Lewis Clutton (Bristol Rovers, Midfielder, Born 2000) Tom Price (Swansea City, Central midfielder, Born 1999) Tom Pugh (Scunthorpe United, Central midfielder, Born 1999) Cian Tyler (Coventry City – on loan at Barwell, Goalkeeper, 2002) Callum Watts (Southampton, Central midfielder, Born 2001)
Lewis Clutton (Bristol Rovers) Last season, in his second year as a scholar with Rovers, Lewis suffered a serious injury requiring a long rehabilitation period. Consequentially, he was unavailable for the club’s youth team for many months, potentially jeopardizing his chances of being offered a contract to remain beyond his time as a scholar. As the season came near its conclusion, Rovers made an announcement regarding contracts for their second year scholars. Lewis was offered and agreed to a short-term contract providing time for an assessment when playing for the U-23’s in the early weeks of this season. Such contracts generally are three month or six month ones and as Lewis continued as a member of the playing staff during second half of the season, I believe it is correct to assume that the original contract was extended. Obviously, the club staff had a positive opinion from his previous play to have given him the extra opportunity and he must have fulfilled their expectations. It would also seem they are keen to prepare him for a future first team assignment as he was loaned to Salisbury in January to experience such football at non-league level. Doing so on what is termed a youth loan also allowed him to play for The Pirates development team when available.
Tom Price (Swansea City) A progression of more than a half dozen years in the academy system followed by a two year scholarship and culminating in earning a fulltime professional contract, means that Tom’s association with Swansea extends beyond a decade of time. Having grown up in the Swansea vicinity, I’m sure his boyhood ambition was to eventually play for the club’s senior side. Though one cannot say that the possibility is imminent at this time, he has been making every effort toward making it a fact and may eventually be rewarded with such an occasion happening. The Swansea management team would not have retained his services without having the belief of him possessing the potential of making the outcome a reality. It was a very big step forward when an assessment to award him a professional contract was made in 2018, the next big step for him is to be promoted into the first team squad. Tom did spend the first half of this season playing first team football in the Welsh Premier League when he was loaned to Aberystwyth for that period. He has commented on it being very beneficial experience, one he believes can help him in his career development.
Tom Pugh (Scunthorpe United) Tom ended his affiliation with Leeds to become a scholar at Scunthorpe in 2017, doing well enough in that time as a member of their U-18 team, to earn a fulltime professional contract at the end of last season. As a result, he has been a member of the club’s U-23 squad this season as well as having some exposure to football at first team level. He did in fact make his first team debut last season when introduced off the bench in an EFL Trophy match and added to that in a similar way earlier this season. In more recent weeks he became a member of the first team matchday squad on a regular basis and after remaining as a bench player for quite a few matches, made his League 2 debut for the club when playing the last few minutes of the penultimate game before football came to a halt. One can presume that he will continue to make progress and be increasingly involved in first team games in the future. Tom managed to emulate an achievement enjoyed by his father a couple of decades or so ago, when gaining a couple of Wales U-21 caps last season. Cian Tyler (Coventry City – on loan at Barwell) Starting out with assignments in the matchday squad during his time whist still in a schoolboy status at Coventry, Cian has been regularly involved with the U-18 team at the club. Signing on as a scholar at the start of last season, he had very strong competition for a starting spot in the team but did manage to accumulate a decent amount of appearances. They have increased substantially during the present season when he became senior goalkeeper in the U-18 setup. Coaches at the club have not only credited him positively about his skill set but also concerning his attitude and maturity, the reason he will remain with the Sky Blues as a fulltime professional beyond his time as a youth player. He did go out on loan to Barwell in January and though he managed only a few games before football was suspended, impressed in his first foray into first team football. Cian has already experienced numerous times of representation wearing a Wales team shirt in his time of eligibility as a schoolboy and U-17 player. When football does resume, I’m sure he will be strongly considered for the opportunity to add to that cap collection. He will be eligible for U-19 selection next season.
Callum Watts (Southampton) A second year scholar with The Saints, Callum is another in a long list of players who has gained representative honours for Wales whilst associated with the club. Although it can be argued that he has not fully established himself as a regular weekly selection for the team, a combination of the times he has played along with times on the bench, suggests he has been a valuable member of the U-18 squad over the past couple of seasons. His association with Wales teams stretches back to the time when he was still a schoolboy, playing routinely for the national team at that level. He continued in the same vein as he moved on to play U-17 international football and earlier this season was involved with the U-19 squad when they played matches as part of preparations for the EUFA qualification tournament conducted a couple of months later. When football eventually resumes, Callum will I am sure be determined to develop his career toward reaching as high a level as it is possible for him to do so.
-81a4f.png)
