Saints snap up 12-year-old star (From Daily Echo)
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Saints snap up 12-year-old star
7:40am Saturday 23rd February 2013 in Sport
Dan Bartlett
HOT prospect Dan Bartlett has signed a new four-year contract with Saints.
The 12-year-old put pen to paper before Saints’ 3-1 win over champions Manchester City earlier this month.
Dan went to the match with his mother Debbie, father Grahame and twin brother Joe.
The family had dinner at the ground and met man of the match Jay Rodrigues.
Although predominantly a midfielder, Dan has excelled as a striker and a defender during his time with Saints.
He trains at the Premier club’s Staplewood ground three nights a week and has a day-release from school on Fridays before playing on Sundays.
Dan, a Broadstone Middle School pupil in Bournemouth, started his football career at six-years-old with Corfe Mullen United under-sevens team. He made 21 appearances, scoring 24 goals.
The following season he joined Greenfields and his performances were brought to the attention of scouts from Saints, Chelsea, Portsmouth and Cherries.
He trained for all the clubs before finally concentrating on Saints.
Dan played for the Saints academy’s under-9s in the 2008-09 season.
The following year, Dan was top scorer with 46 goals.
Full story in today's Daily Echo
Comments(11)
petethephantom
says...
8:19am Sat 23 Feb 13
knocked backed pompy and chelsea for saints..... can see a good thing when he sees it
C O Y R
Clever Dick
says...
8:56am Sat 23 Feb 13
Folkestone Saint
says...
10:29am Sat 23 Feb 13
Clever Dick wrote:Maybe but he would have made their bench at least today, then showed them how to play. Welcome aboard Dan, I look forward to cheering you onto the pitch one day.
The scouts from Chelski, B'muff and the Mighty Saints were professionals. The scout from the Skunts was a boy scout from their ever diminishing crowd.
dadofmy3sons
says...
10:50am Sat 23 Feb 13
A look through the squads playing throughout the leagues this weekend and we can see many players who have benefitted from the Academy.
It is the special ones who take the eye and get the headlines.
We are producing more than just stars, there are supporting players who are making a good living because of their training with Saints.
It is always tempting to ask for young players to be put into the first team, but this procss has a timetable and learning from being in the squad and training is as important as playing the actual games.
JWP is a good example of this, he is getting good coaching and a place on the bench to appear in games later on. He doesn't need to be thrown in at the deep end, we have enough players to be able to ease him into set-up.
Aston Villa have a problem because they do not have enough fit experienced players and are having to rely on youth. This is the problem Saints had when Portaaloo was managing and all the youth were used and only 2 or 3 survived, Adam, Spider.
Our U21 team is the proving ground and I am certain that there are future stars coming through, but it is easier to step up to a succesful team and play in squads that are used to success. Buying good quality players to help the youth team is parrt of the process.
OSPREYSAINT
says...
2:35pm Sat 23 Feb 13
joelster
says...
5:48pm Sat 23 Feb 13
Pooley
says...
7:03pm Sat 23 Feb 13
hedge end bob
says...
9:43pm Sat 23 Feb 13
Alicesdad
says...
9:31am Wed 27 Feb 13
Alicesdad
says...
9:32am Wed 27 Feb 13
worried of n e hampshire says...
7:52am Sat 23 Feb 13