To read all last season blog posts scroll through posts on the young guns page
Owen Beck (Liverpool) born 2002, Defender. Progressing through the academy ranks with the Reds, Owen became a scholar at the club at the start of the 2018/19 season. He did have a somewhat inauspicious start to this phase of his career, only making a few bench appearances for the U-18 team in that first season. In some respect, not entirely surprising, as he was by some months the youngest scholar and consequently much younger than most of the squad. The following one however, he played in all but the first game that the team played, starting in the vast majority of them and basically making the left wing back position his own. It impressed enough to earn him a fulltime professional contract and he moved on to be a member of the U-23 squad last season. He quickly adapted to this next step in development football, his continued improvement and some impressive displays prompting an occasional involvement in first team training sessions. It also earned him selection as part of the extended squad assembled for pre-season training in the summer, again showing enough ability to gain playing time in a couple of games in front of the Anfield faithful. Much to their delight, he performed well enough to persuade them that there was an in house candidate for the important left wing back position whenever a replacement may be needed. Owen has been playing regularly for the U-23 team this season and will want to keep impressing with them in the hope that there may be a first team opportunity at some point in the season. His good club form prompted selection for the Wales U-21 squad in the spring of last season and he has remained in it since that time. He has previously played for the nation as a schoolboy and in U-17 international matches.
Chem Campbell (Wolverhampton Wanderers) born 2002, Midfielder. After being an associated schoolboy with the club for some years, Chem started his time as a scholar at Wolves in the summer of 2019. An indication of how highly the coaching staff at the club viewed his talent became quickly apparent when he was promoted to the first team squad taking part in pre-season preparations in those first weeks of fulltime employment. They were obviously not disappointed in their assessment, as a couple of months into the season he made his first team debut when starting a fourth round Carabao Cup match. As a means of expediting his progress as a member of the U-18 squad, he not only played for that team but also for the U-23’s as well. It was of course the season when development football was prematurely concluded as lockdown for the pandemic was enforced. Management at the club signed him to a fulltime professional contract soon after he reached his seventeenth birthday and looked for him to further progress as activities restarted last season. It did not go as was possibly hoped, some injury issues disrupted Chem’s season as he played almost exclusively for the U-23 team when available. This season, he has already been on the bench for the first two Wolves Premier League games but has been playing for the U-23 team since that time. Playing for Wales teams since his time as a schoolboy, he did so at U-15 level and then the following season in the Victory Shield games, moving on into the U-17 squad in the 2018/19 season.
Oliver Denham (Cardiff City) born 2002, Defender. Manchester United signed Oliver as a schoolboy and then later joining their scholar programme at the start of the 2018/19 season. This proved to be somewhat of a frustrating time for him as he was only able to make relatively few appearances for their U-18 team, the remainder of the time being unavailable through injury. His second season in that capacity was of course cut short when development football stopped. United were however impressed enough with his quality to offer an extension of his scholar contract for a period in the 2020/21 season as they completed their decision of whether to retain him for the U-23 squad. At that same time Cardiff expressed an interest and offered him a trial period which United agreed could take place. Within two weeks, he had done well enough in South Wales for him to be offered a contract by the Bluebirds and so he agreed to join them. It seems to have been a good decision by both parties as Oliver established himself as a regular member of the U-23 team last season. This season has again gone well for him and has in fact made his first team debut for the club. Selected to be on the bench for the second round Carabao Cup tie, an injury required for him to be called upon in the first half of the match, the manager praising his performance as he played almost an hour of the game. His aim now will be to do well enough to add to that solitary occasion. Oliver represented Wales as a schoolboy, and he was a member of the 2017/18 Victory Shield squad. Luca Hoole (Bristol Rovers) born 2002, Defender. As he prepared for his second year as a scholar with Rovers, Luca had impressed enough to be selected in the first team squad that toured as part of their pre-season preparations. He did well enough to warrant first team involvement when chosen to be on the bench for the first round Carabao Cup match. Although he remained on the bench for that match, he did make his first team debut when substituted in during the last quarter of an EFL Trophy match a month or so later. There were another couple of occasions of being on the bench for league matches as well as an FA Cup tie in late 2019. Management at the club decided last season that regular first team football would be of most benefit for him and he was consequently loaned to Taunton Town. Unfortunately, only a few matches were played as a result of the pandemic disruption of most non-league football and so Luca did not get the amount of exposure to competitive football as he would have hoped for. Luca again did well in pre-season before the start of the present one and an injury crisis at the club saw the need for him to play in the first two league matches, gaining praise from the manager about his performances. Luca has been absent from the first team since that time. Although I cannot locate any information to verify, I suspect he is unavailable, maybe an injury issue, as he was not even in the Papa John’s Trophy squad. Luca’s good form in the 2019/20 season resulted in selection for the Wales U-19 squad that competed in the qualifying round of the age group European Championships.
Four members of the 2002 birth year group that have successfully negotiated the pathway towards trying to secure a career in football to an extent of them reaching the point of playing in first team competition. They deserve a congratulatory acknowledgement for having done so, but it has only been a brief involvement so far and are now faced with their toughest challenge of trying to establish themselves to feature regularly at that level. It has needed for them to apply a great deal of dedication and determination to reach those achievements and I’m sure they will be giving their utmost as they try to continue in positive fashion. Certainly, another reason for us fans to remain optimistic as we look toward the future and hope that the Wales senior team can be supplied with excellent candidates for inclusion in the squad. In the more immediate terms, they are now candidates for the U-21 squad, having been unfortunate that there were no U-19 international games able to be played last season and missing out on the chance to represent Wales in that age group scenario. In U-21 terms, they are not only vying for selection at present but will also be eligible for the next version of the championships which will start in the 2023/24 season.
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