History for coochiee

As just his mate Just, signed a professional contract, so worthy of his own thread.

From this week's Flying Kiwis.

"Lookin\u2019 great boys!

Young players out there paving the way, showing that View image on Twitter

Now for the other couple Eastern Suburbs champions to wander into the pro ranks this week. Midfield maestro and assist king Eli Just and energetic fullback Dalton Wilkins – both in the U20 World Cup squad – have found their way into the books at FC Helsingør in the second tier in Denmark. Same division as Nikko Boxall is currently trying to get promoted from… although Helsingør needs a bit of a push over the last two games of this current season to avoid relegation. A draw this week got them off bottom but they’re still two points adrift of safety.

Just and Wilkins have signed on three year deals and will join the club in July once they’re done with the U20 World Cup with plenty of time to get a full preseason in. The curious thing about Helsingør is that a couple months ago they were purchased by a group of Americans looking to provide American players a pathway into European football… pretty much the same as what Ole Academy have done with Torslanda in Sweden. Now they’ve signed two Ole Academy heroes to get things going. Sounds like those parallel ventures got the two parties talking and one thing led to another. Just and Wilkins had been trialling with the club since April, while Callum McCowatt was also there and naturally they were keen on getting him locked in too but CMC’s waiting ‘til after the U20 World Cup to assess his next direction.

Thrilled that we have signed Eli Just & Dalton Wilkins out of the

Jordan Gardner@mrjordangardner

Thrilled that we have signed Eli Just & Dalton Wilkins out of the @TheOleWay
Academy in New Zealand! Both players are fantastic young footballers who will be w/ New Zealand U-20 National Team heading to Poland for the World Cup later this month https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-game/112529493/ol-academy-footballers-eli-just-and-dalton-wilkins-join-americanbacked-danish-club …

Dalton Wilkins: “We have been in Denmark for a while, and it has been very positive. People are hugely sweet up here. I don't think I've met a single person who hasn't been kind and welcoming. The people of the club and the other players have taken tremendous good to us. We have already learned the first Danish words as "thank you" and of course some football expressions such as ‘back’ and ‘alone’.”

FCH Director Janus Kyhl: “Both Dalton and "Eli", as he is just called, are some hard-working players who can run the sun black. They are both creative, modern players who are very flexible. Eli can play all the seats across the centre, and Dalton is a modern wingback that manages the edge as well and can also play in the central defence. They are both players I expect are in play for our first team already next season.”