It has been over two years since goalkeeper Jonathan De Bie left Spurs’ Academy. A goalkeeper from Uccle, in Belgium, Jonathan joined Spurs’ Academy set-up at the beginning of the 2016/17 season, as a first year scholar from Belgian side KV Mechelen. He wouldn’t feature a lot for the Spurs Under 18 side in his first year of scholarship, because of a serious injury that he sustained in a game when he was on international duty with Belgium. However, De Bie would return and become the first choice goalkeeper for the Spurs Under 18 side throughout the following 2017/18 season, and he had an excellent season, even being named Spurs’ scholar of the season, at the end of season Premier League youth awards. A vocal and confident goalkeeper with fantastic reflexes, who made a real difference for the Spurs Under 18 side during that season, as he helped them to reach the final of the Under 18 Premier League Cup, Jonathan was in outstanding form during that season for Spurs at Academy level. He would later feature on occasions for the then Spurs Under 23 side and also the Under 19 side in the UEFA Youth League, as well as for Spurs at youth tournaments during the next couple of seasons.

I remember Jonathan De Bie having an outstanding game for the Spurs Under 23 side in a Premier League International Cup group-stage fixture with Athletic Bilbao B, at Stevenage’s Lamex Stadium in the 2018/19 season. The goalkeeper made over a dozen saves, in what was an absolutely outstanding individual performance from the then first year professional. Jonathan didn’t feature a lot for Spurs at Academy level over the next season, and then during the 2020/21 season he would leave Spurs on a permanent transfer to join Belgian side RWD Molenbeek. He would make four competitive appearances for RWD Molenbeek during the 2020/21 season, keeping one clean-sheet. However, Jonathan hasn’t featured in a competitive game for them since then. Although this season the goalkeeper will hopefully be getting a lot of game time, as he recently joined Belgian third tier side K.S.C. Lokeren-Temse on a season long loan. Jonathan is a quality goalkeeper who was very good and reliable for Spurs at Academy level, and I wish him all the best for this season.

Aramide Oteh joined Spurs’ Academy full-time in the summer of 2015, although he had been at Spurs as a youth player for a lot longer than 2015. A versatile forward, Aramide played in a number of different positions during his time with Spurs. However, during his second year of scholarship, Aramide often played as a centre-forward, and he started the 2016/17 season well for the Spurs Under 18 side, scoring a good number of goals, even scoring four goals in just three games at one point during the early stages of that season. The player who was part of the same Spurs Academy age group as Brandon Austin, Marcus Edwards and Samuel Shashoua, would also feature for a Spurs Under 19 side in the UEFA Youth League during the early stages of the 2016/17 season, and also for the then Spurs Under 23 side (as a late substitute). I remember watching the former Spurs Academy player impressing for the Spurs Under 18 side, in one of his last games for them (against Fulham, in the October of 2016), after he had replaced Kazaiah Sterling in the centre-forward position. He worked really hard during his time on the pitch, made some good runs off the ball and also won the all important penalty, from which Samuel Shashoua scored the winning goal of the game from. Aramide would only play one more game for the Spurs Under 18 side, before leaving the club to join QPR’s Academy set-up.

It was at QPR that Aramide Oteh continued to improve as a footballer, and he made good strides there, during his time with their Academy. He would score an impressive amount of goals for the QPR Development side, and it didn’t take the Londoner long before he was featuring for their first team on occasions. In total for QPR, the forward would make 21 first team competitive appearances, scoring two goals. He did go out on several loan moves away from QPR, during his time with them. These clubs were Walsall, Bradford City, Stevenage and Colchester United, as he got great experience of playing EFL football. In 2021 Aramide Oteh would leave QPR permanently to join Salford City. He would later move to Crawley Town during the same season. Getting a lot of minutes with Crawley Town during his first full season with Crawley in 2022/23, Aramide would often play on the left flank, and he scored seven goals from 35 competitive appearances for Crawley Town last season. He scored an excellent and memorable goal for the club against Tranmere Rovers, last season. It was a goal which saw him go forward at pace with the ball, before showing great skill inside the penalty area, from where he showed his clinical ability in front of goal to score a goal.

Aramide is a very skilful player with good pace, and he is also a good finisher from inside the penalty area. As a centre-forward he impressed me with his link-up play for Spurs’ Academy set-up, and also his ability in front of goal, and movement off the ball. He recently signed for League Two side Walsall, where the 24 year old will be looking to continue to make good strides during the 2023/24 season. Aramide has done really well so far in his footballing career, and I wish him all the very best for this season with Walsall.

Talented central midfielder Tom Carroll was a very highly regarded player, during his time in the Spurs Academy set-up. A midfielder from Watford, who joined Spurs’ Academy many years ago as a youngster, Tom worked his way up the many Academy ranks to earn a scholarship with Spurs. A former England youth international up to under 21 level, Tom would impress with his ability to make decisive passes, influence the game from midfield and keep things moving in the central areas of the pitch, and also be very creative with the ball. Tom was in the Academy age group at Spurs that was the year above Harry Kane’s, but he would play with him in the same Spurs Under 18 side. Tom Carroll would score a good number of goals for Spurs at that level, having always been a good finisher with an eye for goal. A very talented and reliable player for Spurs at Academy level, Tom did train with the Spurs first team on occasions, while still in his scholarship years with the club. Going out on the first of of his loan moves away from Spurs, to Leyton Orient, in 2010. However, he had already featured for the Spurs first team in competitive games on a couple of occasions prior to joining Leyton Orient. With Tom making his Spurs debut in a UEFA Europa League play-off match with Hearts, at White Hart Lane.

Tom would spend time on loan with Leyton Orient (Tom provided a couple of assists for Leyton Orient, during his time with them), Derby County and QPR, Carroll did however, make his Premier League debut for Spurs during the 2012/13 season. He would spend the 2014/15 season on loan with then Premier League side Swansea City, before returning to Spurs for the beginning of the following 2015/16 season. It was during this season that Tom Carroll had arguably his best season at Spurs, with the first team. Making 30 competitive first team appearances for then manager Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side, Carroll was a player who I was very pleased for, to see him get a good opportunity with the first team during that season, having waited very patiently for an opportunity with the first team. A regular starter for Spurs in the cup competitions during the 2015/16 season, the skilful midfielder was a player who I watched closely for Spurs during that season. He was always a player who I thought had great quality, from when I first saw him play for Spurs. However, his intelligence both on and off the ball stood out to me a lot during the 2015/16 season.

Tom Carroll’s performance in central midfield against Arsenal in a League Cup tie in 2015, was one which impressed me. His passing was impressive, but it was his reading of the game and the way in which he played the game with real guile, that impressed me the most, and stood out to me as a Spurs fan. He would score all three of his Spurs first team goals during that season. Tom would spend the first half of the following 2016/17 season with Spurs, although he would only make three competitive appearances for the Spurs first team, before leaving the club to join Swansea City on a permanent transfer. Not long before he had left the club, Tom did make two appearances for the then Spurs Under 23 side, showing great professionalism in both of those games. Tom would play for Swansea City until 2020 (he did join Aston Villa on loan for a time, during his time with Swansea), and he made a really good amount of appearances for them during this time. He would later spend 2020 to 2021 with QPR in the Championship, before later signing for Ipswich Town, who he played with during the 2021/22 season.

After leaving Ipswich Town, the former Spurs man spent a season (2022/23) without a club, before only recently joining Exeter City on a one year contract. I think that he’ll do really well with Exeter in League One this season, and the 31 year old will be great addition to them, with his experience and quality on the ball. Every Spurs Academy player dreams of going through the Academy ranks at the club to feature for the first team, but to feature on 56 occasions for Spurs’ first team in competitive games, is a tremendous achievement, and one that Tom should be very proud of. I wish him all the very best of luck with Exeter City, this season.

Tom Glover was in the Spurs Academy set-up for a good number of years, from the 2014/15 season up until the end of the 2018/19 season (Tom did go out on some loan moves away from Spurs during this time). A goalkeeper, Tom Glover is from Sydney in Australia, and he had previously played for Sutherland Sharks, prior to joining the Spurs Academy set-up. Tom is a goalkeeper who I always thought was capable of making excellent saves, owing to his really good reflexes. A talented goalkeeper, Glover made good progress with Spurs during his first couple of seasons with the club, even travelling with the first team as the third choice goalkeeper. A former Australia Under 23 international, Glover would return to Australia for the 2017/18 season, after he joined A-League club Central Coast Mariners on a loan move away from Spurs. He would however, return to Spurs for the 2018/19 season, and Tom would make his final ever appearance for the Spurs Under 23 side in a 3-1 away win against Blackburn Rovers, in the September of 2018. Tom Glover would then join Swedish side Helsingborgs IF on a loan move for a short time.

At the end of the 2018/19 season Tom’s contract with Spurs wasn’t renewed. He would join Australian A-League side Melbourne City in 2019, who he would enjoy some successful seasons with, with Melbourne City being crowned the Australian champions in two successive seasons. The former Spurs man did well for them, and  he was signed by Championship club Middlesbrough on a three year contract just last week. This is a really good move for Tom on his return to England, even if he isn’t the first choice goalkeeper for Middlesbrough next season. It will be interesting to see how Tom gets on with Middlesbrough over the next couple of seasons. Tom was always a goalkeeper who I thought would do well in the game, from his time in the Spurs Academy. He made some excellent saves for Spurs and had some really good games, and I still remember one particularly excellent save that Tom made against Liverpool in an Under 21 game at Stevenage during the 2015/16 season! I wish Tom Glover all the best for the season ahead with Middlesbrough.

Kazaiah Sterling was a centre-forward who was clinical in front of goal, during his time in the Spurs Academy set-up. Formerly of the Leyton Orient Academy set-up, Kazaiah would rise up through the Spurs Academy ranks during his time at the club, and he would sign scholarship forms with the club for the 2015/16 season. He would go on to have a good goalscoring record at both Under 18 and Under 21 level for Spurs. Calm and composed in front of goal, I was always impressed whenever I would turn up to Spurs Academy games and watch the pre-match training/warmup, where Kazaiah often always seemed to score with pretty much all of his efforts on goal in the pre-match training routine around the penalty area. The player who would feature on two occasions for the Spurs first team in competitive matches, did have quite a lot of injuries while he was with Spurs full-time. However, if you look back at his goal record for Spurs at both Under 18 and Under 21 level, it is impressive. A hardworking centre-forward with good movement off the ball, Kazaiah had some really good games for Spurs at Academy level, and he had a good variety to his finishes. He was also unlucky on several of his loan moves away from the club, because of injuries.

Kazaiah went on several loan moves away from Spurs, to clubs such as Sunderland, Doncaster Rovers and Greenock Morton. He didn’t however, play a lot of games for either of these sides. He would leave Spurs at the end of the 2020/21 contract, after Kazaiah’s contract was not renewed. Kazaiah would join non-League side Potters Bar Town for a short time, but he missed quite a lot of games for them because of injury. However, in 2022 the former England youth international joined American USL League One side South Georgia Tormenta FC. And since joining them Kazaiah has scored a really good amount of goals. In fact he has scored 21 goals from 36 competitive appearances for South Georgia Tormenta FC, as well as providing a decent amount of assists from those games. And the 24 year old has scored three goals in his last six USL League One appearances. Last season (2022), Kazaiah helped South Georgia Tormenta to make the play-offs of the USL League One, from which they won the championship. It is really good to see Kazaiah playing consistently and doing well, after all of his injury problems. I wish him all the very best for the remainder of the current USL League One season.

During his time in the Spurs Academy set-up Shilow Tracey primarily played as a winger. Joining Spurs from non-League side Ebbsfleet United during the 2015/16 season, Shilow did play in central midfield for a while after joining the club, while he was with the Spurs Under 18 side. However, despite sometimes playing at centre-forward in following seasons with the then Spurs Under 23 side, Shilow Tracey played a lot of games as a winger (he can play on either flank) for Spurs in the Under 23 side. Very direct with the ball and also very fast, Shilow has a good work rate off the ball as well. During his time in the Spurs Academy set-up he was one of the fastest players in the Spurs Academy. Always looking to take players on in wide positions, Shilow likes to get to the byline to deliver crosses into the penalty area. However, he also has an eye for goal, as he showed during his time at Spurs. I thought that one of Shilow’s best seasons for the Spurs Under 23 side came during the 2019/20 season, a season in which he provided a good number of assists in, and was also very creative for Spurs’ Under 23 side in, before being loaned out to Macclesfield for the second half of the season.

Shilow did feature once for the Spurs first team, as a second half substitute in a pre-season friendly with Spanish side Girona. However, after his loan move to Macclesfield came to an end after the 2019/20 season had finished, Shilow Tracey joined Shrewsbury Town in League One during the early stages of the following 2020/21 season. However, after not starting many games for Shrewsbury during his time there, Shilow later joined Cambridge United on loan for the second half of the season. I thought that he made a good impression on matches that he played in for Cambridge United during his time there. He would help them win promotion to League One that season, along with former Spurs Academy player Jubril Okedina. Shilow would join Cambridge United on a free transfer in the summer of 2021, after his contract with Spurs had come to an end. During the following season he made 26 League One appearances, scoring two goals and providing two assists. And during the season just gone with Cambridge United, Shilow played 37 League One games, scoring one goal and providing three assists.

The former Spurs man left Cambridge however, at the end of last season, after his contract with them was not renewed. Shilow has since joined League Two side Crewe Alexandra on a two year contract, which is good news. I’ve always thought that Shilow would have a good career in the Football League since leaving Spurs, and the 25 year old is doing exactly that. I reckon that he’ll have a really good season with Crewe, and I wish Shilow all the very best of luck for the season ahead. Just yesterday (Saturday the 8th of July), Shilow provided an assist for Crewe, in a 5-0 friendly win against non-League side Halesowen, on his debut for the club.