Town lead the way for homegrown players in the first-team
Town’s reliance on youth has been emphasised with stats from Opta that show the Club’s Academy graduates have played almost as many minutes this season as the youngsters from the other top six League One clubs combined.
Blues have as many as 10 homegrown players who have featured in league action this term, with the youngsters clocking up 4,703 minutes of first-team duty between them - that’s 26.5% of the total accrued by all Town players so far this campaign.
Andre Dozzell leads the way for the graduates with 15 league appearances and 1,332 minutes on the pitch. Only skipper Luke Chambers has played more at 1,620 minutes in his 18 games.
Teddy Bishop, Jack Lankester, Flynn Downes, Brett McGavin, Armando Dobra, Tyreece Simpson, Liam Gibbs, Luke Woolfenden and Myles Kenlock join Andre as players who have come through Town’s youth structure to play in the EFL for Blues this term.
“It’s great long-term for the Club and for the young ones that that they are getting so many games,” Town boss Paul Lambert told the Club website.
“There are some really good young players here. You have to be brave to throw them in when they are that age and we’ve done that.”
How Town compare with other top seven clubs in League One
Total games Academy Total % of total
played players used minutes minutes
IPSWICH TOWN 66 10 4703 26.5%
HULL CITY 31 5 2054 12.2%
PORTSMOUTH 27 3 1684 9.5%
CHARLTON 21 5 1439 8.9%
LINCOLN CITY 6 1 470 2.8%
PETERBOROUGH 7 3 341 1.9%
DONCASTER 5 2 254 1.6%
League One appearances only. Stats from Opta and up to 17 December.