Will Goodwin from Chester F.C signs with Stoke City
03.02.2021
Stoke City has recently announced that they will be welcoming a new, young non-league striker from Chester to their squad. The newest addition to the club is Will Goodwin who has signed with Stoke City for a fee that is yet to be publicised with a sell-on clause to the contract as well.
At only nine years of age, Goodwin joined the academy at Chester establishing his roots with the club. During his time, he made quite an impression with his higher-ups which is how he earned his position as the captain of the under-18 side during their FA Youth Cup campaign last season. He furthered solidified his position and made his mark by scoring a remarkable sox number of goals in only four matches. Goodwin became one of the very first people to make it to the first team of Stoke City after graduating from the academy at Chester. He was only the sixteenth player to graduate from the academy and make his way to the first team since the club was established in 2010. Following this, he made his debut in the first team a FA Trophy fixture at Royston Town. He was only seventeen years of age when he made his debut in January.
After the likes of Sam Hughes, James Jones, and Tom Crawford, this signing with Stoke City makes Goodwin only the fourth Chester academy graduate to join a Premier League or Football League side. This is indeed a remarkable feat for the eighteen-year-old player as well as the Chester academy for developing such talented individuals.
In an interview, joint manager for Chester F.C, Anthony Johnson expressed how disheartened both he and his co-manager, Bernard Morley are over having to see Goodwin leave considering how much he has progressed during the last year. He praised Goodwin for his work rate and talents that are surprising for someone of his age. However, the manager stated how happy they are for Goodwin and how much he earned this opportunity.
Goodwin will begin his time with Stoke City in the under-23s side under the leadership of Kevin Russell and David Hibbert. Stoke City finds themselves in a very difficult position of a play-off place and need the goals to promote to group one of the Premier League 2 division. Hopefully, with the addition of Goodwin to their playing eleven, the club will manage to make that leap forward.
Source: https://the72.co.uk/219104/stoke-city-swoop-for-young-non-league-striker
