Help give your Young Gun a leg-up

SPORTSBEAT Young player of the yeasr

Nominations for the Sportsbeat Young Player of the Year award must be 23 years old or under – and again there are plenty of top candidates this year to consider. Winning the Young Player

NGA is a healthy platform for greater things with the hottest talents outside of the Football League making the scouts earn their corn.

Last year’s winner, Braintree’s Kyrell Lisbie, is living proof of that. He earned himself a contract at

League One Peterborough United just a matter of weeks after picking up his NGA decanter, following the two predecessors of this NGA award, Chris Conn-Clarke and Kellen Fisher, into the Football League.

Fresh from scoring, arguably, the most dramatic goal in history, York City striker Josh Stones is in line for another notable accolade after a storming season in helping the Minstermen take the National League title.

Rochdale’s Kyron Gordon came so close to being a title winner – and he’ll be pushing Stones all the way for an NGA, likewise scores of other top young performers including Boreham Wood pair Abdul Abdulmalik and Lewis Richardson, Scunthorpe midfielder Oli Ewing, Forest Green’s

Jili Buyabu and Southend defender James Golding. At just 20, hotshot striker Danny Ormerod scored 31 goals to help AFC Fylde to the National League North title, similarly 19-year-old Brad Dologhan, who enjoyed a breakthrough season for National League South champions Worthing.

CHAMPION: York’s Josh Stones is in the running

PICTURE: Alamy

They’re all worthy winners, so why not give your team’s young hotshot a shout-out and give them a well-deserved boost to their footballing CV.