Guelor Kasongo, aged 14 SIGNS with League 2 side Accrington Stanley FC
The combative central midfielder attended our football trials in Leeds at the end of last season and did enough to catch the eye of three clubs on the day, with Accrington being the first to make a move for his services.
Guelor spent around nine weeks on trial with the League 2 side - who narrowly missed out on promotion last season - and was then offered a one-year-deal.
“I was very happy and pleased, it was a big day when I signed and I was smiling for days,” said Guelor.
“I’ve signed with the u15’s and I’m enjoying myself, I get on with the managers and players and I’m learning a lot, it's a great club with great people involved.”
Guelor is training four times a week with the academy and has featured in matches against Burnley, Burton Albion, Blackburn Rovers, Preston, Oldham and Blackpool.
He added, “I’m learning a lot about positioning, my first game I was roaming a bit and wasn’t in position but I’m getting there slowly. It's great to learn and feel yourself getting better - I enjoy that."
“My advice to other players who aren't signed to a pro club who want to be would be to attend UK Football Trials. At the trial my best advice is that , like I was, most people who don’t play for a club have that mentality of being scared and we have to get around that.. Just go and do your best and your talent will show itself, don’t be scared, be brave.”
The opportunity at Accrington came from his coach on the day of our trial, Andy Smith, who works as a coach in the clubs academy and was impressed enough to invite Guelor in for a trial.
Revealing what impressed him, Andy said: "He's a really powerful lad with great feet, a calm temperament and is good on the ball.
“He's as good as what we've got in the academy, if not better, so we've got high hopes for him."
Congratulations to Guelor on a superb trial performance and if you want your chance to show pro club scouts what you can do then our next events are in December and February, with our new 5 day football trials camp in April too - all on the tabs above!