Oxford united FC
Oxfordshire youngster ‘honoured’ by England youth call-up
Violet Parsons of Bicester is the only Oxfordshire-based player to be included in either the England Under 15 Schoolgirls Team or the Under 18 Schoolboys Team, both of which were announced on March 25.
The 14-year-old plays for Oxford United Academy and said her dream is to play professional football in the Women’s Super League and be called up to the senior England squad, known as the Lionesses.
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The left wing-back said: “It is an honour to be selected for the England Schoolgirls Under 15s, and something I’ve only dreamed of since I started playing at the age of nine.
“My ultimate ambition is to represent my country in the World Cup, and progress to play professional football in the WSL.”
From an initial shortlist of 80, there were 18 girls picked to be part of the U15 squad, with the new squad’s first match to be against Wales on May 23.
This will be at Cirencester Town FC.
A number of Lionesses have played for the England U15 Schoolgirls Team, with Poppy Pattinson most recently making the step up.
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The 25-year-old was in the squad in 2015 and made her debut for the senior team against Ukraine on March 3, having impressed for London City Lionesses and Brighton & Hove Albion before that.
Set up in 1904, the English Schools’ Football Association is the national governing body for schools’ football in England and has also run international squads since 1907.
The association provides over one million footballing opportunities for school pupils in England, each year.
The U’s are looking to strengthen after their relegation from the Championship last season, with a new striker wanted by supporters after the return of fan favourite Will Lankshear to his parent club Tottenham Hotspur.
Chaplin spent last season on loan at boyhood club Portsmouth as the club survived in the second tier, the 29-year-old scoring twice and managing one assist in 40 appearances.
Meanwhile, his parent club Ipswich secured promotion to the Premier League by finishing second in the league only behind runaway champions Coventry City.
The Englishman was key in the Tractor Boys’ League One promotion-winning season where they finished second, Chaplin scoring 26 goals that year to win the division’s Golden Boot award, joint with Peterborough United’s Jonson Clarke-Harris.
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He was also awarded Ipswich’s Player of the Season award and included in the League One Team of the Season.
Chaplin then struck 13 goals in the Championship as the Suffolk side were promoted again, before suffering relegation from the Premier League the year after.
The attacking midfielder was released by Ipswich last month following their return to the top flight and SportsBoom are reporting that Oxford have ‘expressed an interest’ in signing the free agent.
With experience in the top tiers of English football and proof of goal scoring prowess in League One, Chaplin would be a sensible addition to the U’s ranks.
Tottenham Hotspur want £20 million for 21-year-old Will Lankshear and have turned down multiple bids for him, according to Hayters.
The ex-U’s striker, who was the club’s top scorer last term with 12 goals in all competitions, is highly rated by his parent side who narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League last season finishing two points above the drop zone.
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However, they haven’t ruled out selling him if the right offer comes in with Portuguese side Sporting CP reportedly interested.
In addition Spurs is also considering another loan move for Lankshear to a Championship club, although the London team is looking to fund a summer spending spree that has already seen a £52 million bid for defender Jan Paul Van Hecke accepted by Brighton.
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Lankshear has made three Premier League appearances for Spurs as well as scoring one goal in three Europa League features.
In a breakout season in men’s football, the England youth international became a fan favourite in OX4 for his tenacity and goal scoring success in a struggling Championship team.
The 21-year-old’s attitude off the pitch also endeared the fans to his name, with the player crediting the club as the place where it all began ahead of a hopefully successful career.
The U’s will play host to the Tractor Boys on Saturday, August 1, with kick-off scheduled for 12:00PM.
The fixture is the fourth pre-season friendly confirmed by the club and the first from a division higher than League One, where Oxford will compete next term.
United will face National League side Aldershot Town (Tuesday, July 21) and League Two club Barnet (Saturday, July 25) away from home before the welcoming of another fourth-tier outfit Crawley Town (Tuesday, July 28).
The U’s have also confirmed that tickets for the trip to Aldershot are now on sale.
Oxford played Ipswich twice in the Championship last season as Matt Bloomfield’s side suffered relegation whilst the Suffolk club were promoted to the Premier League, finishing second.
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Under former head coach Gary Rowett, the Yellows pulled off a shock 2-1 victory against Kieran McKenna’s men in OX4 in late November, Mark Harris and Przemyslaw Placheta scoring the goals.
They were defeated 2-1, however, in the second fixture, Will Lankshear scoring the only goal for the U’s at Portman Road.
The Tractor Boys are currently on the hunt for a new manager after McKenna stepped down last week in order to take a break from football management.
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