BARNSLEY’S academy is experiencing a period of real achievement, with several young players being called up to represent their countries.
For a small town in South Yorkshire, this is a significant accomplishment, highlighting the hard work of both the players and the academy staff.
Ollie Wilkinson stands out as one of the recent success stories.
He has just returned from captaining the England under 16s team, where he led them to victory in their tournament, finishing with a win over France in the final match.
His leadership on such a stage reflects the strong development he’s had at Barnsley and real testament to the players’ character.
In addition to Ollie, both Vimal Yoganathan and Fabio Jalo are currently away on international duty.
Their call-ups show how well these players have progressed and how far the academy has come in nurturing talent capable of performing on an international level.
Josiah Dyer adds to this success by representing Montserrat at the senior men’s level. It’s a remarkable achievement for the academy to have a player in senior international football, and it reflects well on the academy’s commitment to helping players reach their full potential.
The good news continues with one of the younger academy players expected to be called into the England under 15s training camp. This will be another proud moment for the club, and we’re hopeful the confirmation comes through next week.
Recently, Barnsley’s under 15s also had a strong showing in the later stages of the Floodlit Cup, playing against Manchester United.
Despite United fielding players with significant investment behind them, including the sons of Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick, Barnsley matched them well. The game ended 2-2, with Barnsley dominating the second half.
It was a performance that reflected the hard work put into developing the players’ tactical understanding and technical ability, a big well done to the coaches Josh Law and Tiago Rodrigues.
Tuesday saw further progress for Barnsley’s young players, as Luke Alker (17) and Ziggy Kozluk (18) made their senior debuts, and Jonathan Bland earned more first team minutes in a match against a very strong Huddersfield team.
These experiences are crucial for the players, offering them a taste of the senior game and the chance to develop under more challenging conditions.
The key challenge now for Barnsley is to keep developing these young talents and give them opportunities in the first team when possible.
It’s not enough to just be talented – turning that talent into a successful football career requires patience, hard work, and, most importantly, chances to play. Sadly, many players don’t reach their potential because they don’t get those opportunities and are judged far too quickly.
