Adam Wharton is standing in a ground-floor room surrounding the central courtyard of the 12th-century German castle that serves as England’s media hub during the European Championship. Youth and Middle Ages, side by side.
This is England’s first official media day since arriving in Germany, and Wharton, 20, has been chosen to get things off with the first press conference, a question-and-answer session broadcast live.
It has been customary at important events for England players to play darts with a member of the media before giving their news conference. His opponent, a BBC reporter, questions Wharton’s ability.
‘Never played,’ Wharton claims.
Wharton’s delivery is deadpan, making it difficult to determine whether he is bluffing, yet it appears genuine enough. He was playing in the Championship for Blackburn Rovers a little over four months ago. There will be a lot of firsts for him over the coming few weeks.
