Snip: “I was born and raised in England near Coventry,” said Mr. Cropper. “The Midlands have a rich football history. As with every father, I wanted Cody to have every opportunity to succeed. His number one goal for a while now was to get an honest look, and a shot to play in the U.S. Youth National Team system.” “I knew the traditional ODP system was not the only way to make that happen,” added Mr. Cropper. “So I contacted the top clubs in Europe and got maybe 30 responses. From that, we selected a handful of clubs and through several trials he has had average to great success.” “Arsenal liked his size and ability, but they said he was equal with the two goalkeepers they had already signed at his level,” said Mr. Cropper. “For them to make the change, Cody would have had to been better than what they already had. They gave him a recommendation.” “In his trial with Portsmouth, Cody had the opportunity to play in a match with the club’s U16’s,” said Mr. Cropper. “He played well, but they lost 1-0 to South Hampton. Again, the club liked him, but they had a problem signing him because of his age. During his trial there, he got to train with the starting goalkeeper. Jermain Defoe walks up and starts taking shots on him. I asked Cody if he stopped any and he said ‘yea, I saved a few.’ Afterwards Defoe walked by Cody’s mother and said ‘you have quite a goalkeeper there.’ What a compliment." “His best success has been with Wolverhampton,” said Mr. Cropper. “He has been there twice now and has earned an invitation to return for a third time this February. They have told us that his performance in a match on February 7th will determine whether they sign him or not, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. During his first two trials, he had the opportunity to train with the Reserve Team.” Link: http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/296283.html No pressure!
Since he is only 15 will he have to be signed to an academy, or can he sign as a pro since his dad is from England?
As I understand it, the earliest you can sign a pro contract is 17. If you are in full time education it's 18. This is regardless of nationality. The earliest you can become a academy scholar is 16.
That is correct. I believe when a player is 16 he can sign an amatur contract with a full pro contract taking affect when the kid turns 17.
Cody's been called into the U17 program: Cropper, Cody GK 6'4" 190 02/16/93 Holmdel, N.J. Matchfit Academy http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_12484608.html
I'm a bit confused, perhaps because i skimmed the article in a hurry, but is he playing club in Minnesota or for Match Fit in NJ? http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/296283.html
The U.S. release has been corrected: Cropper, Cody GK 6'4" 190 02/16/93 Maple Grove, Minn. Minnesota Thunder Academy
My son is a U12 goalie with the MN Thunder Academy. He trained in a group next to Cropper's group. He is a beast and is as quick as a cat. Barring injury, he is a close to a sure thing for a top pro club as I have seen. Great hands, great skill with his feet, big body, fantastic in the air and quick, quick, quick.
Oh, and the rumor with the Wolves is that they agreed to adjourn his third trial with them for at least a year to allow him to train with the U-17 MNT.
Yet there are no stupid posters in here claiming that he has a fake birth certificate............. hmmmmmm......
Surely we're not so desperate that we're going to look at English-Americans to man our nets. We should send him to Blighty as a gift, like the Statue of Liberty - a token of our best wishes to a keeperless nation.
So if this Cropper kid and Earl Edwards are both on the roster for the 17s in qualifying or the U17 WC, that'll be too mammoth kids in net. Doesn't make them good, but it doesn't hurt to take up a lot of space in the net.
Edwards is getting the lionshare of the playing time now. Cropper will have to work hard to get in there. Edwards is 6-3 205 lbs. Ouch.
the word is on the CONCACAF U-17 Championship thread that he got some kind of interest from Newcastle. I say we keep him, why not? Depth is always a good thing. We need to keep England a keeperless nation.
I am honest to god, the kids sister. Well i should not say kid, as he stands a full head taller than me (who would have thought that at 5'10" i would be the short one.) So here is the deal, yes my brother is really 16. I was there the day he was born. He is an amazingly gifted athlete, and I hope only the best of things for him. Even as a young child, he has always been gifted (what am I saying, he is still a child, god, am I really this old). But seriously people, I come to yall as a supporter and one of the biggest advocates of my brother. Currently he is in England with Lester City, and we hope he gets signed to a school boy contract. He turned 16 in February, and we are getting serious. So lets all have him in our thoughts and prayers, and if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask me, I will also be happy to clear up any rummors (or i might just do it, dont like people talking smack about my brother). thanks all for your support Elizabeth Cropper-Downs
welcome to BigSoccer. Is Cody training with the youth team and just hasn't been signed? Or is he training on his own? Has he had any other trials recently?
Elizabeth, we will support Cody to the fullest as we do with all Yanks Abroad. It seems like Cody has a good pedigree and a good family encouraging and pointing him in the right direction. That's always a plus. Especially when tying to pursue you goals and dreams thousands of miles from home. Please keep us updated on Cody. There's certainly interest in his progress. I hope everything works out at Leicester City and he puts pen to paper on a contract becoming a professional.
Thanks, he has been with Minnesota Thunder Academy for the past couple of years, and has spent the last five months in Florida with the U17 US team. His dad is was a player and a coach so in his time away from the team he works with him. Cody was just home with my mother and I had the joy of seeing him for 4 hours between practices. You will honest to god never meet a child more driven than him. He was practicing 3+ times a day on his 1 week break between seeing his dad post school and the US team and leaving for England (Not how most 16 year olds would spend their time off but hey, the kid knows what he wants) He is currently in England for a trial right now. Left on Wednesday
She said Leicester City in her original post, and that he's trying to get signed to a schoolboy contract. Not a bad place to land, if he catches on.