--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-09-21T19:22:54.545Z last_updated: 2026-09-15T16:00:00+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/norwich-city/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZWRwMjQuY28udWsvc3BvcnQvMjY1NTEzNDIubXVuZGxlLXNtaXRoLWNyYXp5LWpvdXJuZXktY2l0eS1maXJzdC10ZWFtLz9yZWY9cnNz --- # Mundle-Smith’s ‘crazy journey’ from Croydon to the Canaries - **Source:** - **Published:** 15 Sept - **Club:** Norwich City - **Original URL:** https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/26551342.mundle-smith-crazy-journey-city-first-team/?ref=rss 0 Comments Skip to next photo 1/1 Show caption 1/1 Share 0 Comments This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald. From non-league star to Championship prospect, Errol Mundle-Smith has enjoyed an unconventional rise through the football pyramid. In April 2023, the young attacker was turning out for Southern Counties East Division One side Croydon FC, scoring in a 3-1 win over FC Elmstead in front of a crowd of just 99 people. Fast forward to the present day, and he has 15 senior appearances for the Canaries to his name, while also earning international recognition with England at youth level. Reflecting on that remarkable progression as part of the Raised in the EFL campaign, Mundle-Smith said: “It’s been a crazy journey!” “Sometimes I still think back to those moments (playing in non-league), and it just makes me even more grateful for where I am currently,” he told official club channels. Errol Mundle-Smith’s route into the professional game began with the Kinetic Foundation (Image: Matt White/Kinetic Foundation) “Playing in those lower tiers of football really helped me develop my game and get me to where I am today.” Building on that experience, Mundle-Smith joined Norwich’s academy as a raw talent in September 2023. He signed his first professional contract the following summer and has since established himself around the first-team group. “I feel like as soon as I stepped into training and completed an actual full training session with the first team, I noticed that the intensity was completely different; it’s such a big jump up from the academy. “You have to adjust fast; otherwise, it’s very difficult.” Amid an injury crisis last November, the 20-year-old was handed his senior debut by Liam Manning in the latter stages of City’s 2-0 defeat to Hull at Carrow Road. “I remember being on the bench and getting called over. It was just a surreal feeling; I couldn’t believe it,” he added. Errol Mundle-Smith prepares to make his senior debut against Hull City (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd) “I was warming up, and then I looked over to see Glyn (Lewis) waving at me, and I was thinking, is he calling me? I don’t want to run if it’s not me! “I didn’t really have time to think about it, as I was already looking at the set pieces by the time I got to him, trying to take in what he was saying, and by the time I put my shirt on, I was already on the pitch. “It was crazy! Everything comes by so quickly and you don’t really have time to think about things.” Just a matter of months later, Mundle-Smith was celebrating his Young Lions debut, coming off the bench in a 3-3 draw with Italy U20s. “I’d had a few thoughts about it and was thinking maybe I could get called up. “There were a few hints around the training ground, but I didn’t know whether it would be true or not,” he said. “I then received a WhatsApp message from a random number with four attachments, and I was thinking, what could this be? “Realising what it was, it was just so surreal; I couldn’t believe it. “It is one of the best moments I’ve had in my career so far, but I was very nervous going there; going to play with the best players in my age group for my country against some of the best young players in the world. It was absolutely surreal.”