Cleland On Winning U18 Player Of The Year!
Dean Cleland was delighted to have been named Hibernian FC’s Under-18 Player of the Year!
The striker has been in prolific form for Darren McGregor’s youngsters this season, scoring 36 goals in all competitions.
His goalscoring attributes, alongside the team’s fantastic performances, have seen our youngsters rise to the top of the U18 CAS Elite League.
After picking up the award, which was voted for by his teammates, the young striker said: “I felt amazing to be honest. It was a really proud moment for me and to hear my name called out as ‘Player of the Year’.
“It’s good to see that I’m being recognised by my teammates for my performances.”
Cleland was in attendance at the event with his brother and his gran, and explained that made it even more special.
“It was special to win it in-front of them. Unfortunately, other members off my family were away on holiday, so couldn’t be there, but it was still really special for me to win it.
“My family are so happy for me and constantly tell me that they’re proud of what I’m achieving. They tell me it’s just the start and that I need to keep working hard.”
The young striker has gone from strength-to-strength this season, and his goalscoring acumen has been recognised by elements of the Hibernian FC support.
When talking about his own development, though, the youngster heaped praise on Gareth Evans, Guillaume Beuzelin, and Darren McGregor.
“I’ve developed a lot to be honest. I have worked on things I wasn’t doing well last year, and I can see that they’ve improved.
“I’d probably say I’m enjoying my football more this season than ever before. This is the best form I’ve been in; I’m scoring goals, helping the team and winning games.
“I think my form is all down to the coaches. I have meetings with them on my development, and they touched on areas I needed to improve on and have helped me to get better.
“It’s all down to the coaches and then I guess my hard work on those areas. Knowing they’ve played for the club helps because they know what it takes at Hibs.”
Whilst he’s scored 36 goals in all competitions, 28 of those have come in the U18 CAS Elite League. One of those, which came against Dundee United, was named the U18 Goal of the Season!
“That award was a good feeling too. It was more of a team goal than an individual one, but still a proud one.
“The team deserve the recognition for that one too, I just put it in the net.”
After shining this year for our Under-18s, Cleland is hoping for more opportunities in and around the First Team squad.
“I really enjoy training with the First Team, so I’m hoping to get a few more sessions. An aim would be to try and make a matchday squad or be involved in the next pre-season, but I know I need to keep working hard and performing.”