Football Trials: David Jervis on What Coaches Notice, Scholarships and Late Developers

Most of a trial happens when the ball is nowhere near the player.

Parents watch the ball. Coaches watch the player. Those 30 seconds between drills tell me a lot. Who jogs back to the cones and who walks? Who says something to the lad next to him? Who stands with his hands on his hips, staring at the floor?

Then there's the first five seconds after a mistake. Everyone gives the ball away at a trial, and I'm not bothered by that. I'm watching what comes next. Does he sprint to win it back, or throw his arms up and look at a teammate? Does he want the ball again straight away, or does he go and hide on the far side?

It starts before kick-off, too. Is he early or rushing in? Is his kit right for the surface? Does he look the coach in the eye and say hello?

And yes, we notice the touchline. A parent coaching from the side or arguing with decisions gets clocked. When a club takes a young player on, the family comes with him.

The biggest one is trying to play their highlight reel. Step-overs in their own half, shots from 35 yards, beating the same man three times while a teammate is free. Players think coaches want to see something special. What coaches mostly want to see is good decisions, made quickly.

The others I see again and again:

• Sulking about position. If you're told to play left-back and you're a winger, play the best game at left-back you've ever played. Coaches sometimes do that on purpose to see how you respond.
• Switching off without the ball. No tracking back, no pressing, walking when the ball goes the other way. It's the quickest way to lose a coach's interest.
• Disappearing after a mistake. One bad touch, then 20 minutes of hiding.
• Not listening. The coach explains a drill, and the player does his own thing anyway. If you can't take information on a trial day, why would a club think you'll take it over two years?
• Getting the pacing wrong. He flies around for 20 minutes and has nothing left at the end, often because he hasn't eaten or slept properly.
• Reacting badly to being subbed. He rips the bib off, sits on his own, and stares at his phone. The player who claps the lads, watches the game and shouts encouragement often gets a note in the coach's book for that alone.

The week before a trial is not the week to get fit. If you're not fit by then, a few extra runs won't change it, and they could leave you heavy-legged on the day.

Physically, I'd keep it simple:

• Train as normal early in the week, then go lighter in the last two days. Keep the legs fresh, not flat.
• Sleep properly all week, not just the night before. Nerves often wreck the last night anyway.
• Eat and drink well. Have a proper breakfast on the day and take water and a snack.
• No new boots. I still see lads with blisters by the first water break because they wanted to look sharp.
• Pack the bag the night before: boots for different surfaces, shin pads, a spare top, a water bottle and something warm.

Mentally, the best thing a player can do is pick two or three specific things he wants to show. "Play well" isn't a plan. These are:

• "Check my shoulder before every pass I receive."
• "If I lose it, I win it back within five seconds."

Those are things he can control, even if his touch lets him down that day.

It helps to watch footage of his own games, too, to see where he can be more decisive.

For parents, keep the week normal. The car journey on the day is not the time for a team talk. A relaxed player plays freer football, and coaches can see the difference straight away.

In England, a scholarship is normally a two-year, full-time programme that starts the summer after Year 11, when a player is 16. The player trains and plays daily with the club's academy, usually in its under-18 side. Education runs alongside, typically a college course or apprenticeship-style qualification organised through the club. Scholars get a modest weekly allowance, not a footballer's wage. Arrangements vary from club to club and change over time, so always check the details with the club.

Most clubs decide their scholars during the under-15 and under-16 seasons. So by the time a lad starts Year 11, a lot of places have already gone, often to the club's own academy players.

Academies are graded under the Elite Player Performance Plan, from Category 1 down to Category 4. Broadly, the category reflects a club's resources and coaching hours. It doesn't tell you how good a fit a club is for your son.

What parents most often get wrong:

• A scholarship is not a professional contract. At the end of the two years the club decides whether to offer a pro deal. Most scholars won't get one at their club, which is why the education side matters.
• The biggest badge isn't always the best move. A player getting minutes at a Category 3 club can develop more than one sitting on the bench at Category 1.
• It isn't only for academy kids. Clubs do recruit from outside. Cameron Reid came through Glentoran FC and Linfield FC in Northern Ireland, and he's now a first-year scholar at Charlton Athletic FC. Dale Eve arrived in England as a goalkeeper with very little specialist coaching and was offered a two-year scholarship at Stoke City FC.

Yes, it's still realistic, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. By 15 or 16, most academy squads are largely settled, and the player coming in from outside has to be clearly better than someone the club already knows. Not just as good. Better.

So the question is how you give him the best chance:

• Play at the highest level you genuinely can. That could be a strong grassroots club, a non-league club's youth section or a college football programme. Easy wins against weak sides prove very little.
• Get proper footage. Full matches, not just a two-minute highlights clip. Recruitment staff want to see what he does when he's not on the ball.
• Get in front of the people who make decisions. An open trial day with hundreds of kids and ten minutes each is a lottery. A smaller setting where professional club staff can watch him train and play for a while is far more useful.

That's how we built our UK football trials at Premier Football UK. We review every player first, and if the level isn't realistic, we say so. Then they train and play in front of staff from professional clubs and get honest feedback afterwards. We never promise a contract, because clubs decide who they sign.

One note for families from abroad: UK clubs generally can't sign overseas players under 18, because FIFA tightly restricts international transfers of minors. For younger overseas players, a trial is a showcase and a stepping stone, not a signing day.

And if 16 doesn't happen, it isn't over. Plenty of players go into men's non-league football at 17 or 18 and get picked up from there.

Yes, and some of the best stories I've been involved in are late developers.

Isaac Lee is a good example. When we first worked with him he was a midfielder with real quality on the ball, who could pass between the lines. We arranged trials for him at Stoke City FC and Manchester City FC, and he joined Stoke City FC's academy. While he was there he had a big growth spurt, and he's now 6ft 5in. Even so, he was released after two years. He went into non-league football, kept improving, and in January 2026 he signed for Shrewsbury Town FC in League Two. The passing he learned as a smaller midfielder never left him.

Dale Eve is a different kind of late starter. He came to England as a goalkeeper with very little specialist coaching, but he had the frame, the athleticism and a real desire to improve. That was enough for Stoke City FC to offer him a two-year scholarship, and he went on to win 50 caps for Bermuda.

What they tend to have in common:

• Technique built when they were small. They couldn't rely on size, so they learned to think quickly, scan and use the ball.
• Game understanding. They know where space is before it opens.
• Resilience. They've usually been told "not yet" more than once and kept turning up.
• Patient people around them. Coaches and parents who judged them on their football, not their height.

It's widely recognised that academies have tended to favour early developers and players born earlier in the school year. Late developers are often missed. That doesn't mean they're not good enough.

Get an honest opinion from someone with no reason to flatter him, then make a plan based on that, not on hope.

Being released is one club's opinion at one point in time. It isn't a verdict on his whole career. But "they got it wrong" isn't a plan either. Sometimes the club was wrong. Sometimes there's a real gap, maybe in pace, decision-making or how he handles pressure. If you know which it is, you know what to work on.

From there:

• Keep him playing meaningful football. He needs competitive games at a level that stretches him, every week.
• Keep the education going. It isn't a backup plan. It's part of the plan. Scholars do education too.
• Protect his enjoyment. The players I've seen bounce back are the ones who still love it. If every game becomes a test, the joy goes, and the football usually follows.
• Watch what you say in the car. He'll pick up your disappointment faster than you think.

Isaac Lee was released from Stoke City FC's academy and still reached the Football League, by playing non-league football and getting better every season. Routes like that exist. They're just slower and less glamorous than people imagine.

At Premier Football UK, honesty is the bit families tell us they value most. If we don't think the level is realistic, we tell them, and we suggest something that fits. That can be hard to hear, but it's far kinder than two more years of chasing the wrong thing.

Be the player the coach would want in his team on a cold, wet Tuesday night. Reliable, switched on, and good for the people around him.

In practice, that means:

• Do the simple things quickly and well. Get your first touch out of your feet, scan before you receive and play forward when it's on.
• Work both ways. Press when you lose it and get back into shape. Coaches notice the runs nobody else does.
• Talk. Organise, encourage, call for it.
• Show you can take information. When a coach tells you something, do it visibly the next time the chance comes. That's one of the strongest signals you can send.
• Want the ball when it's difficult. Not just when you're free in space.
• React well. To mistakes, decisions, being moved position and being subbed.

Then, once you've earned the right, show your quality. One or two moments of real class mean much more from a player who has done everything else well.

Two of our published success stories sum this up. Joe Hunter, who went on to sign for Fleetwood Town FC, separated himself with his attitude and leadership as much as his technique. Anton Dudik, who signed a professional contract at Carlisle United FC, wanted the ball in difficult situations, and that got him noticed.

At Premier Football UK trials we put players in front of professional club staff, so all of that gets seen. If your son wants to test himself, you can register now, and we'll give you an honest view of which route fits.