Arsenal teenager receives full-time first-team promotion | OneFootball

Teenage Arsenal goalkeeper Tommy Setford has been promoted to a full-time role in the first-team squad, after making his senior debut earlier this season.

Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images

In an interview with Tommy Setford on Arsenal.com this week, the club confirmed that the goalkeeper has been promoted to the first-team dressing room full time.

The news perhaps isn’t completely surprising, with Setford acting as Mikel Arteta’s third-choice goalkeeper all season.

Setford has made the squad on 18 occasions this campaign, largely in the Champions League, where there’s more space on the bench for a third goalkeeper. But the teenager even made it onto the pitch in October, playing the League Cup match against Preston North End.

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Reflecting on that debut, Setford said: “That game made me realise how much I love football. Those kind of moments are so good, it’s why I play football. I couldn’t stop smiling after the game and I said to myself that football is amazing.

“I gave my shirt from that game to my dad, and he’s hung it up back home in Holland.

“It makes you feel part of the picture, so it’s nice to tick that box and get on with your work. But it’s also been great to travel with the team to Champions League games.

“It’s the biggest stage in football and I’ve been able to see close up how the players prepare for it. David Raya is so consistent and even in the Champions League he sees it as just another game and that’s the best way. I get to see how professional everybody is.”

Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images

The rest of Setford’s on-field appearances this season have been for the academy in the Premier League 2 or the UEFA Youth League, as well as a few games for the England u19s in European Championship qualifiers.

England have qualified for the final tournament, which kicks off in less than a month, and Setford confirmed he’s hoping to be involved with the team again.

But after that and the summer holidays, it will be back to work with Arsenal in pre-season. Now that Setford is officially a first-team player, perhaps that will mean a few more opportunities on the pitch for Arteta’s side.