Middlesbrough have a great reputation for bringing through youth players. So let’s catch up with some of the youngsters that left Boro in recent years.
After seven years at the club, Adam Reach ended his Middlesbrough stay to pursue first-team football with Championship play-off contenders Sheffield Wednesday. Reach has featured 26 times for Carlos Carvalhal’s side so far this season, and recently scored in their 3-0 win over Birmingham City.
Reach joins former Boro youngsters Adam Jackson, Jonathan Grounds and Joe Bennett in the Championship.
Jackson is playing for Championship surprise package Barnsley following his summer move from Teesside. The centre-back enjoyed a six game run in the side earlier on in the campaign, but lost his place after the 5-2 defeat to Nottm Forrest.
Left-backs Grounds and Bennett both quit Boro in 2012. The latter spent four years at Aston Villa before joining Cardiff City in the summer. Bennett, 26, last featured in the Bluebirds 3-2 win over Bristol City last month.
Grounds impressed during his two-year stint at Oldham Athletic, earning himself a move back to English football’s second tier with Birmingham City. He has been nearly ever-present for the Blues this season, only missing the Midlands derby against Villa because of suspension.
Mark Kitching, Luke Williams and Charlie Wyke are all ex-Boro youth prospects fighting it out at the top end of League One. Kitching swapped Middlesbrough for Rochdale late on in the January transfer window. He has started three league games for the Dale, helping them to two clean sheets in the process.
Wyke was also on the move last month, as he signed for play-off contenders Bradford City. The striker, who left Boro in 2015, enjoyed a fruitful spell with Carlisle United in League Two, which caught Stuart McCall’s attention. Wyke then scored on his debut for the Bantams to help earn a 2-2 draw with Gillingham Town.
Williams is currently on the books of free-scoring Scunthorpe United. The attacker, 23, was loaned to Justin Edinburgh’s improving Northampton Town side in January, and has featured twice already for the Cobblers.
Bryn Morris is another former Boro man to be plying his trade in League One. The midfielder has made three late substitute appearances since his move to Shrewsbury Town last month.
Christian Burgess and Curtis Main are now part of a Portsmouth side trying to win promotion from League Two. Burgess had been a regular in Pompey’s back four during this campaign, while Main hasn’t played since the 2-1 defeat to Notts County back in October.
Matt Dolan is also playing his football in League Two. The midfielder scored an incredible 75-yard strike for Yeovil Town in their League Cup clash with Walsall earlier in the season.
A few of Middlesbrough’s former young guns have made the move to Scottish football. Jonathan Franks currently turns out for Scottish Premier League side Ross County, while Jordan Jones is a regular for mid-table Kilmarnock.
Meanwhile, Josh Walker had spells with Watford, Northampton, Stevenage and Scunthorpe United before signing for Scottish League Two strugglers Edinburgh City in the last transfer window.
Walker also had a spell in Indian football with Bengaluru FC, following in the footsteps of fellow Boro academy graduate John Johnson, who signed with the Karnataka-based side in 2013. Johnson has won the I-League twice and the Federation Cup in his time at the club.
Johnson is not the only ex-Middlesbrough youngster showcasinging his talents abroad. Centre-back Seb Hines is playing in the MLS with Orlando City after leaving English football in 2016. He is now preparing to face the likes of David Villa and Andrea Pirlo in their season opener against Patrick Vieira’s New York City FC next month.
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