Five youngsters have been told that they will not be offered a new contract with the club when their current deals expire at the end of the season
Dejon Noel-Williams, Albie Hopkins, Brandon Taverner and Matt Berry-Hargreaves have all been regulars in the under 23 side this season, the first time that the club has run such a programme, while Freddie Niblett has played in defence for our under 18 season throughout his scholarship
All five have been a pleasure to have around and should feel very proud of what they have done here.
Academy Manager Dan Harris told us
“I want to place on record my thanks to these five players for their contributions, four of them to our inaugural U-23s programme and Freddie to our under 18 side. We wish them well for their future careers. Over the next few weeks we will continue to assess our remaining U23s and second year scholars as we make decisions towards next season.
“This week also sees the departure of U18s physiotherapist Ed Evans who is moving on to a private clinical role after 3 years with the club. Ed has played a key role in supporting our successful youth team this year from a medical standpoint and has also been integral to the wider Academy medical team over the last few years.
“Ed is a well-liked and respected colleague who will be a big loss to our programme - we’d like to wish Ed every success for the future and to thank him for all his work during his time with the club.
“Whilst seeing players and staff move on from your club is always difficult, those of us that have been in the game a long time know that it is part of the ebb and flow of professional sport – my role as Academy Manager is to ensure that the whole U7s-U23s programme continues to move forward to help us build a bright future for the football club.”