14-year-old midfielder Matheus Possamai impressed at our West London event and was scouted by National League side Aldershot Town.

We caught up with Matheus’ father Pablo to get a better understanding of his footballing background, why he chose to attend our event and how his trial with Aldershot went.

First of all Pablo, congratulations on Matheus’ brilliant trial with UK Football Trials and being scouted by Aldershot! He is obviously a talented player, could you please tell us a little bit about his football history?

“Matheus started playing futsal in his home country Brazil, where he played for Audax Academy. He also played 11 a side in Brazil for Portuguesinha.”

“He has been living in the UK for one and a half years and he played for Ascot United Youth U14 team in the Surrey Youth Premier Elite League.”

“With Ascot he won ‘Most Improved Player’ and some of the highlights were for the Berks & Bucks Cup where he was man of the match in the semi-finals and scored two goals in the final giving Ascot the championship trophy!”

Wow that’s brilliant, Matheus has clearly been performing very well for his grassroots team. So what was the reason you decided to bring him along to one of our trials? 

“It is quite hard to have scouts attend and watch your grassroots game and if you are lucky to have one watching, you may not be playing at your best or they might just be looking for a specific position, which may not be yours. The UK Football Trials platform gives a good exposure to the players.”

Since being scouted, could you please talk us through what has happened since?

“Matheus spent three-weeks training and playing with the Aldershot. Although the boys received him well it was challenging, as all the other boys knew each other and many times he wasn’t receiving the balls. Some games he did very well and others he didn’t. Technically the coach was very impressed and wanted to take him to train with U16.”

That’s fantastic Pablo! Has there been any feedback since, or have any decisions been made?

“Yes, Aldershot have been very impressed with Matheus and have now signed him!”

That is absolutely brilliant! As someone who went from playing grassroots football to signing for Aldershot, does Matheus have advice for others who are in a similar position, where they believe they have the talent but lack the opportunity?

“Matheus’ advice would be don’t give up, keep training hard and try to keep on improving every week.”