Praise for Harry's progress

The striker enjoyed an excellent season for both the Under 18 side and the Elite Development Squad team, bagging a total of 20 goals for both.

19-year-old Harry, son of former City reserves coach and six goals in a League Cup tie record holder Frank, moved permanently from Platt Lane to Carrington halfway through the season.

This is in line with the Academy staff’s approach of “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough”, where players have been tried out at the age above their normal level to test them, as Academy Director Mark Allen explains,

“We took the opportunity, as we have done all season, to blood players of different ages into a higher level of football with Under-16s playing a big part in the Under-18 team and this policy replicated all the way through the system with players playing in the older age groups.

“As part of the challenge to the second year scholars we have seen a number of the boys gain recognition in the EDS squad under Andy Welsh with Joan Angel Roman and Harry Bunn leaving Platt Lane at Christmas to join the EDS squad on a permanent basis.

“I think it always difficult to single out individuals but Harry Bunn deserves the recognition of being our outstanding performer this season. Having been knocking in goals for fun in the early part of the year Harry needed to rise to the next level of football and so the decision was taken to move Harry to Carrington.

“Despite this, whenever he returned to Platt Lane to play for the Under-18s, Harry did so with a fantastic attitude and appetite. He was quite rightly voted Scholar of the Year at MCFC and deserves to do well in the future.”