MORISON GRATEFUL FOR HIS ON AND OFF PITCH LEARNING IN 2025/26

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U18s midfielder looks back at strong start to his scholarship

2026-06-05T14:56:19.718Z

MORISON GRATEFUL FOR HIS ON AND OFF PITCH LEARNING IN 2025/26

U18s midfielder looks back at strong start to his scholarship

2026-06-05T14:56:19.718Z

U18s midfielder looks back at strong start to his scholarship

Academy midfielder Dylan Morison admits that there was a point in his U16 year that he wasn’t sure if he was going to be offered a scholarship at Burnley.

Fast forward a year or so and the 16-year-old’s first season as a full-time footballer, which included a successful FA Youth Cup run and three U21s appearances, has come to an end.

Despite his tender age, the Oughton-born youngster’s journey with the Clarets Academy is now a decade long.

“I started training with the Club at six years old in a development centre in ‘Skem’ (Skelmersdale)” he explained.

“I had one session there and they took me straight into the pre-academy for a trial.

“Getting into an Academy at that age is what you dream of.

“At the start of my U16 year I felt like I wasn’t destined for a scholar.

“I had a real change when I pushed through in a couple of games and started to play consistently well.

“Then I got asked to come in for a chat and you’re thinking ‘what’s going to happen here’, but when I walked in all the coaches had smiles on their faces and I could tell something good was going to happen.

“It was the best decision ever, after being here for 10 years already.”

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Many young players take the opportunity to experiment with different on-field positions while they learn the game.

Morison is no different and explains how that trend has continued in the last 12 months.

“In the younger age groups, I never really found a proper position,” he continued.

“I came in as a striker/midfielder type and around the age of 12 I moved to centre-half. It felt like I’d found my position there.

“As I got older a coach called Sam Dixon moved me up to midfield. I remember the game - it was against Everton and we won.

“I’ve stayed there ever since, but this season I’ve moved around like mad too.

“I’ve played as a deeper midfielder, a high midfielder, right-back in the Youth Cup, and centre-back in the Premier League Cup.

“It’s been a brilliant season.

“Coming into it I wasn’t expecting much as a first-year scholar, but playing week in week out at the highest level has really pushed my development to the maximum.

“When I scored in that first Youth Cup game against Wolves it's one of the best feelings I’ve had in football.

“All of the chanting and celebrations in the dressing room were the best.

“We kept getting further and further, and I’ve been able to play in four or five big stadiums this season too.

“That’s been excellent, because of the experience you get from it.”

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Progress on the pitch is of course important at this stage of Morison and his team-mates’ careers, but the group put in a lot of effort off the pitch too.

The UK Government require everybody to stay in education until they’re 18, so the players complete a qualification with the support of Club tutors based at the training ground.

With there being a mix of different backgrounds in the group too, they’re quickly embedded into their new environment by supporting the work of Burnley FC in the Community.

“We all have to do a standard BTEC in Sports & Nutrition,” Morison continued.

“They also gave me an option to do an A Level on top of it at Burnley College, and I chose to do A Level Maths.

“It’s been good so far – I’m sure it will get a lot harder next year!

“The BTEC is all coursework, and it’s just about grinding through it. If you get it out of the way early, it’s done and you don’t have to stress about it.

“It can be tough to balance, especially in the first couple of months because I felt drained being in full-time.

“As you get used to it you learn to adapt and do little bits of work at a time.

“We’ve been all over the place with the Community team.

“We started off at the Dementia Café and that was really fun, singing and dancing with the older people.

“We then went to the Leisure Box, which was good because the kids love it. You see a big smile on their faces and get to play football with them.”

When asked whether he is now looking forward to a break, the teenager said: “Yes, I think it’s well deserved this year!

“The hard work will start again in pre-season, and it’s all about pushing each other to the maximum.

“As long as you’re friendly with each other and know that stuff on the pitch doesn’t affect off the pitch stuff, you can really push each other to be the best that you can be.”