Port Vale youngster gets England U17 call-up
Port Vale striker Baylee Dipepa has been called up into England’s U17 squad for their UEFA U17 EURO elite round qualifiers this week.
The England U17 team take on Hungary, Northern Ireland and France in their group knowing that a top two finish will secure a spot at May’s U17 EURO Finals in Cyprus.
Dipepa is one of only four Football League players to be named in the 21 man squad. It is due reward for the locally born youngster who has made impressive progress this season. Dipepa scored his first senior goal, becoming the club’s second-youngest ever scorer, on the 10th March while a run of appearances in the first-team saw him awarded his first senior contract with the Valiants.
England U17 Squad
Goalkeepers: Spike Brits (Manchester City), Kai Crampton (Chelsea), Oliver Whatmuff (Manchester City)
Defenders: Harry Amass (Manchester United), Samuel Amissah (Fulham), Jaden Dixon (Stoke City), Christian McFarlane (New York City), Stephen Mfuni (Manchester City), Kian Noble (Manchester City), Leo Shahar (Newcastle United)
Midfielders: Ollie Harrison (Chelsea), Josh King (Fulham), Divine Mukasa (Manchester City), Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal), Christopher Rigg (Sunderland)
Forwards: Jesse Derry (Crystal Palace), Baylee Dipepa (Port Vale), Luca Fletcher (Manchester City), Ryan McAidoo (Chelsea), Jay Robinson (Southampton), Trevan Sanusi (Newcastle United)
Vale fan
20th March 2024 @ 10:42 am
Good luck, Baylee, I hope all goes well, for, it’s something to be proud for you and the supporters we need a bit of a lift now the owner has left us high and dry, all the Vale fans will be cheering you on to a memorable night of football.
Alan Vit
20th March 2024 @ 3:01 pm
The owners have put in place and sustained the excellent Port Vale Academy which is producing many first-class young players like Baylee. The owners are busily improving all parts of the club. We all know that the first-team is not yet producing the goods this season. But it is not yet producing the goods in the very competitive (and financially imbalanced) League 1, a division higher than when the owners took over. Instead of posting thoughtlessly destructive comments, perhaps you could give a bit of thought to just how hard it is to run a football club successfully. And then give a bit more thought to how lucky we are to have genuine owners like Carol and Kevin.
Dominic Roberts
20th March 2024 @ 7:12 pm
I’m afraid it’s not quite that simple though, Alan. Most of the youth players who are making it through to the first team at this point were at Vale long before Carol and Kevin. Baylee joined as an under-9…. The reason why academy players are coming through the ranks faster is that we’re relying on them to fill out the first team! I’m not against that in principle – I’m enjoying seeing some of the youth players given a chance, but the suggestion that these players are a result of Carol and Kevin’s ownership is simply not true. Baylee is good example of a lad who would have been hoping to make a few appearances alongside senior players this year, but we’re now at the point of relying on him to score in must-win games – a lot of pressure for a young lad. He seems to be handling it well though, so kudos to him!
Alan Vit
23rd March 2024 @ 9:08 pm
Dominic,
It’s “not quite that simple” because you are refuting arguments that you have thrown into the discussion rather than the points that I made.
Let’s try again and see if you actually read them this time before responding.
The owners have put in place and sustained the excellent Port Vale Academy which is producing many first-class young players like Baylee.
Running the Port Vale Academy costs in the region of £1 million per year which the owners have to fund alongside the costs for all other parts of the club.
Players like Baylee and the other fine Academy graduates don’t just join at 9 and then automatically progress, there is endless development work between each of them and the excellent Academy staff.
This first-class work by the owners, the Academy staff and the young players themselves is what is worthy of praise.
This is a thread about the call-up of a young player to the England U-18 team.
Where he has since succeeded brilliantly.
So this is a cause for positivity and celebration.