A promising combination that Pompey released after they caught the attention of League One and the Championship.
Eleven second-year scholars, including Brian Quarm and Bastian Smith, were notified in March that they had not received any offers of professional deals.
That was a Papa Johns Trophy match between Danny Cowley’s team against the Under-21 team from Aston Villa, and they won 5-0.
In search of his next challenge, Quarm recently participated in a two-week trial with Millwall in an attempt to earn a spot in their under-21 team.
Smith, the goalie, has been on trial at Peterborough after making 17 appearances for Pompey’s Academy this year.
Like Quarm, he did not see action from the bench for the Blues in August 2023’s 3-3 EFL Trophy victory over Fulham Under-21s.
He has never played for the first team, however he was one of the replacements in December 2022 for a 3-0 victory at Stevenage in the same tournament.
So far, two of Pompey’s released second-year scholars—Harvey Laidlaw of Colchester and Sam Folarin of Ipswich—have gone on trial. Destiny Ojo, a scholar in her third year, has attended Burnley and Colchester.
Whether any of the young players receive a lifeline back into the Football League after leaving Fratton Park is still to be seen.
Although the Blues don’t field an under-21 team, other teams frequently look to recruit fresh talent to fill development squads, which draws their attention to Pompey’s alumni.
The Academy’s season came to an end earlier this month when they lost 1-0 in the Portsmouth Cup to a young Gosport team.
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