ACADEMY PLAYERS SIGN FOR FIRST TEAM

The club is proud to announce that 6 Academy graduates have signed for the First Team for the 2026/27 season.

Charlie Skinner, Brad Smith, Kellen Fiddy, Harlyn Palmer, Flynn Bobby and James Coton.

All six featured in back to back Suffolk U18 Midweek Cup runs to the Final, wining the 2024/25 showpiece event, prior to making more club history last season by playing a key part in the Under-18's landmark run to the second run proper of the FA Youth Cup.

They also were regulars in the club's Reserves Team over the last few seasons, and had been involved with the First Team squad during last season, both in training or on matchdays.

Goalkeeper Skinner - who notably conceded only one goal in the FA Youth Cup run - said, "it’s a great feeling to be staying at Needham as it’s a great club and am excited for the future ahead. Great to be signing for the first team as well I’m really happy and proud of this achievement. It’s always been my ambition to play for Needham Market's First Team, having been here 3 years it has been my long term goal to play for them. It's always a great feeling to be recognised because this shows that my hard work in the last 2 years of the Academy has paid off for me. The First Team is obviously where you want to be when you join the club, your always constantly trying to work towards being a First Team player. That’s were for the last 2 years the Academy’s pathway to the First Team has helped massively to reach this goal of mine and that comes down to the coaches and players in the Academy who have challenged me and got me were I need to be for this achievement."

Defender Brad Smith - having made multiple appearances for the first team last campaign, including starting at Redditch United - commented, "Yeah I’m buzzing that the club want me to stay, needham has been my home for a long time so to be able to stay again this year is a very nice feeling and I couldn’t have asked for anything more in my journey so far at the club. It’s been a rollercoaster of a journey for me since I’ve been at Needham but I’ve always known that my end goal was to be a First Team player so I’m very happy. I think you have to have that hunger and desire for more otherwise there’s no point in playing the game, I’m ready to take any opportunities I get. As I said a goal of mine had always been to make it into the first team environment so to be given that opportunity is great. It’s an unbelievable experience to be around the environment and to learn of players who have experience at that level and higher so it’s massive in terms of personal progression because there’s so much to take in and take away and reflect on to help me develop as a player. The academy is such a positive environment because we’ve all been coached to be adaptable and with the coaching we’ve had from the staff at the academy it’s massively helped to be ready to step into the first team environment but the standard of the first team lads is a big jump up and training with them and getting chances to be involved on some match days has helped me a lot to know where I need to be technically and physically going into the new season."

Versatile defender/midfielder Kell Fiddy, captained the Reserves in 2025/26 and also made a few appearances in the First Team, added, "that was one of my long term goals for this season, do everything I can to try and break into first team training on a consistent basis and try get into one of the match day squads and managed to achieve that which I really enjoyed, more experience for me and you’re surrounded by top players that are willing to give you information to help improve your game and it brings you up as a player for definite. Even in the short appearances I made off the bench I feel like I learned a lot just being in and around it on the matchday squad is so beneficial for a player like me wanting to improve and learn. But yeah now I’ve experienced it I’m hungry for more, so I continue to work hard over the summer and hit the ground running pre season."

Tricky winger Harlyn Palmer commented, "Yeah it’s a good feeling to be staying at the club I’ve been here a good 4-5 years now and have enjoyed it a lot and just got to push on from here. It’s an honour to be able to sign onto the first team, that was my main goal since joining Needham in the U15’s so I’m proud to be able to sign on. I’m just relishing to play, I’ve been out 5 months now and just can’t wait to get back playing. It’s nice to be recognised by Tom and just excited to see what the future holds for me. I only did a small amount of training sessions before I got injured but I’d say the main difference is the tempo and physicality everything seems to feel a lot quicker in training and you get less time on the ball."

Winger Flynn Bobby, one of the trio involved that featured in the Suffolk Premier Cup Final, said, "Yeah really happy to stay here, obviously not everything is a certainty for any of us after pre season, but it’s a great club and to be given the opportunity to stay here is something I’m really happy about. For it to be with the first team makes it even more exciting for me. I’m looking forward to being in and around the squad throughout the whole of preseason and seeing what that brings ahead of the new season. I’ll be working really hard over the summer. I’ll have a chat with Tom to see what he’s after from me to add and improve to my game and hopefully that will all pay off and put me closer to where I want to be. The Reserves is full of talented players for the boys that have been asked to stay it’s a massive compliment to be picked out from such a good batch of players. Now it’s time for us to properly take our game’s to the next level. For me personally, I found the jump much easier than I maybe expected. That’s because all the players make it really easy to settle in, they sort of treat you like you’ve been with them for years, which makes the transition really smooth. I think the way the sessions are structured in the first team isn’t too dissimilar really to the academy. That’s all down to how well Manty and Luke have structured sessions from the day I joined the club and how each player benefits everything we train. Whether it’s position specific work or shape work. Every session, I felt like I came away with something I learned. Just like the first team, whether that’s learning off a player that’s got much more experience than me, a player in my position, or from Patch, Tom or Munno I learn something new every time I train, which I think has really benefited my development in the last 2 seasons."

James Coton, another who featured a few times in the first team last season, said, "yeah it is I have been at the club since very young so for the football journey to continue at the club is something I am really happy about and I am looking forward to what the future holds with Needham. It is an achievement I am really proud of and I am looking forward to getting started in preseason. I really enjoy being around the first team environment as you are always being pushed to be at the best standard you can be at. Being around an environment where winning is everything has helped me learn a lot and also the quality of players I am round has been good for me as I can take bits that they do and add it to my game. I would say the biggest difference would be the little details such as communication everyone is always talking on the pitch and it makes it so much easier to play as it is like you have eyes in the back of your head."

First Team Manager Tom Rothery said, "I spoke with Dave Clarke (CEO) in January and we both had the same view. We felt we had a really good group in the academy and we wanted to bring them through and try to create future first team players. All of them have the ability to do that, look there’s a long road and there will be ups and downs and as I’ve said to the players it’s really on them to show the commitment and attitude that’s required but at this club we’ve shown that the pathway is well and truly there for them. Players such as Keiran Morphew and Jake Dye show that. And in my time in the past 10 years Callum Page, Taylor Clark, Seth Chambers, Ed Barker and Charlie Wood also show that plus also shows that hopefully there’s potential to come into the first team and progress higher from there also. They will work with us and at times there will be loans for them to help as part of their development with the long term aim to try and build them into first team players. No pathway is smooth and easy but I want all future academy players to know that I want our best players to progress and develop with us and hopefully we play a small part in a really exciting future career for them."

Academy Manager James Mant said, "It's really pleasing to see that 6 Academy lads will be given an opportunity to be part of the First Team's plans this coming season. This is now the start of a very different journey for these players and it's only the beginning of a lot of hard work and application which will be required if they want to impress and maintain a place in the squad. The Academy will continue to look out for and support these players whilst they are in the transition gap between the Reserves and the First Team. We will be helping them with additional training, topping up minutes and providing them with reviews to make sure that they are further supported during this highly competitive period of time in their careers."