Michael Ani, 10 at the time, was scouted back in 2019 from our five day camp held at Ardingly College after impressing a scout from Watford.

When speaking with Michael’s father, he gave us more of an insight into his sons footballing past, explaining: “Michael started playing for our local team around 4 years ago as a central midfielder and this is the only team he has played for.”

“Apart from this trial with Watford, Michael has not been scouted by any other clubs.”

He also explained why he looked to our company to give his son a chance of being noticed, telling us: “The main reason we opted to bring Michael along to your events is because he lives and breathes football.” 

“He loves it so much that we decided to book him onto your five day football training and trial camp to give him the best opportunity possible. He also really enjoyed the camp.”

Following our camp, Michael’s father explained what happened: “We were informed after the five day camp that Michael had been scouted, he and myself were extremely happy with this news as it is what he had dreamed of.”

“From there we attended a trial at Watford’s dome where Michael trained and played in a match.”

He continued: “Unfortunately we received an email from the Watford scout that they were not able to keep Michael on at this time but were going to monitor him for is local team.”

Despite not being successful with his trial first time round, we were told that Michael is more determined than ever to keep working hard and will continue to attend our events to achieve his goal.

UK Football Trials enjoyed seeing Michael at our five day camp in August 2020 and were delighted to see he brought the same brilliant attitude and ability as last time.