Blackpool’s new scholars have an exciting time ahead after putting pen to paper

Ciaran Donnelly is looking forward to seeing what Blackpool’s new scholars have to offer next season.

Seven players were confirmed as joining the U18 squad earlier this month, working under Matthew Blinkhorn.

Freddie Bourne, Ethan Park, Cian Pawson, Henry Jones, George Hockenhull, Luke Schofield and Nathan Hart are the players in question, with all having played for the Seasiders in the EFL Youth Alliance this season.

“It’s a great time of year,” Blackpool’s academy director told the club’s in-house media.

“It’s exciting for them, they’re coming fresh out of school, finishing their exams, (a) short break and then they’re into this weird, wonderful world of football where their life changes, where there’s no holidays in the six-week holidays, they’re not going away, they’re into full-time football now.

“Would they change it? Absolutely not, it’s their dream. They need to embrace it, they need to adapt to it.

“We don’t make any judgments of how they adapt to that in the first six months because everyone’s different.

“Some of them take to it like a duck to water, some of them find it really hard, some of them are moving away from home, some just struggle from training three times a week to training six times a week.

“It’s difficult but, eventually, we start to work out who might have it. We never know that before they come in, so it’s really exciting times.

“They’re being judged every day, they have an opportunity every day to impress the staff and they will develop a camaraderie between them where, even though it’s about individuals and wanting to get through to the first team, as a group, they’ll want to achieve as well so let’s see what we can do with this group.”