JERSEY youngster Harrison Rogers has been offered a 14-month registration with Plymouth Argyle after impressing during a series of visits to the League One club.
The 14-year-old becomes the second Jersey Bulls Academy player to secure an opportunity with the Pilgrims in the last 12 months, following the move of under-13 Sonny Cook to Devon earlier this year.
Rogers’ opportunity is another product of the growing relationship between Jersey Bulls Academy manager Paul Renton and Plymouth, with the connection providing a pathway for some of the island’s most promising young footballers to experience academy football in the UK.
Rogers, an attack-minded midfielder who can also play out wide, initially travelled to Plymouth for a trial earlier this year before returning for two weeks during the summer.
He settled into the group and made a strong impression, earning a 14-month registration which takes him towards the point at which decisions over a potential scholarship will be made.
His father, Chris Rogers, told the JEP: “We’re incredibly proud of all Harrison has done. It’s a great opportunity for him, and something he has worked really hard for.
“Obviously, he knows it’s only the beginning.”
The Bulls programme has played an important role in Rogers’ development, with Renton helping him access opportunities in the UK.
Chris added: “The Jersey Bulls programme has been a really important part. Obviously, Paul [Renton] specifically has been extremely supportive and helped Harrison get access to opportunities in the UK.”
Renton’s relationship with Adam Hayman, Plymouth’s head of academy recruitment, dates back several years and initially developed through Renton’s previous role with the Jersey FA.
The original idea was to provide Jersey representative sides with opportunities to play against academy opposition, while also allowing Plymouth to identify players who might otherwise remain outside the club’s scouting network.
Hayman said: “It seemed like an opportunity for everyone involved. It gives kids in Jersey a chance to come in, get them off island and play against academies.
“There is also the benefit for us of identifying players that could actually come into our football club.”
That relationship has already produced one success story in Cook, who became the first Jersey player in Plymouth’s history to be offered a contract when he joined the club earlier this year.
Hayman described Cook as “a really exciting player”, while he sees plenty of potential in Rogers too.
“Similarly with Harrison, we see lots of potential there and we’re looking forward to working with him,” he said.
For Renton, the growing confidence Plymouth have in the players coming out of Jersey is evidence that the pathway is beginning to work.
“They’ve started to gain confidence in the players that we’re sending over,” he said. “We can provide opportunities to players in Jersey.”
It is a pathway that is particularly important given the additional barriers faced by youngsters living in the Channel Islands.
Chris said: “Being based in Jersey obviously makes the pathway naturally more difficult to access academy football.
“The flights, travelling and time away, but I think that there’s a real talented bunch of players in Jersey, and it’s a shame for them to miss out on that.
“From there you hope that other clubs pick up on that and give more boys opportunity.”
He also believes players coming from Jersey can offer something different to those who have spent much of their childhood within the academy system.
“It’s probably given him a bit of a different profile to some of the boys that are in the academies already,” he said.
Hayman is adamant that talented players can be found anywhere, and believes the emergence of Cook and Rogers has demonstrated what is possible when those players are given an opportunity.
“I’ve always got a retained belief that there are exciting talents that can be found anywhere,” he said.
“Sonny being the first player we’ve offered a contract to from Jersey in our history, he’s a really exciting player.
“While he’s still got a long journey ahead of him, we’re really excited to have signed him. Similarly with Harrison, we see lots of potential with him and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
The relationship between the two clubs is now being looked at as something that could extend beyond individual players.
Hayman revealed Plymouth are in conversations with the Bulls about visiting Jersey, with the club keen to make the trip about more than simply scouting.
“It’s not just to fly over and say hi, it’s ‘what can we do while we’re over? What can we do to support coaches? What can we do to support players?’” he said.
“It’s about the wider impact we can have while we’re over.”
Hayman also believes Renton has been central to the relationship developing.
“If it weren’t for him, none of these things would happen. He’s been a massive enabler for everything.
“He’s a significant side of everything that’s happening in Jersey. You can see his heart’s in the right place, and he genuinely wants to help these kids out.”
And for Plymouth, the ambitions of the relationship stretch beyond simply finding the next Jersey player to join their academy.
“We want this to be very much still the start,” Hayman said.
“We see this as the beginning stages of everything. We only want it to grow and develop from here.
“Outcomes for us aren’t just about, believe it or not, finding more players that we can sign to the academy.
“We want to add value to football development in Jersey through the relationship we’ve got with Paul.”
