NPLFA's top star signs new deal

The 17-year-old NPL Football Academy star - who collected the accolade from Welsh legend Dean Saunders at the 2017 EVO-STIK NPL Players of the Year Awards in April - is pictured signing a new deal for the EVO-STIK NPL Premier Division club's Don Amott Arena on Thursday after impressing throughout the season in regular first team appearances.

In his second year at the club's NPLFA academy, the teenager made history back in October when he stepped up to skipper John McGrath's first team to victory in the Buildbase FA Trophy victory over then EVO-STIK League Southern top flight leaders Leamington.

Founded with the backing of the Football Association at five pilot clubs in September 2014 to provide career pathways into the football industry and still the only league wide academy in English football combining sport with education, the NPLFA is expanding to 13 clubs catering to more than 400 students for the 2017-18 season in September.

The NPLFA's tutors and coaches are currently recruiting their third intake of students after recent trials at all 12 NPLFA clubs for ambitious students either leaving school this summer or coming to the end of their first year in college.

Students and their families are also looking forward to rounding off the current season next month at the NPLFA's inaugural cup final at Stoke City's Bet365 Stadium on Sunday 28 May.

To see the NPLFA's latest promotional videos and success stories, follow on Twitter at @NPLFA or visit: www.nplfa.co.uk.

Image courtesy of @NPLFA/Twitter

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