One to Watch – Caolan Lavery

Name: Caolan Lavery

Date of Birth: 22/10/1992

Nationality: Northern Ireland

Former Clubs: Southend United, Plymouth Argyle

League Appearances (Goals): 23 (7)

International Appearances (Goals): 0 (0)

Player Profile: Sheffield Wednesday fans haven`t had much to shout about the past few years; a 9th placed Championship finish in 2006 their highest in a sure while, a torrent of extremely mediocre managers and, importantly, a dearth of youth team graduates making their way to the first team. The appointment of Stuart Gray and ex-youth team coach Lee Bullen as assistant manager may hold the key to the future at Hillsborough, however, as both aim to integrate Wednesday`s fledgling youth system into their first team project. Caolan Lavery has been the first youngster to be introduced to the first team and has slowly made his way into the starting 11, charged with the job of replacing Connor Wickham`s much needed goals. Two impressive braces in the demolition jobs of Leeds and Birmingham and a series of bright performances from the youngster have brought his name to the attention of many onlookers.

Wednesday fans and, in particular, Bullen are confident Lavery can be the one to break the anti-youth mould at the South Yorkshire club and become a first team regular at Hillsborough. Plymouth fans were impressed with the strikers exciting performances, pace and the threat he provided in behind opposition defences in a recent loan spell and the 21-year-old looks well on his way to proving Ipswich were wrong to let another prospect leave their academy.

Player History:

Caolan Lavery was born in Canada and despite playing for their national U17 side was first noticed by scouts whilst playing in Northern Ireland. He had trials at Tottenham, Portsmouth and Charlton before eventually joining Ipswich Town. He spent two years in Suffolk before rejecting the offer of a new deal in 2011 after his academy scholarship had expired.

He went on to have talks with numerous clubs but eventually joined Sheffield Wednesday and their development squad in the summer of 2012. His first loan spell came in January 2013 as he joined League Two side Southend United. He ended up making 3 league appearances for The Shrimpers.

At the beginning of the 2013/2014 season Lavery made his first team debut for Wednesday in a 2-1 defeat to Burnley. In November the striker joined League Two side Plymouth Argyle on loan and got off to an impressive start as he netted three times in eight appearances. He was recalled by Wednesday however and was soon thrust into the action as he scored twice, his first goals for The Owls, in a 6-0 demolition of Leeds. He has four goals in twelve league appearances to date for Wednesday.