Carlisle United can confirm that Sam Hetherington, Dan Hopper, Freddie O’Donoghue and Thomas Randall have been offered contract extensions to remain at Brunton Park next season.
Hetherington, aged 19, is a third-year scholar and made his first team debut in September in the EFL Trophy. He has since impressed in loan spells with Workington and Darlington.
Hopper, aged 17, made his first team debut in October in the EFL Trophy and has spent the second half of the season on loan with Penrith where he has impressed with strong performances.
O’Donoghue, aged 18, also made his first team debut in September and was included in a number of squads, appearing twice in League Two and three times in the EFL Trophy. He had a short loan spell with Carlisle City before his season was ended by a shoulder injury.
Goalkeeper Thomas Randall, aged 18, regularly trains with the first team group and he has also been involved on the bench this season.
A delayed decision will be made on Jake Allan, who is currently on loan at Workington Reds but is training with the first team squad on a regular basis.
Trent Chapman, Aran Fitzpatrick, Mason Fleming, James Murray, Will Nicholson, Josh O’Brien and Bobby Skinner will be released on the completion of their scholarship programme. We wish them all the best for the future.
Academy Manager, Steven Rudd said: “I am delighted for the players who have all been offered contract extensions. As an Academy we want to produce players who play for the first team and have a career in the game.
“The players have all worked very hard to achieve this opportunity, they have applied themselves consistently well every day in everything that they do and they should be proud of their achievements so far. We are very excited to see how they progress as they start to make the transition into first team football.
“It is important to mention the players whose journey has come to an end with us. They have been a fantastic set of people to work with. We wish them all the very best in their future careers and we will continue to support them in the next steps of their journey.”
Sporting Director, Rob Clarkson said: “We are delighted to offer the boys contract extensions, they fully deserve the opportunity to continue their development at Carlisle United.
“It is important that as a club we continue to give opportunities to our homegrown talent. We hope and believe these players can establish themselves in our first team in the coming years.”
