Skipp: 'It all means so much to people'

Oliver Skipp says he’s been struck by the mentality of our senior stars after moving up to work with them on a regular basis.

A shining light in our Academy over recent seasons, the talented central midfielder was just 17 when he featured for the first team on last summer’s pre-season tour of the USA and had not long turned 18 when he made his competitive debut off the bench in our 3-1 Carabao Cup win at West Ham in October.

Always learning from the more experienced players around him in training at Hotspur Way, he subsequently made his first Premier League appearance as a substitute as we beat Southampton by the same margin at Wembley on 5 December before coming in to start a top-flight game for the first time 10 days later as we saw off Burnley 1-0, again at the national stadium.

“It’s been a great experience for me this year, being in and around the first team,” said the Welwyn Garden City-born youngster, who finished 2018/19 with 12 senior appearances under his belt. “Whether it’s getting minutes on the pitch or just travelling with the squad, you can take so much on board and learn, just by being around such quality players.

“One thing you notice is that the results mean so much to people. You can see how everyone reacts in the changing room – seeing how long they stay disappointed for if we’ve lost before moving on to the next game is always interesting.

“On a personal level, the players are all really nice as well. You take bits of information from them, you talk to them as friends and engage with their personalities, so that’s been good this year. They’re very open, they even respect what I might think but obviously I know that they’ve been there at the very top level and naturally you respect what they do and say. For a young player like me, you can listen to their advice and it will help you, without doubt.”

‘Skippy’ featured as a second-half substitute in our home matches against Huddersfield and Everton towards the end of the domestic season, giving him a chance to experience life in front of a full house at our wonderful new stadium. He also had the distinction of playing in the first ever football match to be played there when he started for our Under-18s against Southampton in the first Test Event on 24 March.

“It’s a moment that I’ll never forget,” he said, reflecting on a season that saw him earn playing time in seven different competitions across the senior, Under-23, Under-19 and Under-18 age groups. “You can always say that you were involved in the first game and it was nice as well because of the win and how we played. To get three points was important but to show the fans what the Academy can do, it was a real honour to play in such a game.

“Obviously my first team debut (at West Ham) was amazing. You never forget your debut, you’ll always remember it for as long as you live but then to keep pushing on and make a further few appearances was amazing for me. The new stadium is amazing, especially the big single-tier stand behind the goal. You can see on Champions League nights how special it is. Playing Manchester City at home especially, it just created an atmosphere that the players can thrive off and produce top performances.”