A PORTLAND teenager could be in with a chance of playing in the Premier League after scoring a scholarship with AFC Bournemouth.

Sixteen-year-old Brennan Camp has just secured a sought-after two-year scholarship with the under-18s youth team after playing with the squad since he was

eight.

This summer, the teenager will move to Bournemouth where he will live with a host family and train at the club every day, alongside his studies, in the hope of securing a professional contract.

Camp said: “I’m really happy. Scholarships are usually given out at the end of January and we didn’t expect to find out so early.

“We had to go to Bournemouth for a 10-minute meeting but it was all worth it. It was a real shock, but a nice shock. It was a nice surprise at the end of the year.”

Camp was first scouted for the Bournemouth under-8s team while playing in Weymouth and is the only one of 15 youngsters he started with to have qualified for the academy.

Brennan’s mum Rachel Camp said: “He started playing when my husband started up the under-5 and under-6 team on Portland. At first, Brennan wasn’t interested in football at all.

“We were short one day so we shoved a shirt on him, which came down to his ankles, and he got on the field and was just amazing. It all started from there.

“His grandfather was a professional footballer who played for Manchester City and Bristol City, so it runs in the family. We lost him eight weeks before we got the good news, he would be so proud of Brennan.”

Rachel is the daughter of the late Weymouth manager Gerry Gow whose football career also saw him play for Rotherham United and Burnley.

The teen star follows a strict fitness and diet regime which includes travelling to Bournemouth for training four times a week, including a full day for which he is released from his school IPACA.

“It’s a lot of hard work, some nights he doesn’t get home from training until 10.30pm. He has been so dedicated the last eight years, he deserves this scholarship more than anyone.

“But as a mother the thought of him being away from home, I can’t think about that bit yet. I know he will be very well looked after though, the club is an amazing football club.”

During Brennan’s tenure with the club the team has been promoted from League Two to the Premier League making his chances of graduating with a professional contract look increasingly exciting.

Rachel added: “It was Brennan’s dream for Bournemouth to go up into the Premier League and now it has really hit home that it is a reality he could go on to play professional football at Premier League level.”