Decisions made on second-year scholars
Shrewsbury Town can confirm that decisions have been made for the Club's second-year scholars.Five scholars have been offered their first professional deals with Shrewsbury Town. Defenders Ryan Sears and Callum Roberts, Midfielders Chris Gallagher and George Hughes and Forward John McAtee have all been offered contracts at the club.
Furthermore, first-year scholar Ryan Barnett was offered his first professional contract back in February, signing a two and a half year deal with the club.
The youth team have enjoyed a positive season which currently sees them eighth in the Football League Youth Alliance - North West league table. They also enjoyed a good FA Youth Cup run earlier this season reaching the fourth round before being knocked out by Premier League side Sunderland.
The following second-year scholars have not been offered professional contracts:
Joel Bonner
George Hassall
Mathew Jones
Jake Kerins
Jacob Rammell
Shrewsbury Town manager Paul Hurst spoke to ShrewsWeb after the decisions were made.
“It’s not easy because you are breaking some of the lads’ hearts and the lads’ dreams, but the ones that we have released have so many opportunities still”, said Paul.
“Whether it’s at the exit trials, whether it is opportunities abroad and the lads in fairness were respectful and it backs up what Andy Jones (Academy Manager) has said about the group and the type of lads that they are.
“They are very respectful, they conduct themselves well and that’s an important key for us. Yes we want good footballers, but we also want good people and I think moving forward that’s set a benchmark.
“On the flipside, it’s nice to give out good news as well and the lads that have been offered deals were understandably pleased. There were some different reactions within that group, but moving forward we look forward to working with them.”
The Club would like to thank those not offered professional contracts for their hard work during their two-year scholarship and wish them the best of luck in the future.