16-year-old central midfielder Tom Jackson impressed at our Essex event in May, being scouted by both Woking and Crawley Town.

Talking with his father Nick, he explained: “Tom plays with a team called Kinetic, who are linked with Croydon F.C. He was playing under 16’s last year so will be playing under 18’s this year. He’s a central midfielder and plays as a bit of an all-rounder.”

Nick continued and went into more detail on Tom’s footballing background, telling us: “Tom was in Wimbledon’s academy for about five or six years from the age of 8 till around 14. Unfortunately he got Osgood-Schlatter in his knees, he had that for around 18 months so he ended up missing a season and a half. As a result of that, he dropped out of the academy structure.”

After the disappointment of being released by Wimbledon, Tom explored his options and came across UK Football Trials. His father explained why he opted for our event, saying: “The reason I bought him along to your trial was because it seemed incredibly well organised, which makes a change for most football events! Yeah, it was organised, professional and well structured. All of those things just made us think it was a good thing to do.”

“Tom enjoyed the different aspects to the coaching at your event, it wasn’t just one thing, it was varied and then he got to play in the games at the end which was a good challenge as well.” He added.

After hearing the news he had been scouted from our event, Nick explained what happened next: “Scott from Woking got in touch with Tom and invited him along for a half day trial. The trial was made up of predominantly signed players rather than players on trial. Tom really enjoyed it and Scott was actually really impressed with him. After the session he took Tom aside and offered a place in their academy and their education program.”

Unfortunately both Tom and his father didn’t feel as though the offer from Woking was something that was possible. His father explained: “Tom and I had a long think about the offer from Woking and decided that it probably didn’t quite work for him; with the education and distance.”

When asked what Tom’s next steps are from here, Nick told us: “He’s going to stay in the Kinetic program, as his education is based in Crystal Palace, which is very close to us. So we said thanks but no thanks, as from a practical point of view he wants to be able to do his A-Levels and stay closer to home.”

“Tom is still waiting to hear back from Crawley, so that’s still in the pipeline. But I think Tom would definitely come back to your event just because it’s a good half a day of football and a great experience.” He added.

Everyone at UK Football Trials would like to wish Tom the best of luck with both his education and football. He has displayed a great work ethic and we’re sure he has a bright future ahead of him.