Shrewsbury Town have confirmed that youngster Sam Jones has signed his first deal with the academy’s under 13 side after impressing over the recent season with the Advanced Development Centre, ran by Shrewsbury Town in the Community.

Speaking of the opportunity to play for Shrewsbury Town’s academy, Sam said

“It feels great to sign for the academy, I’m happy to be given the chance to play at the next level.

“The hard work with my coaches this year has seen my game improve a lot, the coaching has helped me to pick up on my mistakes and learn from them.

“I was never sure that this opportunity would come around as sometimes I wasn’t performing at the levels that I know I can.

“I hope the future means that I can keep playing at a higher level and keep up the good performances.”

Callum McKenzie, Shrewsbury Town academy’s lead pro-development phase coach, says Sam has settled in well with the academy;

“Sam has settled into the academy life immediately and with ease and lot of credit must go to the STITC staff and the ADC programme in general.

“The way the programme is run follows the academy coaching syllabus so players are familiar with our playing principles before coming into the academy on trial which makes the transition as seamless as possible.”

“Sam is a local player with lots of potential, has a good attitude and temperament, works hard and is hungry to learn and improve. We are looking forward to working with him and helping him achieve his potential – welcome to Shrewsbury Town Academy Sam”