Defender Brad Smith talks about the 2025/26 season for the Reserves and Under-18's, as well as breaking into the First Team.
BS: I think from a personal perspective it’s been a very positive season gaining a lot more experience with another year of reserves football combined with some great experiences with the 18s playing some top sides in the fa youth cup.
DK: Can you pick 3 standout games from this season, if so which ones and why?
BS: Sudbury county cup 18s, just always a good feeling to beat them and always nice to win on penalties. Southend in the youth cup, although result went against us was an unbelievable test and experience for all the lads to show the levels of academy football. Erith Town 1st round proper of youth cup, unbelievable night top team performance and made history for the club.
DK: How do you think this season ranks within your previous seasons at the club?
BS: For me personally it’s the best I’ve had at the club due to the fact that I've made my debut for the first team and made history in the fa youth cup within it so it definitely takes top spot. Been a season that’s been full of achievements so on a personal note I’ve loved it.
DK: Similarly, how'd you summarise your time at the club?
BS: I’ve absolutely loved my time at the club and I wouldn’t change it for the world being here since I was 12 years old there been a lot of bumps in the road but I’m proud of my journey to this point.
DK: What'd you make of the season for the Reserves?
BS: This season has been a rollercoaster as always for the reserves after having a very positive start to the season and carrying decent form through to the Christmas and then had a spell of time where we struggled a lot but we managed to pick ourselves up and finish the season in a positive way with a couple of good and needed results.
DK: A very historic season for the U18s - how proud are you overall?
BS: I’m very proud of the group as a whole I feel like we deserve every bit of success we’ve had due to a lot of hard work and a lot of struggle at points in the reserves football so it’s nice for us to go and dominate football games and show how good we are at that level.
DK: How special was it being part of that impressive FA Youth Cup run, the best the club's ever had?
BS: Yeah as previously said the run in the fa youth cup was such an amazing feeling as a group we all knew that we wanted to better on what we’d done the season before and attempt to make history at the club so to do so was unbelievable.
DK: Unfortunate to not quite retain the Suffolk Midweek Cup, but you must be otherwise proud of that run?
BS: Yeah at the start of the season one of the goals we’d set out as a group was to retain the cup so it’s frustrating to come so close but not quite get over the line. But you have to give credit where credit is due because they were very clinical on the night and probably deserved to win the game so it was a shame but the group gave it everything again so I couldn’t of asked for anymore.
DK: An unbeaten U18 League Champion campaign though, how does that feel?
BS: It’s always great to finish a season unbeaten and it’s a great outlook for the academy as it’s been pretty much a different lineup every week through the league season and some of the under 16s have stepped up and done very well so I’m sure they’ll have a very positive year next year.
DK: A largely unchanged team over the previous seasons, how much has that consistency and togetherness played a part in the success?
BS: Playing multiple seasons as a group always helps because it gives you more time to gel and we all know how eachother play very well by now so it does make a big difference on the pitch.
DK: Another great personal achievement was that you broke into the First Team this season, how did you find it being in and around the squad on training and matchdays as a whole?
BS: Being in and around the first team environment is such a good learning experience and it shows the levels that are required to compete at that level so being given the chance to be involved on game days and training is great for personal development.
DK: Adding to that you made a fair few appearances, even starting for the First Team, how was that for you - and how much did that motivate you for more?
BS: Yeah turning up on the day and seeing my name in the starting 11 was a bit of a shock to be honest, but I can only be grateful to Tom for trusting me and giving me the opportunity to start and I thought I did well on the day so was buzzing. But I know what the process is ahead and am ready to step up whenever I’m required to but there’s a lot of hard work that has to be done first.
DK: One of those first team appearances saw you feature in 2 county cup finals in as many days, overall how was that experience - rather abnormal?
BS: Yeah it was definitely a new experience playing two cup finals in two days but it was such a good feeling to get on and win the game which helped to take away the disappointment from the night before
DK: Focusing on the First Team Final, how special was that to play in and win the Suffolk Premier Cup Final?
BS: It’s a great experience and special moment to play and win the premier cup at my age. Even more special on a personal behalf playing against my uncle in that kind of game so was a nice moment for the family.
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