11-year-old centre forward Harry Supperstone impressed at our Birmingham event back in December 2019 and was scouted by five professional clubs!

We caught up with Harry’s father Mark to get a better understanding of his son’s footballing background, why he chose to bring him to our event and how his trials have went.

First of all Mark, congratulations to Harry on his brilliant trial with UK Football Trials and for being scouted by so many great clubs! He is obviously a talented player, could you please tell us a little bit about his football history?

“Harry has played for a local team for a number of years; he currently plays in the MJPL as well as for a Sunday team in the Warwickshire leagues.”

Mark continued: “He has been the leading goal scorer in his team every year since he started playing, scoring 50 goals in the MJPL last season!”

“He also helped his school win the ‘FA Cup’ scoring the equaliser and winning goal in the final, at a time when he was in year five, playing in a year six team!”

That’s brilliant! Harry has clearly been performing very well for his grassroots and school team. So what was the reason you decided to bring him along to one of our trials? 

“Many parents had expressed surprise that he was not already in an academy, he has received many compliments from parents and referees about his qualities and reading of the game.”

“He is football mad and always talks about wanting to be a professional footballer. He was not aware of many scouts attending his matches, and as a striker it can be difficult to stand out in the odd game.” Mark added.

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

“Five different clubs, Derby, West Brom, Birmingham City, Walsall and MK Dons spotted Harry.”

“In addition, on the day Sheffield United also spoke to him but it was quickly apparent that he lived well beyond an hour and half and so could not be followed up by this club.”

“He was invited to a shadow squad match for Derby and did really well scoring four goals in a 7-0 victory. Derby said he had a stand out performance, unfortunately, he was advised that he lived just a few minutes outside the maximum distance so currently they were unable to take forward although we are keeping in touch and hopefully something will come of it in the future.”

That’s fantastic! Has there been any feedback or has any decisions been made with his trial at West Brom or Birmingham?

“He is currently undertaking a 6-8 week trial at West Brom and is in regular contact with Birmingham City. West Brom has not provided any feedback as of yet.”

That is absolutely brilliant! As someone who was scouted by so many clubs at our event, does Harry have advice for others who are in a similar position?

“The UK trails is a great place to go if you think you are good enough to be spotted. From Harry’s experience it is not only about your football qualities but you having the right attitude and being prepared to work hard.”

UK Football Trials would like to congratulate Harry on a brilliant trial with us and for doing so well with the clubs that scouted him. We will continue to report on Harry’s progress as new updates come in.