Blackburn Rovers Academy graduate Kirsti Montgomery is hoping to make new memories and make more strides as he establishes himself in the first team.
Montgomery has been at the Senior Training Centre since the age of nine, breaking through the ranks at Rovers. Along with the likes of Nick Michalski and Igor Tyjon, he is part of the next generation that Valerien Ismael is hoping to bleed into the first-team picture.
The 21-year-old made his debut for the senior side last season and has been involved in each matchday squad this term. Though his minutes in the Championship are being managed, he has made huge steps from a loan at Chorley in March.
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It is a season of firsts really for Montgomery as a first-team team player and he hopes to continue his development.
"Obviously, every season is exciting, starting off a new season, but obviously this one in particular is quite exciting for me," he told RoversTV.
"To be first in and around the first team for the first time, and to hopefully get some more minutes, would be good.
"Obviously, it's nerve-wracking when you get that first opportunity, but it's exciting. It's an opportunity and every player wants opportunities; they don't come round very often, so you need to be ready to take them.
"You see players that come up from the academy, and they take their opportunities and impress the gaffer or the first-team staff up here.
"I've made really good memories, but they're behind me now, and obviously, I've got to keep pushing forward. They're really good memories and I'll remember them forever, but it's time now to move on and push forward to make new ones."
Rovers' Category One Academy is famed for its product line and continues to be viewed as the club's biggest asset. The staff's hard work and the quality of their coaching and mentorship helps Rovers develop so much talent.
"Coming through at the Academy is crucial, to learn your trade as a footballer, but to push yourself forward and be better as a person, that's the main thing," he explained.
"All those trips over from Leeds to Blackburn, I remember them very well, coming from Under-9s all the way through to Under-16s, and then getting a scholarship for two years.
"Staying in the Lodge with all my teammates, and then from there to being a professional footballer, I remember it all, it's all good.
"I's been a long journey because I came here when I was nine years old, and obviously it's been full of ups and downs.
Down at the bottom of the academy, all the coaches and staff have helped me really well to prepare for first-team football, and hopefully making it to Blackburn's first team.
"That's obviously the aim for them down at the bottom, and that's the aim for everyone at the club. You probably couldn't really grasp it at that age, because it's more just about enjoying yourself at a young age.
"As you grow older, you start to realise that it's more and more important, and the coaches and staff at the Academy and up here help you understand that."
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