Sky Bet League One club Accrington Stanley have handed professional contracts to academy pair Luke Stowe and Kevin Spinelli.
While versatile midfielder Stowe is yet to feature for the first team, Italian-born Spinelli appeared twice during the 2020/21 season, coming off the bench in the Carabao Cup at Burton Albion and then earning another cameo in the Papa John’s Trophy against Leeds United Under-21s.
“Luke and Kevin have worked hard as scholars with us, they’ve both got a lot of ability but they’ve now got to transfer that into men’s football,” Manager John Coleman told the club website. “Luckily, we’ve got a strong Under-23s side that will play a lot of games, we’re in a league now and that can only make them better players.
“Paul Lodge and Duncan Fearnhead have done a superb job with the academy. We’ve got to try and keep improving and one thing we have to do is grow our own players.”
Stowe said: “It’s a proud moment for me and I’m very happy that I can now tell my friends. It’s an amazing opportunity to have and I hope I can make the most of it.
“Ross Sykes has been really good with me. He’s been speaking to me a lot and I hope I can follow a similar path he took into the first team.”
Spinelli added: “I’ve always dreamed of being a professional footballer, so I’m very thankful to Accrington for giving me this opportunity.
“It’s amazing to be involved in the first team as I can actually see how I’m expected to play. I can compare myself to Colby Bishop as a hold up player and I can see how good he is at it.“
