Gillingham academy manager Bryan Bull has hailed the club’s emerging youngsters after they provided positives from an otherwise disappointing season at Priestfield.
While the Gills fell short of expectations at first-team level, the academy continued to produce players capable of stepping up into senior football, with 13 youngsters featuring in competitive action during the campaign.
Bull reflected positively on the impact made by the club’s homegrown talent.
“From an academy point of view [it was an] absolutely brilliant [season],” he said.
“We would have much rather that was in the context of a successful season at first-team level, and obviously we haven’t quite got to where we want to get, but from an academy perspective I was very pleased.”
Defender Sam Gale completed his first full season as a regular in the first team after progressing through the youth ranks, while former academy graduate Bradley Dack was named player-of-the-season. Striker Joe Gbode earned a move to Luton Town early on in the campaign.
Bull added: “We’ve had Sam [Gale] coming all the way through [the youth academy] and playing the vast majority of the season [for the first team].
“Bradley [Dack] has come back and although it’s a while ago in academy terms, we still claim him.
“Joe Gbode started the season with us and obviously went to Luton, and there was some income to come along from that as well, which is of course, always helpful.”
The academy also enjoyed a memorable night in the Vertu Trophy when a youthful Gillingham side beat Fulham Under-21s 4-1, with academy players providing goals and assists.
Bull said: “[That was] a wonderful evening for us as an academy and all in all, a very successful season, 90 starts amongst those players, whether it be in the EFL or in the Vertu Trophy, 31 substitute appearances.
“That’s not far off an average of two and a half, three per game, and the League One and Two average for home-produced academy players from a particular club is somewhere around 0.7, 0.8.”
One of the standout moments late in the season came when youngster Sullivan Booth scored on his senior debut against Barnet.
Bull had watched the under-18s earlier that day before making the trip to see Booth’s first-team bow.
“I rushed to the game and fortunately got there in plenty of time to watch Sulli,” he said.
“I was up in the air when he scored. Unfortunately, it sort of summed up the season a little bit that within five minutes we conceded a couple of goals and the elation had somewhat dissipated, but nonetheless a great moment for him and his family and for his teammates and for those in the academy that have helped him along the way.”
Cruz Beszant, Louie Dayal and Michael Luxton have all been offered professional contracts after featuring for the first team during the campaign.
The Gills are expected to use loan moves to help aid the development of some of their younger players next season if regular first-team opportunities are limited.
Logan Dobbs, Taite Holtam, Stan Sargent, Harry Waldock and Harry Webster remain under contract, while Damien Theodore has had his deal extended.
Supporters will get a chance to see the club’s next generation in action during pre-season, with academy teams playing in friendlies against Sheppey United, Chatham Town, Lewes, Whitstable Town and Sutton Athletic before finishing preparations against Category Two side Colchester United.
Bull is also optimistic about the next intake of scholars coming through the academy system.
“I’m really happy with the group of under-16s who’ll become first-year apprentices next year,” he said.
“Some of them have been with us since they’re a year old like Luca [Procopi] and Josh [Stone], some of them are far more recent in the last few months.
“I think we’ve got a really nice balance to go with the current group of apprentices who will become second years next year, which of course includes Sulli and a number of others.”
Along with Procopi and Stone, the Gills have offered four other schoolboys from the club an opportunity to become an apprentice, with Evan Surrey, Jack Kingston, Thomas Silver and Henry Broster making the grade. Alexandru Zinici and Martins Lawal are recent recruits joining the programme.
The club’s recent academy award night saw age group winners being named. They were Lucas Martin (under-9s), Teddy Penfold (u10), Oliver Salter-Akerman (u11), Albie Hickey (u12), Luke Straun (u13), Harry Young (u14), Connor Russell (u15) and Evan Surrey from the under-16s.
Louie Dayal was presented with the academy player-of-the-year award ahead of the last game of the season at Priestfield.
