Find out more about Huddersfield Town up and coming youngsters
- Latest #YoungTerriers in focus series
- Town shines the spotlight on the Club’s Academy talent
- Today we look at Under-17s winger Pat Jones
With the coronavirus putting paid to Town’s fixture list until 30 April at the least, we’ve decided to throw the spotlight on some of the up and coming Young Terriers in the Academy!
Today we take a closer look at 16-year-old winger Patrick Jones; one of the most recent arrivals to the Club.
A Wales Under-17 international, Pat plays predominantly on the left wing for Town’s Under-17 team.
He started his footballing career with Ruthin Town and Bala Town, where he was spotted by Wrexham playing in the U15 Cymru Cup. He subsequently joined the Wrexham Academy in 2017.
Town’s Head of Recruitment Emyr Humphreys first spotted Pat playing for the Red Dragons’ Under-18 side – whilst still an U16 player – against Accrington Stanley in March 2019.
After seeing Jones in a couple of other games, he registered Town’s interest with Wrexham’s Academy.
Wrexham chose to leave the EPPP games’ programme ahead of the current season, which set the wheels in motion for a move to Town.
Pat featured for the Wrexham First Team in pre-season, starting a friendly win over Curzon Ashton having just turned 16 years old.
Humphreys then watched him play again in September 2019 in a game against the City of Liverpool’s Under-19 side, after which he was invited for a week-long trial with the Town Academy.
Ahead of time with the Terriers, Pat called Emyr and asked detailed questions about the programme; something he says was a first from a potential scholar.
The trial went very well, and an offer to sign Pat on a two-year scholarship was issued in September 2019, which was duly accepted.
Because the transfer is cross-border, Town and Pat had to wait for international clearance to be granted, which came in January 2020.
He’s subsequently hit the ground running, netting three goals in his first five starts for the Under-17s. Those performances have earned him a way into the Elite Development Team and Under-19 sides, for whom he has made three appearances.
A lightning-quick winger with an eye for goal cutting in off the flank, it’ll be great to see Pat progress with the Young Terriers!
Have a look at our other profiles of the #YoungTerriers:
You can keep a close eye on the youngsters' development on Twitter via @htafcacademy.
