Teddy bounces back from pain of rejection to ‘surreal’ move
TEDDY Sharman-Lowe has dsecribed the month in which he first heard about Chelsea’s interest, was signed by them and immediately loaned back to Burton Albion as “surreal.”
The 17-year-old goalkeeper was snapped up by the Premier League giants last month after making such an impression with Burton Albion’s academy that he was called up England Under-17s last season.
After several appearances on the first-team bench in the last campaign, he has made his senior debut this season, playing in the Carabao Cup at home to Aston Villa and the EFL Trophy against Peterborough United.
A call-up to the England Under-18 squad for a training camp at St George’s Park this month has followed.
And Sharman-Lowe, released by Leicester City as a schoolboy, can hardly believe how fast his career is progressing.
The Brewers academy have made a habit of picking up players other clubs have rejected and giving them a second chance at a professional career – right back, in fact to John
Brayford, who was released by Manchester City at a young age.
Sharman-Lowe joined academy manager Dan Robinson, to tell his story on the EFL’s podcast last week.
“I got a call when I was at my nana’s house,” he said of the call from Chelsea.
“It was amazing, everyone from my family was there and they were jumping up and down with excitement.
“The last month has been very surreal, it all happened so quickly as well. After I signed for Chelsea, I went straight back to Burton so I didn’t actually meet anyone, so it didn’t really kick in for a few weeks, to be honest.
“It was a hard first day (at Chelsea) because I was starting again but the amount of support I got to make me feel welcome from the boys I’ve known through the England set-up to the ones I’ve never met before was amazing.”
Sharman-Lowe is a level-headed and intelligent teenager with his feet firmly on the ground. He knows he is a long way from making it at Chelsea.
Meanwhile, he is quite happy to continue to develop his game with Burton.
“Burton have been amazing with me. They picked me up after I left Leicester, which was an all-time low for me,” he said.
“I wasn’t in the best head space when they came for me but to find an amazing club like Burton Albion with the most helpful and supportive staff, I can only show gratitude to them.
“From the moment I joined to when I was trying to get my scholarship, they continued to push me and now I’ve moved on – but I owe pretty much everything to them.”
Having bounced back from being released by Leicester, he is in a position to advise other young players to keep going if they find themselves in a similar situation – lacking confidence and hope, not knowing what their next move will be.
“You hear it a lot. I know it’s a cliche but you’ve just got to keep going,” he said.
“Keep pushing and never give up. Even when I left Leicester and came to Burton, I still wasn’t in the best head space but you’ve just got to push through it and believe in yourself because once that doubt creeps into your mind, it can ruin you.
“When I was 16, fighting for a scholarship at Burton, it was never certain. I was never certain that I
You hear it a lot. I know it’s a cliche but you’ve just got to keep going.
Goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe
was good enough to make something happen, so you’ve just got to keep pushing through and keep making stuff happen for yourself to make sure you get there.”
Robinson, a goalkeeper himself in his playing days, had little doubt that his young charge was worth persevering with.
“We saw real potential in his ability when he came in,” said Robinson.
“He is a great character from a smashing family and we thought, let’s give the lad a chance.
“And we’re so chuffed that we did because he progressed very quickly.
“He had a really good year with us in the schoolboy programme to get his scholarship and he came with us to Holland on a pre-season trip last year.
“Since then, he’s made his England debut and signed for one of the
biggest clubs in the world. So it’s all been a bit of a whirlwind for him.
“But this is a really nice story of a boy who got told he wasn’t at the level for a top club, came to us in League One, we worked with him to develop him, he worked really hard himself and now look, he’s doing fantastically well at another level.
“This particular situation with Ted really does give young kids – girls and boys – hope.
“You might get setbacks, we all do at some point, but it’s about how you channel yourself and how you focus yourself after that that gives you the opportunity.
“We’re really proud of him and we’re really chuffed that he’s doing well.
“He’s got a long way to go but keep an eye on him and remember the name because he’s going to be a star one day.”