George Abbott (Watford) born 2005, Defender.
After being a member at Brentford, George joined Watford’s academy when the London club decided to disband theirs. He did well at his new club and progressed to becoming a scholar with them at the start of last season. The coaching staff were impressed enough with the abilities he displayed at academy levels to involve him in first team pre-season training sessions last year and he then played mostly for the U-18 team during the season along with a half dozen games for the U-23’s. This season, George will probably only play for the U-18 team when the coaches require his additional quality, as he has played in all of the U-21 teams matches so far. He will be hoping that there may be opportunities with the first team at some point, although it may not be in the short term, as management changes bring about a new set of evaluators and decision makers. George has been involved with Wales teams since his schoolboy days and has been capped at U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18 levels already and will likely add more U-18 caps later this season.

Oliver Camis (AFC Bournemouth) born 2005, Goalkeeper.
Oliver joined Bournemouth as a fourteen year old, having previously been attached to the Chelsea academy. He started his time as a scholar with the club at the start of last season and played regularly for the U-18 team, helping them have a very good run in the FA Youth Cup. He was also given some playing time for the club’s older development team and has been involved with both of them again this season. Oliver’s eligibility for Wales was established when he was a young schoolboy, and he was a participant in the 2019 Cymru Cup matches. He has since played for the Wales U-15, 16 and 17 teams and will I’m sure be looking forward to doing so with the U-18’s this season.

Sebastian Dabrowski (Swansea City) born 2005, Defender.
An ever present for the Swans U-18 team this season, Seb’s initial time of experiencing football at that level occurred in the 2020/21 season when he made a half dozen appearances, and he then followed that with ten more last season. A defender, who can play either wide left or centrally, he has certainly had a busy time this season with an additional five appearances off the bench for the U-21 side. Polish born, but raised in West Wales, he has already been associated with Swansea teams for almost ten years and has also been with the Wales teams from a young age. He played in the 2019 Cymru Cup games and has been selected for the Welsh U-15, U-16 and U-17 teams in subsequent seasons. Another who will be a contender for selection in this season’s U-18 squad.

Isaac Jefferies (Cardiff City) born 2005, Forward.
Signing with the Cardiff academy teams as an eight year old, Isaac made good progress through the various age groups but then a fairly lengthy injury situation rendered him unavailable at the start of his time as a scholar at the club at the beginning of last season. When he did return to full fitness quite a few weeks into the season, he certainly hit the ground running when he was introduced to U-18 football. He scored at a rate of a goal every other game as he ended up with six in his dozen times playing at that level. The good form he displayed earned him appearance time with the U-23 team as well and he scored two more in his eight older development team outings. This season, Isaac has only played once for the U-18 team but has done so five times for the U-21 side. Isaac is still waiting for his first involvement with a Wales team playing international football but certainly seems to be a candidate for the future if he maintains the ability to be playing at the accelerated rate he has been challenged with so far.

Sonny Lewis (Newport County) born 2005, Mifielder.
In the 2020/21 season, Sonny made two lengthy appearances for the Newport first team that played in the Papa John’s Trophy games. Quite an achievement, as he was at the time still on schoolboy terms at the club. Now in his second season as a scholar with the club, Sonny has not played any more games for the first team in the meantime. He did have two occasions on the bench last season, once in an early season Carabao Cup tie and then around mid season for a league game. I have not been able to locate any information that might enlighten us further and so I can only be speculative in suggesting that there may have been some injury issues that caused his unavailability at times. Sonny is another who has been associated with Wales teams from an early age and has been capped at U-15, U-16 and U-17 levels.

Alex Williams (West Bromwich Albion) born 2005, Defender.
Two seasons ago, Alex made eight starts for the West Brom U-18 team prior to starting his time as a scholar with them last season. He then played in almost half of the team’s games in the last one as well as playing in nine games for the older development team. It does seem to give an indication of the coaching staff’s desire to accelerate Alex’s progress and their confidence in the quality of his abilities. He has played in three games for each of the sides so far this season and will be doing his utmost to secure a contract that will extend his time at the club beyond this season. Alex first played for Wales as an U-15 international and then continued to do so for the U-16’s and U-17’s. His next national assignment will most likely be as a member of the U-18 squad due to play matches later in the season.