Hadley and Rowntree: two academy graduates in the first-team squad

Rhodri Hadley is 18, George Rowntree is 17, and both have signed their first professional contracts with the club they joined at eight.

Hadley is a centre-back who can play on the right. He wears 22 and has been on the bench for every home game since August. Rowntree, number 19, has already scored three league goals, more than any Castlebridge teenager since the academy opened.

“Neither of them is here because we’re short,” academy manager Ibrahima Okafor said. “They’re here because they train like first-team players. The pathway works when the manager actually picks them, and he does.”

Both will still play for the Under-21s on weeks they aren’t in the matchday squad.