The Best Talents That Peterborough United, Exeter City & Colchester United Have Produced in Recent Years

Season after season, the EFL produces some of the best talent that the footballing world has to offer. However, we've identified three particular clubs that develop senior talent at an alarmingly strong rate. Those clubs being, Peterborough United, Exeter City and Colchester United.

In this article, whilst the formation/positioning of players is questionable, we'll offer a team of the best players that these clubs have produced in recent times, alongside some honourable mentions on the bench. The work from these clubs in recent times has been magnificent, and we felt obliged to showcase it.

3-4-3 (Diamond) Formation

GK – Sam Proctor - Peterborough United

Probably the youngest player on this list, 17 year old Sam Proctor was discovered by Peterborough at a very young age. Showing exciting talent, Aston Villa’s youth academy snatched him up early, costing them €120k. Since that move in the 2020/21 season, he has worked his way to the Under-21 squad. Whilst in the team, Proctor has now played 17 games for them in the Premier League 2 and recently he has played games in the UEFA Youth League. Playing in a European competition before your 18th birthday is an impressive feat.

Aston Villa has announced that goalkeeper Sam Proctor has signed his first professional contract with the club.

Proctor was on the bench for Aston Villa's Premier League win over Brentford last weekend and has featured for Villa’s Under-18 and Under-21 teams this season 👏 pic.twitter.com/2nY7HL35AN

— Aston Villa Statto (@AVFCStatto) December 21, 2023

LB/CB – Harrison Burrows - Peterborough United

Part of the Peterborough youth academy from the age of six, Harrison Burrows has showed great promise throughout his development. Making an appearance for The Posh at just the age of 15 in a pre-season friendly, it wasn’t until two years later when Burrows signed his first professional contract. This summer Harrison left Peterborough after racking up 185 games for them under his belt and is now part of the Sheffield United team that are currently challenging for the title in the Championship.

CB – Frankie Kent - Colchester United

Frankie Kent joined Colchester United‘s academy all the way back in 2012. It wasn’t until two years later that he made his full professional debut and went on to don the Colchester shirt 141 times before making the move to Peterborough in 2019. During his time at Peterborough, Kent made 169 appearances and has since moved on to Hearts where he has spent his career following his 2023 transfer.

RB/CB - Junior Tchamadeu - Colchester United

Another Colchester product, Tchamadeu is now a regular in the Stoke City Championship team. So far this season, the 20-year-old has played 15 out of Stoke’s 17 league games under two managers. The defender is showing he’s up to the job in the second-tier, and a favourite under two different head coaches in Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach.

Aside from some time at Charlton Athletic, Tchamadeu came through the academy at Colchester and made 82 appearances from 2020-2023. His debut came at the age of just 16 years and 349 days which makes him the youngest ever senior debutant at the club. After establishing himself as a regular, he also won EFL League Two Apprentice of the season award for the end of 2021/22, EFL Young Player of the Month in January of 2023 and named Colchester’s Player of the Season for the 2022/23 season. Still a very young player with a lot of potential in English football.

DM – Ethan Ampadu - Exeter City

The Welsh international is the son of former professional footballer Kwame Ampadu who spent five years with Exeter City across the years of 2000-2005. Ethan was part of the youth system there and showed that he was good enough to be playing with the under-18 at the age of just 14 and by the time he was 15, he made his debut for the senior team. Ampadu only racked up 13 appearances for the club and that was enough for Chelsea to sign him for a fee of €2.8 million. It didn’t quite work out at the London based club, going out on several loan spells but Ampadu has finally settled at Leeds United. He is the captain at just the age of 24 and has few call ups to the Wales team so he’s not doing too badly.

15-year old Ethan Ampadu made his Exeter debut against Brentford last night.

...he was born September 2000. Crazy. pic.twitter.com/YWXuFfz9ug

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) August 10, 2016

CM – Matt Grimes - Exeter City

Matt Grimes was born in Exeter and he managed to get himself scouted by his hometown club from a young age. By 2013, Grimes had signed his first professional contract and that lead to him wearing the Exeter City shirt for a total of 62 times. It was only a two year tenure as he made his way to Swansea City in the January transfer window of 2015 and has remained there since. Going out on loan for the first three years, he fought for his place in the starting lineup and he has been rewarded for his efforts as he is the current club captain for Swansea.

CM – Archie Collins - Exeter City

Like Grimes, Archie Collins was also born in Exeter and made his way through the different age groups at Exeter City. He has spent most of his playing career with The Grecians, 220 appearances the total, but he had to earn his place with some loan spells sprinkled in between. He left to join fellow “factory” Peterborough in 2023 and has played 77 games as of right now

AM – Joel Randall - Exeter City

Joining Exeter at the age of 11, Randall managed to stay at the club across all the youth levels, earning his debut for the club at the age of 18 but was unable to secure a regular place in the squad. Joel went on five loan spells before getting his break. 44 games was the most that he played at Exeter until he got his move in 2021 to Peterborough where he has made 102 appearances, scoring 17 and assisting 15 in that time.

LW – Sammie Szmodics - Colchester United

Szmodics is a product of the Colchester United academy, playing for the club since the age of seven. It wasn’t until 2013 when Sammie was 18 that he got his first appearance for the senior team thanks to an injury crisis at the time. He went onto play for Colchester 162 times, leaving for Bristol City which unfortunately didn’t work out as he was only there a year. Szmodics found his way to Peterborough on loan whilst at Bristol and then signed permanently. Two years later and the Irishman moved to Blackburn Rovers for two years where in his second season he achieved the Golden Boot in the Championship by scoring 27 goals, earning him a move to his current club, Premier League side Ipswich Town.

Technique, connection, placement 👌🏼

@Sammie_Szmodics of @ColU_Official a worthy winner of the @SkyBetLeagueTwo
Goal of the Weekend with this stunner 💥 pic.twitter.com/ys5dnXcyYL

— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) November 26, 2018

ST – Ollie Watkins - Exeter City

Most definitely the best player in this list, Ollie Watkins came through the Exeter City academy from the age of 11 after previously failing a trial there aged nine. He spent his time there up to 2017, working his way up through each level until he made it to the senior squad. Ollie made 78 appearances with 29 goals and then made the move to Brentford. He played for The Bees a total of 143 times, scoring 49 goals and gaining the attention of Aston Villa his current club. Watkins has since earned himself 18 caps for England where he has bagged five goals, one of them being the crucial goal to see England into the EURO 2024 Final when he scored a 90+1 winner against the Netherlands.

🗣️ "OLLIE WATKINS, HE'S ONE OF OUR OWN!" 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Beautiful scenes at Exeter City, the 3rd-tier club Ollie Watkins joined age 10, as fans overflowing with pride react to academy graduate sending England to the Euro 2024 final. ❤️pic.twitter.com/fI1QKGCdfp

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 10, 2024

RW – Kwame Poku - Colchester United

Kwame Poku is killing it for Peterborough at the moment, the player with the most goals and assists in League One. Before he got there he was part of the Colchester academy, finally signing his first professional contract at the age of 19. He made 75 appearances for The U’s before moving to his current club. Since 2021 when Poku moved to Peterborough, he has found the back of the net 28 times and provided 29 assists in 134 games. His performances have also allowed him to be involved in some international action as he was first called up to the Ghana squad in 2021 to be featured in some African Cup of Nations Qualifying matches in 2021.

Subs Bench

CB – Jordan Storey - Exeter City

Making his professional debut for Exeter in 2016, the former academy man Jordan Storey made 18 appearances for the club, including a League Two Playoff Final in which him and his Exeter teammates sadly lost. That lose might have been a blessing in disguise because for him personally he was able to get a move two divisions up in the Championship with his current club Preston North End. He has now made 207 appearances for them and looks to stay there for the foreseeable future.

ST – Ricky-Jade Jones - Peterborough United

A bit of a cult hero to Football Manager fans, Ricky-Jade Jones has stayed with Peterborough his entire career so far. Making his professional debut in an EFL Trophy match at the age of 16, he was destined for great things. Jones has since played 166 games for Peterborough, scoring 31 goals and registering nine assists. In a full circle moment, last season Ricky-Jade Jones was a key part of the squad that won the competition that he made his very first appearance in, now an EFL Trophy champion.

ST – Ivan Toney - Peterborough United

Technically not from the Peterborough academy but it was there where Ivan Toney put himself on the map across the EFL. In 94 appearances for The Posh, Toney netted 49 goals and provided 15 assists to his teammates. His success there was one of the many factors that attracted Brentford to him in 2020 and you could say the rest is history after that. Scoring 31 goals in his first season paved the way for him to become beloved by the fans and his efforts were a massive reason as to why Brentford are in the Premier League now.

RB/CB – Kane Vincent-Young - Colchester United

Previously at the Tottenham academy, Kane Vincent-Young was unfortunately released after seven years there. He then went on to join Colchester where started to make his way into the first team fairly quickly. He continued at Colchester until 2019, racking up 126 times until he earned himself a transfer to Ipswich when his contract came to an end. Vincent-Young made 64 appearances for The Tractor Boys but injuries cut what could have been a good spell at the club short. Last season he spent the year at Wycombe Wanderers, playing 21 times but as of now, he is unfortunately without a club.

CB - Jack Hendry - Peterborough United

Moving to the Saudi Pro League might be a goal for many more footballers than you imagine. They’re willing to spend and pay well to improve their league with high quality players, and Hendry is an example of that.

The now 29-year-old has enjoyed a good career. He’s made appearances in the Scottish top-flight, the Belgium Jupiler Pro League, English League One, UEFA Champions League, Italian Serie A, UEFA Europa League and now of course the Saudi Pro League. However, amongst his youth career, he spent two years at Peterborough United.

Winger - Ephron Mason-Clarke - Peterborough United

Another player that’s made the jump to the Championship, Mason-Clarke has played 14 times in the league this season for Coventry. Whilst he’s not quite a regular starter at the moment, it’s clear the club intend on using him as a substitute, bringing impact later on in games.

Mason-Clarke was exceptionally good last season when he scored 19 goals and registered 13 assists in all competitions. The 25-year-old was snapped up by Coventry on a permanent basis in February of 2024, before being loaned out for the rest of 2023/24 back at Peterborough. The winger has a great eye for goal and deserved a place on this list.