Barney Askwith - Aged 15 - Trial for Premier League Academy Watford FC
Premier League club Watford FC took 15-year-old Goalkeeper Barney Askwith on trial after spotting him at our West London event.
The scout who found Barney was one of many at our trial in December looking for new players for their clubs, and he wasted no time in arranging the trial for the young shot-stopper, as Barney explained.
“At the UK Football Trials day l I got approached by a Sheffield United scout who asked me a few questions, and then two days later my dad got an email from Watford, who asked me to go to one of their trials on 12th January,” said Barney.
“So we went down and in the morning I did a bit of golakeeper training for about half an hour just to get warm before the game.
“Then I played in a team of trialists against the academy u14’s.”
Barney continued: “We lost 3-2 but it was the best facility I’ve ever trained at and a good experience.
“I’ve never been at an academy or anything and have just been playing Sunday league up until now.
“When I went to UK Football Trials I wasn’t expecting to get scouted, I didn’t get my hopes up I was just going to see what the level’s like.”
“The players at UKFT were better than I thought they were going to be, the standard was amazing.”
Watford informed Barney they are going to continue to monitor him over the months, along with Sheffield United who also followed up their interest.
In the meantime Barney will be returning to our Manchester trials in February for another shot at making it as a professional footballer.