Nico Lawrence signs for Southampton

We're delighted to announce that Nico Lawrence has signed a pro contract with Southampton FC and becomes our 55th signing to a professional club that has been on our academy programme. We’re proud that we could play a part in supporting his development and journey.Nico Lawrence: “Delighted to have signed my first professional contract with Southampton FC after a long journey of dedication. Huge thanks to Kinetic Foundation for providing me that pathway. This is only the beginning of success and the hard work starts now!”Dan Hogan, Kinetic South Head Coach: “First and foremost I’m delighted for Nico! A real example of what can happen if you get your head down and work hard. It is rare for an U19 to get offered but for Nico it wasn’t a surprise. He joined us as a second year. With the unfortunate timing of Covid, he maybe didn’t quite get the opportunities he deserved. We decided towards the back end of that season to convert Nico to centre half to give him more of a chance of being recognised especially with his attributes. Playing regular men’s football with Glebe we really saw an acceleration in his development being in that environment and not only his footballing development but also his character.Having only played centre half for around a year there is still plenty of development to come which I’m sure he understands & earning his first pro contract will give him the platform to do so! I wish him all the best & look forward to watching him play at Southampton”