Alfie Dorrington signed his first professional contract with Spurs last season, and the 17 year old central defender is a player who has real quality. Now in his second year of scholarship with the club, the Enfield born Spurs player is a very tall defender (he is approximately 6ft 5 inches), but he has great ability on the ball. Dorrington made 29 competitive appearances for the Spurs Under 18 side last season (Alfie scored one goal and provided one assist), in 2021/22, having made three appearances during the season before that, in 2020/21. The defender also made the bench on one occasion for the Spurs Under 23 side last season. Alfie often started matches alongside Charlie Sayers, in central defence for the Spurs Under 18 side in 2021/22, following the former Southend United player joining Spurs in late 2021. Alfie hardly missed a game for Stuart Lewis’ side last season, and he also represented England at Under 17 level last season. A real footballing centre-half, Dorrington is like a playmaker from defence. As he likes to go on surging and skilful forward runs out of defence, taking players on for skill as he brings the ball into midfield, or looks to make a long pass out to the flanks.

Alfie Dorrington is a good passer of a football, and he is very capable of making long and accurate cross field diagonal passes. A strong defender, Alfie is a brave central defender who keeps good defensive positioning on the pitch. He is very good at making blocks and is also strong and decisive in the challenge. A passionate player on the pitch, Dorrington makes it difficult for forwards to get good chances on goal, as he is clever in his defending. The 2021/22 season would have been a great learning experience for the second year scholar, as although results didn’t always go Spurs’ way at Under 18 level, Alfie got to experience playing in the very competitive Premier League South, on a week to week basis. He also got to represent Spurs at the end of season Terborg Tournament, in the Netherlands, where once again he was ever present for Spurs.

 There were a number of matches that Alfie Dorrington impressed me in last season for Spurs. A close and highly entertaining away Premier League South match against Chelsea ended in the home side winning the match, but Alfie Dorrington and Charlie Sayers impressed with their defensive positioning, the amount of headers that they won and also with how many blocks they made and challenges that they won. In an impressive win against Ipswich Town in the third round of the FA Youth Cup last season, Alfie showed his quality on the ball as well as his tenacity in defence, and also his fine reading of the game. He had another very good game in a 2-1 away league win against Reading in 2022, where he had a very solid game defensively. And also, in a loss to Arsenal in Spurs’ final Premier League South game of last season, Dorrington was the best outfield player for Spurs during that match, and he was the main reason why Spurs didn’t lose by more goals, such was his very good defending during the whole of that match. 

A player who I think has really good potential, Alfie Dorrington has been playing quite a lot for the Spurs Under 21 side during this pre-season. And he is currently with the Spurs Under 21 side in France, as they are competing in the prestigious Tournoi Européen. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Alfie make his Premier League 2 debut for Spurs during this season, and I think that he will also be a very important player for the Spurs Under 19 side in the 2022/23 edition of the UEFA Youth League. I would like to wish Alfie all the very best of luck for this season.