To read all last season blog posts scroll through posts on the young guns page
Oliver Ewing (Leicester City) born 2003, Midfielder. After a few years as a member of Fulham’s academy teams, Leicester negotiated his transfer to join their club a few months before the end of his time in a schoolboy status. He soon began playing for their U-18 team and then continued in the 2019/20 season by which time he had become a scholar at the club. Last season was a little disrupted when he missed games with injury issues, but he still had done well enough that there was no hesitation in his graduation to a full professional contract and he is now a member of the U-23 development squad. He did play a half dozen times for the team last season and has continued to do so in this one although most of them have been off the bench. He will want to establish himself in a more prominent role in the team and the quality of his play as a schoolboy and scholar suggests he possesses the ability to do so. Oliver captained the Wales schoolboy team that competed in the 2018/19 Victory Shield games and was selected for the U-17 squad the following season. He was however unavailable due to injury when the team competed in that season’s qualifying round of the European Championships and then the cancellation of age group internationals prevented his return to Wales colours until the spring of this year. He was in the U-18 squad at that time and is a member of this season’s U-19 squad.
Taylor Jones (Cardiff City) born 2003, Defender. Joining Cardiff’s academy as a seven year old, Taylor’s outstanding talent saw him progress through their various teams until becoming a scholar at the club at the start of the 2019/20 season. He had started playing for the U-18 team as a schoolboy and then played in almost all of the games the team competed in over the last two campaigns. This season, he is a fulltime professional at the club and is playing regularly for the U-23 team as he had done a few times last season. Taylor did in fact have involvement with the first team during pre-season training and was given some game time during their preparation matches. His aim now will be to continue impressing the management team at the club and press his claims for a competitive involvement for the senior side. He has of course featured regularly for Wales teams over the years, playing in the Cymru Cup, U-15 and Victory Shield teams, before moving on to doing so at U-17 and U-18 levels. He is a member of the U-19 squad selected for the European Championship qualifying round that is taking place at present.
Aneurin Livermore (Newport County) born 2003, Midfielder. Previously affiliated with the Bristol Rovers academy, Aneurin joined Newport as a fifteen year old and became a scholar at the club for the past two seasons. He was an important member of their U-18 team that gained some amount of success in the FA Youth Cup, reaching the third round of the competition in the last two seasons and was in fact given an opportunity with the first team when selected to play in a Papa John’s Trophy match last season. Although the club did not offer him a fulltime professional contract at the completion of his eligibility for the U-18 side, he had impressed enough for them to offer an extension of his scholar contract and continue his association with the club as a member of their development team. It seems to have been a wise decision by the management team as he has added five more first team appearances to his tally this season. He did well enough during his pre-season opportunities to warrant selection for the team in the first round of the Carabao Cup, his display in that game leading to three League 2 appearances as well as another in a Papa John’s Trophy one. He has been complimented on both his range and accuracy of passing as well as his overall play. His good club form has also earned Aneurin recognition at national level with his first selection for a Wales squad. He is another member of the U-19 on duty in the qualification games during this international break. Unfortunately for Aneurin, an injury issue made him unavailable and so he was unable to participate with the squad.
Charlie Savage (Manchester United) born 2003, Midfielder. Continuing a family tradition of an association with the United academy for a number of years, Charlie also did well enough to earn a scholar contract with them. It was rather a low key start to life in fulltime football circumstances for Charlie, as in his first year as a scholar he only made a couple of appearances for the U-18 team along with some other instances on the bench. Not particularly surprising, many first year scholars at Old Trafford are faced with such a scenario and particularly so in his case, as he was the youngest, and so considerably younger than much of his competition. Charlie did not waste that time however, continuing to hone his game well enough to become an important player for the team last season and played in all but one game for them. This season, having received a professional contract with the club, he is again exhibiting his value with appearances in all the U-23 matches as well as for the U-19 and U-21 teams when they play. A combative and all action player in the mold of his father, he likewise possesses a quality of ability that projects a potential to become a success in the upper levels of the game. Charlie did not make an appearance for a Wales team until doing so at U-17 level, but since that time has been a constant selection whenever national squads have been announced. He is now representing Wales as a member of the U-19 age group and I’m sure will give his utmost to try and help the team move on to the next stage of the qualification process.
The Wales U-19 squad are presently in Norway competing in the qualifying process for their age group European Championships. Seeded third, they played second seeded Georgia and secured reasonable result with a scoreless draw. They will need at least a win in one of their next two matches in order to have a chance of proceeding to the elite qualification stage. As can be seen from the four players mentioned this week and a couple of others from previous blogs, it is quite a talented group. Hopefully they will be successful and gain some more valuable international experience if they reach the next stage.
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