The Academy has once again reached the time of year where the next intake of scholarships are offered for the start of the 2018/2019 season.
Scholarships are offered to Under-16 (year 11) players who will then join the club full-time for two years, embarking on a full-time training model whilst also completing a BTEC education qualification.
This year we are pleased to announce that we have offered a total of nine scholarships, of which one is a goalkeeper and the rest are outfield players.
Four of the players have been with the club since the ages of 9 and 10, one joined the Academy programme when they were 14 and the final three were offered contracts having come into the Under-16s group this year and performing extremely well.
Not only does that mean that we have once again offered young players who have been in our Academy programme for a long period of time scholarships, but four of the players live in Cheltenham and Gloucester and were all scouted playing for local teams which continues our work in developing young, local talent. The five other players are relatively local, coming from Oxford, Hereford, Bristol and Birmingham.
Congratulations to the following players who have been offered, and have accepted, scholarships with the club for the start of the 2018/2019 season:
- Freddie Lapworth (Goalkeeper) Freddie joined us from Oxford United over the Christmas period and accepted a scholarship offer.
- Isaac Lawrence (Defender) Isaac joined the club as an U15 and if the younger brother of Jamal Lawrence. Isaac is from Gloucester and has already played three times for the U18 out team this season.
- Grant Horton (Defender) Grant joined the club as a 9 year old and has been with the club ever since. From Hereford, Grant was offered his scholarship as an U15 and has enjoyed lots of game time with the U18s, including playing in the FA Youth Cup this season.
- Josh Gilkes (Defender) Josh has been with the club for 5 years and is once again a local player from Gloucester. Josh has been involved with the U18s since preseason and is a forward turned defender!
- Aaron Basford (Forward) Aaron has also been with the club for 5 years and comes from Gloucester. Aaron has enjoyed a lot of game time with the U18s this season, including scoring recently against Bristol City.
- Tom Chamberlain (Midfielder) Tom has been with the club since U8s and is very local, attending All Saints Academy School. Tom has come all the way through our academy programme and has also been involved in the youth team this season.
- Jack Houghton (Midfielder) Jack has been with the academy for 3 years and is from Bristol. Jack has had to come back from a nasty leg break as an U15 and it is credit to his attitude and application to come back fit and strong in preparation for next season.
- Charlie Stanton (Forward) Charlie joined us on trial at the start of the season after impressing in a friendly against the academy. He was then offered a scholarship and has continued to progressed very well.
- Kian Bedford (Defender) Kian also signed his scholarship having only been signed as an U16 this year after impressing in the same game as Charlie and both have enjoyed game time with the youth team this season.
These nine players also join U16 goalkeeper Tom Middlehurst who will be joining the academy next season. Tom is a goalkeeper from Essex who will join the club ready for the 2018/2019 season.
The 10 players above will join the club full-time when the youth team report back for pre-season at the end of June. They will join the nine current first years of:
- Archie Brennan
- Tom Handley
- Ioan Richards
- Olly Price
- Miles Scott
- Fin Clift
- Tyreece Briscoe
- Camden Duncan
- Will Dawes
It is always a great time of year to be able to announce this news and it is important to thank all staff, the club and everyone else involved in player development at the club for their hard work and efforts.