Despite his young age, Danny Ballard has already had quite the journey.
After being released as a schoolboy back in 2016, the Northern Ireland youth international broke his ankle while on trial with Southampton and rejoined local club Stevenage to regain his fitness.
Ballard was poised to sign scholarship forms with Boro, but then he was offered a chance to rejoin us and he has not looked back since. Our FA Youth Cup captain, the defender has been an ever-present in the competition this season and even scored a towering header in Monday’s semi-final win over Blackpool.