game, it feels good. He also mentioned how he wants me to come in and be a bit of a leader in the group so I'm excited to do that too."

Born in South Shields, Henry is eligible to play for Scotland through his grandad on his dad's side. However, it was only last year that the defender learned of his Scottish heritage.

Despite that, his family has always felt a strong connection to Scotland with both his mum and dad previously living in the country.

"Funnily enough, my grandad was born in Scotland but I didn't actually find out until last year because he was adopted into the Fieldson family.

"His name was Pyle before that and he left Scotland when he was young and adopted into the Fieldson family. We didn't find out until last year when my dad went to a funeral and found out from extended parts of the family.

"It's funny because I've always felt a connection to Scotland. My dad lived in Scotland for 12 years, he's always felt that connection, and met my mum in Edinburgh. My mum lived in Edinburgh for a while and obviously I moved up here and loved it ever since.

"It's massive for my family. My dad, like I said, lived in Scotland for 12 years. Scotland has been a massive part of his life and a massive part of my mum's life. It's a huge part of our family and I do love the place.

"It's a real proud moment because international recognition is, in my opinion, more or less the pinnacle of football. It's being recognised and it's a real big moment for us."

Coming through the ranks at Sunderland, Henry joined Queen's Park in the summer of 2024 and spent two seasons with the Spiders before signing with St Mirren in the summer.

He believes that Scottish football suits his type of game as he reflected on our start to the campaign.

"I think if you have a good attitude and you run and you have a bit of desire, you'll do well," he said.

"I've enjoyed playing all different levels and all different types of teams because I think it suits me. Having that sort of desire and that attitude of getting stuck in and not really being timid in the sense of stepping up to that level. I put a lot of my good performances down to pure willingness to defend.

"I think we started off very well. We won three of our first four and then you get that draw to Motherwell, which on another day, other things could go your way. Of course, three tough games that we have just played recently, but the game against Dundee United is one that we're going to have to put behind. We have to learn from it. We have to go again and get back to the drawing board and progress.

"I want to prove a point that we are here to compete and we are here to be in the top half and the top six."