The days of cleaning other players' boots and scrubbing changing room floors are now a thing of the past for three of Southend United's brightest young stars.

Apprentices - goalkeeper Steve Spittle, right-back Garry Cross and forward Yemi Abiodun - have all put pen to paper on one-year professional contracts with the Third Division club.

One man glad to see the trio make the grade is Blues' director of youth Peter Trevivian, who has promoted the three 18-year-olds to the first team ranks at Roots Hall.

"Over the last couple of years these lads have worked extremely hard and deserve a crack at life as a professional footballer," he said.

"Since joining us at Roots Hall as scholarship apprentices they have shown the three attributes that any young footballer needs to display to succeed - discipline, dedication and desire.

"Now they have another year to continue their development with the first team and see if they can make the grade in league soccer, which I'm confident that that they can."

However, there is obvious disappointment for the youngsters who are rejected and not offered terms at Roots Hall.

Midfielders Matthew Fisher, Steve Kavanagh and forward John Doyle are the players who missed out, but Trevivian said the club will do everything they can to fix them up elsewhere.

"There are various options these boys can take if they want to stay in football and we will be happy to give them guidance through the next stage of their careers," he explained.

"They might decide that they want to try their luck at another league club or play semi-professional in the non-leagues."

However, another option is to go back to school by signing up for an American scholarship.

"If these lads have the right academic qualifications - five GCSE's graded A to B - they can sign up for a four-year scholarship programme in America," Trevivian said.

"This is a degree level sports science course which offers players the chance to retrain and follow a new career path.

"By obtaining this qualification they can move into the leisure industry sector or back into football through coaching."

One player whose future has not been decided is Tony McDonald. The young defender has spent a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury and will now be told if he has secured a professional contract in September.

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