'He's a fantastic young talent' - Amateur League club express immense pride as former player makes MK Dons debut
Amateur League outfit Immaculata have expressed their immense pride after “fantastic young talent” Michael Brammeld made his senior MK Dons debut in Tuesday’s EFL Trophy clash against Leyton Orient.
While many Northern Irish youngsters that earn dream moves across the water traditionally come through the youth system at Irish League clubs, Brammeld progressed at the Belfast side, who ply their trade in the NAFL Premier Division, before agreeing a deal in 2022 with then-League One outfit MK Dons.
It was during his time playing for a South Belfast Youth Football select team that Brammeld caught the eye of scouts and he moved to England during the summer of 2023 after turning 16.
Still only 17, Brammeld was introduced off the bench in the closing stages of The Dons’ 3-1 cup defeat to Orient and Immaculata are hoping there’s plenty more to come from their former star after ticking off a memorable milestone.
“We are delighted that Michael Brammeld made his MK Dons first team debut last night in the EFL Trophy,” a club spokesperson told the Belfast News Letter. “Michael is a fantastic young talent who came through our junior ranks and excelled both as a player and an individual.
“The entire club is so proud to see him succeeding and we hope this is only the beginning of things to come for Michael.”
It has been a year to remember for striker Brammeld, who received his maiden Northern Ireland U19 call-up for September friendlies against Norway and Sweden, making substitute appearances in both matches for Gareth McAuley’s side, while he’s also impressed for MK Dons’ U18 team, recently scoring in their EFL Youth Alliance League win over Sutton United.
He made an impact during the club’s pre-season preparations ahead of the current campaign and was one of many youngsters handed their maiden chance by manager Scott Lindsey on Tuesday evening.
“We’d some of the youth players involved as well, which is always good for their development,” Lindsey told the club’s media channel. “I’ve been big on that throughout my managerial career and have handed a lot of players their debuts.
"I want more. It’s the lifeblood of the club and I’m really big on the academy. We’ve some really good coaches here and we involved them this week because we knew some of the younger players would be playing.
"Not only do we want to develop players but we want to develop coaches as well, that’s important to me. It was good to see players coming on the pitch and we’d players on the bench too. We’re big on that and long may that continue.”