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My first article is about the youth of Huddersfield. No, I don't mean the young vandals breaking windows, I'm talking about Huddersfield Town's future. The academy, the youth team and anything else related to Towns future.

I think that now is the ideal for a whole string of Town hopefuls to break into the first team. Going down, although a bitter blow to the club as a whole, can be seen as one of the greatest opportunities for the younger and less experienced players at the club. Although Division 2 is nothing like a walkover, there's no denying that it is a step-down in playing ability from Division 1 football. This step-down in playing ability may just be at the right level for the young stars. It isn't too low as to mean that they won't gain enough experience at first team level football and it isn't too hard as to see their confidence completely shattered as they see player after player whizzing by them on the field.

So, who are the players that will rise out of the flame? There's a whole bucket-load of them.. all vying for different position and all with a realistic chance of achieving their goal of a first team place.

The first player I will look at is Michael Senior. My reason is, that out of all the young players who could develop into first team players next season, Michael, in my opinion is the most likely to do so. I'm sure many of you will remember Michael from last season as he made 4 appearances coming off the bench to replace the likes of Thornley and Sellars. He is a prodominantly right-footed player and prefers to play on either the right-wing or in midfield. Last season, he didn't seem to make much impact with the fans. He showed that he was deffinitely capable of getting the job done and although he was clearly nervous, he put in bags of effort to prove himself to the manager. So, what are Senior's chances realistically? To be honest, when aiming for a spot in midfield against the likes of Armstrong and Beech there's not chance. But he does have a very good chance of taking another home-grown lad in Simon Baldry's place on the right wing. Simon, although not as poor as some of the players last time round, did little to impress the Town faithful and I'm sure that if Lou finds that Baldry's performances aren't up to par in the next campaign there may be no other choice but to give Michael Senior a try. It's just a case of whether he takes the opportunity to show his real skill and to keep his first team place.

Dwayne Mattis is the next on my hitlist. Dwayne has been set back for nearly a whole season (the one before last) with a very difficult back injury. It seems to be an injury which has dogged the player for quite some time and he may be prone to it in the future. Despite this, he has managed to keep himself as fit as possible throughout last season and has become a major influence on the reserve team, missing a total of only 3 games for the team. This great influence in the reserve team has earned him some major 'brownie points' with Macari who seems very interested in Mattis. Should he remain fit for next season and show determination to be in the first team he may soon be partnered up at the back with the likes of Jon Dyson who he replaced in his first team debut away at Crystal Palace two years ago. It would deffinitely be a great reward for the player who has worked so hard just to keep fit!

Danny Schofield, is the last player I will look at in depth. Just like the other two Danny has also managed to get some first team experience under his belt. Unfortunately, in his appearances he hasn't really been able to show his true skill. Danny has been a true talent in the youth side where he has been banging in goals from all angles. He certainly has the ability to enter the first team.. the only problem for him right now is that he has three big obstacles in his way. And they go by the names of Facey, Booth and Wijnhard. All three are easily the best strikers at the club and it won't be easy for him to shift any one of them out of the way. Of course, Macari may see fit to allow him a place on the bench from time-to-time and to let him have his chance every now and then.

Of course there are other players to watch out for next season. Although they may be outside chances there's still a chance that you may be seeing them in first team shirts for the first time in their career. Phil Senior, brother to Michael is reserve goalkeeper to Martyn Margetson after the departure of Nico Vaesen. Nat Brown is another midfielder who could ,ake the cut with a little bit of effort. The US star John Thorington is also a very exciting prospect for the future. He was just recently capped for his nation, the US, and could make the odd appearance next season.

These players are most certainly the future of our club. You've all seen what the young players like Delroy Facey and Simon Baldry have done for the club and the players mentioned will be the next to follow in their footsteps. Who knows? One day one of these players may lay claim to Andy Booth's status as the local hero!

As I said, pieces may be added to this if you like. I know I haven't really talked about the Academy as I'm not sure of who will be the ones to look out for. So if those who are down at Storthes Hall or down at Leeds Rd playing fields quite often to watch the lads I'd be very grateful if you could give me some information about them.

Also, these article's I'm writing are still nameless! Email me here Phill.theking@ntlworld.com with your ideas and I'll make sure you get a mention somewhere in my articles!

Also, if you have any other opinions about my article's just post them on my forum or on this site or email them to me if you want them to be private!