The kids are alright!

If any other side in this league had eight vital players missing and were forced to throw inexperienced kids in, they would be forgiven for a bad run of results and a slide down the table, but not Crewe.

Despite a shocking injury list, Crewe boss Dario Gradi did not hesitate in giving a handful of youngsters the responsibility of playing for the Alex.

The loss of first team regulars such inspirational captain Dave Brammer, centre-halves Chris McCready & Adie Moses, Welsh international David Vaughan and experienced pro Neil Sorvel meant that we had no choice but to throw in youth. Sixteen-year-old Billy Jones, ex-Quorn winger Luke Varney and highly rated academy graduate Michael Higdon have filled in and impressed the fans over the past month, and more importantly, they have kept the points coming in while the regulars are away convalescing.

Twenty-one year old Luke Varney was playing for Quorn FC in the Midland Football Alliance this time last year, a nobody in a nobody league, that is light years away from the First Division. After only a handful of substitute appearances this season, he scored on his full début at Crystal Palace and has been an ever-present since. He has worked ever so hard for the team and is sure to be a fantastic player in the future.

Twenty-year-old Michael Higdon has been in and around the Crewe set up for a while now, but it wasn’t until the home match with Wigan Athletic in late December that he was given a chance in the first team. After his shaky start against the Latics, he made up with two worthy performances against Burnley at home and Preston North End at Deepdale last Sunday.

However, Billy Jones has made all the headlines with some truly exceptional performances since his first substitute appearance against Derby County in October. He replaced Justin Cochrane in that game to play in midfield, and two weeks later he replaced the shaky Rich Walker at Bramall Lane to play at centre back. However, his full début at home to Sunderland was the one that brought him to attention of the fans. He played the midfield anchor role maturely, and had a hand in two of the goals. He has been an ever present since then and he scored the goal of his life against Wigan straight from a Lunt corner, one of the best Crewe Alexandra goals….EVER! Oh yeah, and he only turned sixteen in March. He’s not England youth captain for nothing!

Special mentions must also go to 21-year-old James Robinson who was asked to play out of position for forty minutes against Burnley and Gary Roberts, another sixteen-year-old who has shown some good touches against Burnley coming on as a late substitute.

These lads have great, massive potential and are at the right place to develop properly under the wing of Dario Gradi and the top class coaches who nurture them so well from a young age. We have all seen the under-9’s and the under-11’s at half time wowing us with their talent and skill at such a young age. These kids are the future of the club, the next Ashtons, Wrights and Vaughans.

Matthew Platt

Dario Gradi gets an awful lot of credit for the academy and rightly so, but lets not forget the Academy directors such as Steve Holland and Terry McPhililps, who have a great hand in producing these great prospects properly. Alex Morris, Matthew Platt, Matt Garner, Kyle Wilson and Mark Roberts are a collection of some of the kids who are soon going to be knocking on the door of the first team. Also, lets not forget Paul Edwards, Lee Bell and Stuart Tomlinson - three lads with huge talent who are probably going to be stars for years.

I almost forgot to mention that the average outfield age of that side at Deepdale on Sunday was twenty-one...TWENTY-ONE!! The professional, mature and gutsy 0-0 draw against a side with Premiership aspirations and it was a bunch of kids who held them. What a youth system we have.

You can shove your Roman Abramovich's, your John Madejski's and your Dave Whelan's. because the future continues to look extremely bright for the Alex, as Dario says, "We will go where the kids take us."