Six young players have signed apprenticeship contracts with the club, with nine others agreeing scholarships.
Following our EFL return we will be running an Under 23s team, known internally as the B Team, this season. They will play EFL Central League matches on Wednesday afternoons at FSM Clifton Football Centre.
To aid our transition, the following youngsters have signed one-year deals.
Brad McGregor (18) – Midfielder
Academy manager, Dan Leivers, said: “Brad has been around the first team for the last few years, featuring regularly in pre-seasons. He’s an extremely hard-working, honest young man with the capability to score goals from midfield and the willingness to run through a brick wall if you ask him to. His whole family are massive Notts fans, so it’s great for him to be around for another year.”
Archie Aves (18) – Defender
Leivers said: “Archie is coming into his third season with us. A centre back who has developed his work on the ball a lot in the last couple of years, Archie is one of the leaders within the B team group and a really good example for any young player who wants to live a professional lifestyle.”
Ashaiah Fearon (19) – Wing back
Leivers said: “Ash has been with us since he was 12 years old. When players were leaving to join other clubs, he stuck around. He spent the back end of last season on loan at Long Eaton United and we’re hoping we can make the deal happen again.”
Freddie Pitts (19) - Defender
Leivers said: “Freddie joined us from Mansfield following the end of his scholarship and is now in his second season with us. He’s an out-and-out defender who’s working really hard on becoming better with the ball at his feet. He makes blocks for fun in the box – it’s like having a second goalkeeper.”
Madou Cisse (18) – Midfielder
Leivers said: “It was fantastic to see Madou make his first-team debut in the FA Trophy last season. He’s another great personality who works tirelessly – and probably trains too much! Whatever you ask him to do, he’ll do – which is why you’ve seen him make his senior debut as a wing back and play as a wide centre back for the first team, despite his size. He plays primarily as a midfielder for the B team.”
Diego Edwards (19) – Forward
Leivers said: “Diego started his Notts career aged seven and returned to us after completing his scholarship at Mansfield. He’s from round the corner, in the Meadows, and has great physical attributes and finishing ability. We’re really interested to see how he progresses this season after he worked extremely hard on his development last year.”
Our promotion also means we’re now also able to offer scholarships, with the following being given the opportunity to develop under the guidance of Craig Gordon, who has been promoted to Senior Professional Development Phase Coach, and Tigran Tadevosyan, who is now Lead Professional Development Phase Coach:
- Cassius Cisse - Wing back
- Charlie Gill - Attacking midfielder
- James Sanderson - Attacking midfielder
- Alfie Goodwin - Attacking midfielder
- Owen Bickley - Centre back
- Zac Denman - Striker
- Harrison Hazard - Wing back
- Elias Reaney - Centre back
- Sudais Saleh – Midfielder
As well as being eligible to feature for our B Team, our scholars will play matches in the EFL Youth Alliance.