Ascot United’s Jonny Denton was honoured on Saturday prior to the Yellamen’s Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division tie with Flackwell Heath.
Denton’s appearance in the fixture was his 100th in an Ascot shirt having come through the ranks at the club, originally joining as an 11-year-old – he has already made 34 appearances for Jamie Tompkins side this season.
In a glowing tribute in the clubs match day programme for the tie, Director of Football Neil Richards wrote:
It’s with great pride that I write a piece for the program commemorating the 100th first team cap for Jonny Denton.
Jonny Joined Ascot in 2005 as an eleven year old, representing Ascot United on Saturdays and Sundays for Managers Brendan Bourke and Steve Chell.
This was an exceptional age group at and a core group of players progressed through the club winning numerous trophies at Youth level with Jonny at the heart of it.
It was no surprise he became a key member of our very talented Allied Counties Squad as a 17 year old, managed by Ady Milne the team produced a number of first team players in that period.
After performing consistently well and attracting attention from a number of professional clubs Jonny made his first team debut in 2014 under the management team of Jeff Lamb and Paul McGrotty and despite his young age soon became a popular player among the managers and teammates alike. A great left foot and an ability to make the game look easy from the centre of the park he became one of the stand out players in the team.
Flirting with trials at a number of professional clubs Jonny decided to further his education on the states and played for Young Harris College, Odessa Sockers and Charlotte Eagles over a two year period.
When I took over the first team role halfway through the 16/17 season Jonny was the first person I called, fresh from completing his Scholarship (a year early) in the states he agreed to come back to the club close to his heart and despite a couple of challenging seasons he has remained loyal to the Yellamen and now is a consistent performer in Jamie Tompkins young side, in a team pushing for titles and trophies.
Off the field Jonny is a polite, quiet lad but has a steely determination to succeed and is completely dedicated to improving as a player. For me Jonny epitomises what Ascot United is all about, he has developed through our pathway turning into not only an outstanding footballer but also a great human being and I wish him well in the future and onto the next 100 games !!
Football in Bracknell would like to offer congratulations to Jonny for his achievement.
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