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Being released from an academy can feel like the end of the road - for the player and for the parent who has driven them to every session. Ethan Pinnock knows that feeling. Millwall released him at under-15s.
When he joined us on Project Footballer, he had just started his first Premier League season with Brentford. Between those two points sits a route most parents would never think of: grassroots football, non-league, A levels, a university degree, a first wage of £30 a week and a late growth spurt that changed his position. It's one of the most useful stories we've heard for any family dealing with a release.
The release
Ethan had been in Millwall's academy since under-nines. The feedback when they let him go was familiar to anyone who has sat in one of those meetings.
"I wasn't aggressive enough or I wasn't physical enough. Things along them kind of lines."
It hit hard. "At school, I was always the guy that was playing football... to get released, I kind of felt like, where do I go from here?"
Looking back, he could see it coming. In his final season he was training but barely playing, and something had shifted: "not losing my love for the game, but I wasn't really enjoying it." He decided a fresh environment would do him good.
Getting the enjoyment back
He finished that season playing with a local team where he already knew some of the players. That's where the enjoyment came back - and it's the part of his story I'd underline for any parent. Before thinking about the next trial or the next club, the priority was getting him enjoying football again.
From there he joined AFC Wimbledon's youth team at 16. When the club changed its programme in his second year and linked it to a college course, he faced a choice: switch from the A levels he'd already started, or step away. He stayed with his A levels.
His brother then helped him get a look-in at non-league Dulwich Hamlet, and by 17 he was involved with the first team. His first wage was £30 a week - and he was delighted, because some of the other young players were on £20.
Playing men's football at 17 was an education in itself. In his first game, an opponent ran straight into him after he'd released the ball - "in youth football that don't happen". As he put it, "it just opens your eyes up to a whole new world."
The growth spurt and the position change
Ethan wasn't a big lad growing up. He was about average height for most of his youth and played as a left winger. Then, between roughly 15 and 17, he grew about six inches - to 6ft 4in.
He lost a bit of pace, got moved back, and found his position almost by accident. Both centre backs were injured for a pre-season friendly, he filled in, did well - and from then on, he was a centre back.
From a scouting point of view, this is the uncomfortable bit. Academies are constantly trying to predict how a child will develop - scouts will even look at the parents' height - but at 14 or 15, plenty of players haven't grown yet. A player released for not being physical enough may simply not have had their growth spurt.
Education, setbacks and the long way round
Ethan's route wasn't quick. He took a gap year, then needed keyhole surgery that cost him much of a season. He went to university and studied for his degree while playing for Dulwich, lost a play-off semi-final and then a play-off final. He graduated in June, and in July, aged 22, he signed full-time for Forest Green Rovers.
From there it moved fast: promotion with Forest Green, then a jump straight to Barnsley in the Championship, who spotted him partly through their statistical scouting. He wasn't in the team at first, and didn't get his first start until just before Christmas. His approach in those months is worth sharing with any young player:
"That moping around and things like that, it don't really help."
In his view, the moment a player gets in their own head and starts feeling sorry for themselves is where things start to go wrong.
The club felt he needed to get stronger, so he did extra gym work and position-specific sessions after training. "I'm not playing, they feel like I need to do X, Y, Z... just do it, and then see where it gets you." Within his first few starts he'd won two man-of-the-match awards and scored twice. Brentford followed in 2019, then promotion to the Premier League.
On education, he was clear-eyed: "It's a harsh reality that not a lot actually make it." He sees having another option as protection, not a lack of commitment - injuries and other things outside your control happen to everyone.
My take
From the scouting side, I see how much release decisions are a snapshot, and Ethan's story is a powerful reminder of that. Clubs have to pick, they work with limited information, and they will get some calls wrong. A release tells you what one club thinks of a 14-year-old at one moment. It doesn't tell you what that young person will become.
What strikes me most is what kept Ethan going. Not a plan or a system, but three things: he kept enjoying football, he had a dad who never stopped believing in him, and he kept his education going so football never had to be all-or-nothing.
If your child has been released
Put enjoyment first. If they've fallen out of love with the game, the next step is a team where they'll play, with friends if possible - not the next trial.
Keep the doors open. Grassroots and non-league football are real routes, not consolation prizes. Ethan went through local football, a youth team and non-league before going full-time at 22.
Remember they may still be growing. Physical feedback at 13, 14 or 15 can say more about timing than potential. Keep them playing, and let their body catch up.
Protect their education. Not as a fallback that signals doubt, but as something that takes pressure off football. Ethan finished his A levels and a degree and still made the Premier League.
Believe in them out loud. Ethan credits his dad's belief as a big part of why he kept going after Millwall: "My dad's always had a massive belief in me that I'm good enough." If his dad could see it, he reasoned, it must be there.
Don't over-coach. Ethan's advice to parents was to avoid overloading children with information after games and to leave the coaching to the coach. Focus on what's in their control - effort, attitude, enjoyment - rather than the result.
Take the long view. As Ethan put it, players who've been through the system tend to be more relaxed with their own children because "it is a marathon". Children change from one week to the next. Very little is decided at 14.
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