Braybrooke & Brunt's Award Recognition Pride
- Sammy Braybrooke won Leicester City’s Academy Player of the Season on Monday
- He claimed the prestigious prize at the Club’s End of Season Awards evening
- Lewis Brunt collected the Development Squad Player of the Season award
- The versatile defensive midfielder made his first team debut earlier this year
Braybrooke took home the APOTS prize following the Club’s End of Season Awards night at King Power Stadium, which acknowledged the individual achievements of all levels within the Foxes’ ranks.
Despite only turning 18 in March, Braybrooke has become a mainstay in City’s Development Squad, while also captaining the Under-18s side to the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup and semi-finals of the U18 Premier League Cup.
A place in the matchday squad for Leicester’s UEFA Europa Conference League Quarter-Final second leg away to PSV Eindhoven followed, and after getting a taste of the first team environment, he is keen to gain similar experiences next season.
The England youth international told LCFC TV on Monday: “Getting this award, showing that you’re being recognised by the staff at your club and people who work at your club, it’s amazing to win the award.
Braybrooke: Amazing To Win This Award
Academy Player of the Season Sammy Braybrooke reacts to his award win at the Club's End of Season Awards.
“I feel like I’m comfortable with this level now and it’s where I belong. That’s only down to my team-mates and coaches easing me in, making me feel welcome and they’ve just made it a lot easier for me.
“It gives me bags of motivation just to really keep pushing and keep trying to win more awards because obviously it’s a great feeling and you want more of it, more success. I’ll keep working hard.
“Individually, it’s been a great season for me with all the things I’ve achieved this year, captaining England Under-18s, being in first team squads, going to Eindhoven. I’m trying to impress the manager and hopefully that chance of playing in the first team will come soon in the future.”
Brunt, meanwhile, took home the Mens Development Squad Player of the Season after an impressive debut campaign for the Foxes. Naturally a defensive midfielder, the youngster was often deployed as a centre-back, showing his versatility for the side coached by Ben Petty.
“It’s a great achievement,” he said after receiving his prize during the awards evening. “It's my first season as a Leicester City player and to come away with an award, it really does feel amazing.
“In terms of in my game as an individual, I just try to work my hardest ever single game, for the team, for the manager, whether it be in the first team or the Under-23s. If that’s a positive performance, then all the better for the team.
“I think as long as you work extremely hard, I think you can never really fall too short. I wasn’t expecting to win anything but obviously the awards are given to who they think deserves it, so I’m honoured to achieve something.”
Brunt's Development Squad POTS Delight
Reaction from Lewis Brunt after receiving Leicester City's Mens Development Squad Player of the Season award.
Both Brunt and Braybrooke played a key role in the Development Squad’s campaign, which ended with an eighth-place finish in Premier League 2 Division 1. Braybrooke made 23 appearances, providing four assists and a goal, while Brunt played 20 times, adding three goals of his own.
“As a group, I would say we’re pretty happy to be fair,” Braybrooke assessed. “It’s a young squad, we didn’t set our expectations too high. Our aim was to stay in the league and that’s what we did very comfortably. Next year, we’ll be looking to finish a lot higher.”
Brunt added: “It was a crazy season. As a team, we probably started a little slow as a new group coming together. We were quite fresh, quite young and it took us a while to bond, but as soon as we found that chemistry in January, February and March, we really started to put some good performances together.”
Some of those displays led to Brunt being installed as Under-23s captain for the second half of the season and earned him a call-up to the first team squad, making his full debut in the Emirates FA Cup win over Watford, before his Premier League bow arrived away to Tottenham Hotspur.
By winning the Development Squad award, he has followed in the footsteps of some of his more senior team-mates, including Academy graduates Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” the 21-year-old reflected. “I’d never played in front of more than 500 to 1,000 people, so to go and play in front of 30,000, it was really amazing and tough to describe really.
“They are unbelievable players and for them to win and then for me to come away and also win it, it’s brilliant. Hopefully I can replicate their careers and go on to play for Leicester City many times.”