page updated: Fri, 11 Mar 22 : 03:15: refresh for updates
To read all last season blog posts scroll through posts on the young guns page Joe Adams (Dundalk) born 2001, Forward. A decision to prioritize playing first team football has seen Joe move from Brentford to Dundalk in the January transfer window. As a youngster, he was at Bury, becoming a scholar with them in the summer of 2017. After an impressive season, in which he not only played well for the youth team but also played a couple of games for the first team, he signed a full professional contract in the summer of 2018. In the summer of 2019, he moved to Brentford after they negotiated to sign him as an addition to their development squad. He played regularly for the Brentford B team, often getting positive reviews but did not manage to get selection for first team games. Last season, he joined Grimsby on loan for a portion of the second half of it, playing in a few games for them before returning to his parent club. He has played in two games for his new club since their season started in the middle of last month, along with a late appearance off the bench in their most recent match. Joe first played for Wales when selected for the U-17’s, continued doing so with the U-19’s and has been a regular choice for the U-21 squad since last season.
Ryan Barrett (Newcastle United) born 2001, Defender. In an association that has lasted quite a few years, Ryan was first an academy player at the club before becoming a scholar with them in 2017. He did well in that capacity, playing regularly for the U-18 team and earned a full contract in 2019. He has been a member of their U-23 squad since that time and has accumulated a significant number of appearances for the team. It would have likely been more had he not been unavailable through injury issues. He has impressed the coaches at the club enough to have been incorporated into first team training sessions on occasion. Ryan became involved with Wales teams as a young schoolboy and was a member of the 2016/17 Victory Shield squad. He then played for the national U-17 team the following season. Cameron Evans and Jacob Jones (Swansea City) born 2001, Defenders. Both Cameron and Jacob were long term members of the Swansea academy teams before moving into the scholar phase of their careers, after joining the club as nine year olds. Cameron became a scholar in 2017, impressing the coaching staff and receiving a professional contract in 2019. After quite a few occasions on the first team bench, he made his debut in January 2021 when starting an FA Cup game. Soon after, in February, he joined Waterford on loan and played for them the whole season until it finished at the end of the year. He is presently back at Swansea playing for the U-23 team. Jacob started as a scholar a season later than Cameron and gained his full contract in 2020. He has been playing regularly for the U-23 team and had his contract extended until the end of the season in January. Both were involved with Wales training camps as schoolboys and Cameron played in the 2016/17 Victory Shield games. In 2017/18 he played for the U-17’s and in 2019/20 for the U-19’s. He was also in the squad for one U-21 game last season but did not get off the bench. Jacob first played for Wales at U-15 level and in the 2019/20 season played in a couple of games for the U-19 team.
Callum Jones (Hull City ¿" on loan at Grimsby Town) born 2001, Midfielder. As an academy player at TNS, Callum made one brief substitute appearance for the first team before moving to Oswestry in the summer of 2018. His stay there was short, as in the October, Bury singed him as a member of their youth team. He impressed enough during that season for Hull to sign him as a member of their U-23 squad for the 2019/20 season. He did well enough playing for the U-23 team to be selected on the bench for the first team in a couple of late season games and then made his debut last season, playing in quite a few cup games as well as numerous occasions on the bench. He spent the first half of this season on loan at Morecambe where he gained more first team experience. He has recently joined Grimsby on a one month loan. Callum won a Wales cap when playing against the England U-20 team in October 2020.
Matthew Sargent (Salford City) born 2001, Midfielder. After progressing through the academy and youth programme at Wrexham, Matthew earned a fulltime contract at the club in 2019 and played for the first team in one game. Salford signed him after he was released before the start of last season, and he made his first team debut for them when playing in a Papa John’s Trophy match. He was also selected on the bench for a second round FA Cup game. This season he has played in two Papa John’s Trophy games and has had a couple of spells away from the club with short term loans at Matlock and Ashton United. As a schoolboy Matt played for the Wales U-16 team and in 2017/18 played once for the U-17 side. Scott Smith (Wigan Athletic) born 2001, Midfielder. Graduating from the club’s scholar programme in 2019, Scott was a member of their U-23 squad that following season before being elevated to a first team squad assignment in 2020. He obviously did well as a member of the youth team and in fact captained it on many occasions, repeating that when he moved into the U-23 team. Last season, Scott had quite a few selections for the first team matchday squads but did not make his debut until playing in the first round of the Carabao Cup at the start of this one. He has followed that with other appearances in cup matches along with a number of other times on the bench for the team. He is, at the moment sidelined, as he sustained an injury a couple of months ago, one that is serious enough to possibly render him unavailable for the remainder of the season. Hopefully, it is just a temporary setback, as he seems destined to become a first team regular at Wigan. Scott first played for Wales when he was selected for the U-19 squad and was a member of the successful 2019/20 team at that level. Ethen Vaughan (Burnley ¿" on loan at Farsley Celtic) born 2001, Defender. After playing a few games for the Norwich U-18 team as an academy player, Ethen played in almost all of them in the 2018/19 season when he was a first year scholar. He missed a substantial part of the following season, only playing in about a quarter of the games but had impressed the coaching staff sufficiently to be retained as an U-23 squad member. Last season, he played in around three quarters of the U-23 team games but did not receive an extension of his contract. A trial at Burnley resulted in a decision by the club to sign him as a member of their U-23 squad and he has played in well over half of their games during the first half of the season. In January, he was loaned out to Farsley for the remainder of the season and has been gaining some good experience of first team football by regularly playing for them. In 2019/20, Ethen played for the Wales U-19 team in a friendly tournament.
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