19 year old Sam Byram was unheard of before the 2012/2013 season, and burst onto the scene with a pre-season goal against Preston. Since then he has never looked back. Byram was ever present bar the last couple of games, winning 3 out of 4 main end of season awards. He narrowly missed out on Goal of the Season for his superb solo chip against Oxford, but he did however win Player’s Player of the Year, Fan’s Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. Admittedly, given the average age of the Leeds team under Neil Warnock, there wasn’t much competition in the latter category!
Tom Lees was another young player who had a brilliant season, despite what Warnock had to say about him. His fine form saw him playing for England U21s throughout and played 1 game in the UEFA Under 21s Championship.
Chris Dawson is an exciting prospect, who can only benefit from first team experience. He made his debut v Derby late on in the season, with many fans calling for him to be played much earlier. Being the age that he is, he would seriously reduce the average age of the midfield, with Austin aged 28, Green and Tonge 30, Norris 32 and Brown 36.
Other youngsters that will hopefully get more game time next season are Zac Thompson and Dominic Poleon, who both had successful loans with Bury (Poleon also having a spell on loan at Sheffield United). Thompson won Young Player of the Year at Bury, while Poleon came back from his loan spell at Sheffield United, making a big impact at the Watford game and getting himself a goal.
Brian McDermott has already made 24 year old striker Matt Smith his first signing at Leeds, and we’ve also been linked with Alex Pearce and Tommy Rowe (both also 24). As a former chief scout at Reading, McDermott has an eye for young talent. With McDermott signing and promoting young players to the first team, this is a great foundation for years to come.
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