11:52am Monday 15th March 2010
By Chris Flanagan
BURNLEY have awarded professional contracts to promising youngsters Dominic Knowles and Michael King.
Knowles, an 18-year-old striker from Oswaldwistle, joined the Clarets’ centre of excellent at the age of nine and is the youth team’s leading scorer this season.
King, also 18, hails from Ormskirk and has scored a number of goals from the left side of midfield since joining Burnley’s youth set-up two years ago after being spotted playing for Lancashire.
Both players have been handed 12-month professional deals for next season once their youth contracts expire in the summer.
“It’s an exciting time for them and they have deserved this chance,” said Burnley’s director of youth Martin Dobson.
“We have kept first-team manager Brian Laws involved with everything and he’s happy with these decisions.
“We will sit down with the two players at the end of the season and talk about the next 12 months.
“This is a further part of their development and they have to move on into the real world now.
“There is a lot of hard work before them and it is a fantastic opportunity for them.”
Six of Burnley’s youth team - Wes Fletcher, Chris Anderson, Nik Kudiersky, Alex-Ray Harvey, Chris Lynch and Ben Hoskin - were handed professional deals last season.
The Clarets confirmed that second year scholars Liam Newman, Oliver Devenney, Jake McEneaney and Danny MacDonald will be released at the end of the season.
Newman and Devenney have already trained with Crewe and Rochdale respectively and all four will be given the chance to attend exit trials for players released by their clubs at Warwick University at the end of this moth.
“It’s a difficult time but if they can get a career somewhere else we will encourage them to believe in themselves,” said Dobson.
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