We would like to congratulate second year scholar James Spruce on his call up to the Welsh U-19 squad, who play games against Iceland in Rhyl in September.
The Welsh squad, managed by Paul Bodin, the friendly matches are on 2nd and 4th September, the games kicking off at 3.00pm and 5.00pm respectively.
Speaking about his call up today, James, or ‘Woody’ as he is known, said; “I am delighted to have been called up to the Welsh squad and feel that it will be a good experience for me to play alongside the other players in the squad.
“Although from Birmingham, I qualify to play for Wales through my Welsh grandmother. I was told that a Welsh scout had watched one of our games quite recently and I was called up soon afterwards.”
The youngster scored regularly for our U-18 side last season and also scored a handful of goals for our reserve side.
“As well as scoring, I made a number of assists as well and I think that’s an aspect of my game that is very important.
“If selected for either, or both, games against Iceland I hope to play well, impress the selectors and maybe score a goal or two.
“I don’t know any of the Welsh squad but hopefully it won’t take long to get to know some of them when I join the squad.”
He has very definite aims for the new season; “I hope to score around 20 goals this season and also hope to play some games for the Development Squad.
“There is a clear pathway through to the first team from the Academy, via the Development Squad, and everyone is excited about the prospect of being able to move up and play alongside some of the more experienced players in that squad.”
Watch the full interview with both James and Professional Development Phase Coach Tom Parrinello below.