Bolton Wanderers vs Shrewsbury Town

NEWS ROUND-UP
FIRST PRO DEALS FOR
ACADEMY GRADUATES
Bolton Wanderers are delighted
to confirm that three of their
Academy players have been
awarded first professional
contracts.
Defender Noah Halford and
midfielder Sonny Sharples have
signed deals to extend their stay
with the Whites and move into the
professional ranks.
And 17-year-old Sam Inwood, who
travelled with the first team squad
to Oxford last weekend, has also
agreed a three-year professional
contract with the club.
In addition, right-sided defender
Wes Frimpong will move up to
the B Team squad next season
after activating a clause in his
scholarship agreement to receive a
first-year professional contract.
Like Frimpong, Inwood, Halford
and Sharples have all progressed
through the Wanderers’ Academy
for various lengths of their fledgling
careers and as well as playing
for the Whites’ Youth Team have
also featured for the B Team and
trained with Wanderers’ first-team
squad.
Inwood, a left-sided defender or
wing-back who has also trained
with the Republic of Ireland
U19 squad, has been given a
professional contract at the end
of his first year as a scholar with
Wanderers and will sign up until
June, 2026.
Halford and Sharples, who are
both 18, have signed one-year
deals with an option of a further
12 months after nearing the end of
their two-year scholarship deals
as Wanderers continue to develop
a pathway for homegrown young
players to progress with the club.
Wanderers’ Head of Academy,
Dave Gardiner, said: “It’s fantastic
for the Academy to see the three
boys come through, all with
different journeys.
“We’ve known Sonny since he was
under-8s. He left us for a while
but he came back and has really
progressed, so he’s deservedly got
his contract.
“Noah joined us at the end of
his under-14 year and has come
on leaps and bounds with great
potential.
“And Sam is a really versatile player
who came half-way through his
youth phase who can play in a
number of positions and it’s really
exciting to see how far we can take
him with the pathway we’ve got at
the club now.”
Meanwhile, Wanderers will not
be taking up options on secondyear
scholars Adam Beardsworth,
Joe Brown, Abdul Kamara, Danny
Jones and Joel Burgess and
Wanderers would like to thank
them for their contribution with the
Whites and wish them well in their
future careers.
Pictured from front row left to right
are Sam Inwood, Sonny Sharples
and Noah Halford with Youth Team
Coach Julian Darby (back left) and
Head of Academy Dave Gardiner.
GOALKEEPERS’ UNION
James Trafford fittingly formed
part of a tribute to one of his
legendary predecessors in the
Wanderers’ goalkeeping shirt
when the Whites played at Exeter
City over Easter.
Dick Pym – an England
international and three-time FA
Cup winner with Wanderers –
is currently the subject of an
exhibition marking his remarkable
life and career in his hometown of
Topsham in Devon.
A historic blue plaque is also being
erected in Topsham in honour
of Pym, who played for Exeter
before joining Wanderers in 1921
and spending a decade with the
Whites.
Trafford and current Exeter
goalkeeper Jamal Blackman were
pictured with the plaque before
Wanderers’ win at St James’ Park
on Good Friday.
Pym – known as the ‘Fisherman
Footballer’ after being born into a
fishing family and working in the
fishing industry before and after his
time in Bolton – played 336 games
for the Whites.
He was part of the Wanderers’
Cup-winning teams of 1923 in the
White Horse Final and again in
1926 and 1929.
He didn’t concede a goal in any
of the games and was the oldest
living survivor of the great 1923
Wanderers’ side up to his death in
1988 at the age of 95.
Pym – who toured South America
with Exeter in 1914 before serving
in the First World War – also won
three England caps as the standout
goalkeeper of the 1920s and
is rightly remembered as a Bolton
great.
www.bwfc.co.uk
The Wanderer | 19