Bristol City have another talented youngster following in the footsteps of Robbie Cundy and Antoine Semenyo

Bristol City are keen to build around the fruits of their academy and only last week against Reading the side in red started the game with five academy players in their first XI, with another three on the bench.

Though it may take some time, the West Country club are determined to see success from their own in-house work.

And that’s why players such as 19-year-old defender Callum Wood are key. Wood caught the eye of this Bristol City reporter playing at U23s level last year, after he joined up at Ashton Gate as a 17-year-old versatile defender in 2020, initially joining the City Under-18s set-up after a successful trial period.

Playing senior men’s football at Cinderford Town, following time at Monmouth Town, West Bromwich Albion and Hereford FC helped Wood’s talent get spotted, as “he held his own”, as he explained himself at the time.

Thanks to academy director Brian Tinnion and youth head of recruitment Damian Butt’s links, Bristol City learned of Wood’s potential and invited the player over for a trial, and Wood was soon snapped up on a professional deal.

Now the left-sided centre-back has gone on loan to Bath City for the season, impressing manager Jerry Gill there, who has overseen plenty of Bristol City talents since he took over the Romans in October 2017.

That number includes man-of-the-moment Antoine Semenyo as well as emerging centre-back Robbie Cundy (who was transferred from Bath City to Bristol City in 2019), who has now appeared off the bench twice in the Championship.

Gill has really taken to Wood, who has now played 18 times for Bath City, 14 of those in the National League South.

“Brilliant. I love him. I think he’s the closest we’ve got to Robbie in regards to someone I can see going on and playing at Championship level,” he tells Bristol World.

“At some point. Not now. Not imminently. It may take a couple of seasons because he needs to grow into his body.

“You’ve seen him and he’s quite spindly, but so was Robbie. Robbie has developed physically now and there’ll be gym programmes for Callum.

“What he’s got is a mentality to defend first and foremost, he wants to latch on. He’s great in the air, his recovery runs are good, if a tackle needs it he goes to ground.

“I’ve never seen a young player get so many blocks on the edge of the 18-yard box. It’s almost John Terry-like. Almost spreading himself like a goalkeeper and getting so many blocks.

“Aligned with that he’s got a left foot and we know that left-footed defenders often look good on the eye. He’s got a great attitude and he’s got a good future.

“He’ll have to earn it. His loans will have to be progressive. But I’m sure if he stays on the right track, he’s going to have a bright future as well,” explains Gill.

Wood has played at full-back previously but will likely end up as a centre-back for good, where he often plays now. Left-sided defender of a back three may be best for the player, who was linked with Aston Villa earlier in his career too.

If Wood keeps progressing, he could follow Cundy into the senior Bristol City set-up.

And Gill keeps in contact with his former centre-back Cundy, who Brian Tinnion also helped to bring over to Ashton Gate from Bath. The 24-year-old came off the bench against Preston and Reading for his first involvement in the English second tier.

“I always say to people that Robbie was the fastest developer, since the turn of Christmas through to the end of the season, in the year that we got into the play-offs against Wealdstone,” explains Gill.

“He developed so well physically, technically. When he first came to us, he was quite languid, his recovery runs were quite slow. He really worked well at all of that stuff and ended up scoring a lot of goals for us from set-pieces as well.

“He’s such a good lad and gives himself the best chance, obviously. We’re really pleased as a football club - we sold him to Bristol City - and we’re really pleased to see him come on in the last couple of games and can’t wait to see him start in the Championship.”

Bath City will benefit financially when Cundy makes a first Championship start for Bristol City, and his transfer has helped Gill bring in more than £70,000 from player sales over the years for the sixth tier side.

Cundy’s move to Ashton Gate was another that came about through the contacts and eagle-eye for talent of Brian Tinnion and co.

“There’s no rush in the development of centre-backs - they develop late. He’s [Cundy] very much in the mould of Aden Flint. He’s just been very, very unlucky with injuries and that’s the only thing that may have curtailed quicker growth.

“Hopefully now, he stays clear of injury and gets an opportunity. He has to earn it. I know Nigel Pearson is a manager that likes defenders to defend - I know that sounds weird, but a lot of modern defenders people talk about being comfortable technically but first and foremost, you’ve got to keep the ball out of the net.

“You’ve got to be aggressive, go and win your duels and hopefully Robbie is working hard at that. If he does, and he earns the right, he’ll only get a chance when he does earn it,” says Gill.

A story links the two former Bath City players, Cundy and Semenyo, who are now most involved in the senior Robins squad set-up, with possibly Wood and more to follow their path in the future.

“When Robbie Cundy was playing for Gloucester City, Antoine was playing for us and bumped Robbie in the 18-yard box, Robbie went to ground and Antoine just smashed it into the bottom corner. We all still talk and laugh about it now. Robbie won’t thank me for telling this,” says Gill.

Semenyo’s spell

The help that these loans give the Bristol City players is plain to see. Antoine Semenyo is another to have benefited.

The current Championship Player of the Month for January earned senior experience down the road in Bath once he had joined up at Bristol City from SGS College Filton.

“People forget about Antoine coming here. I took him as a 17-year-old scholar. He was so raw but so refreshing for us,” added Gill.

“He scored a lot of goals for us in a short space of time [six goals in nine games in the 2017/18 season]. And look how his career has gone on.

“I enjoy seeing him as a no.9 - I like him down the middle, bumping defenders. I like his power, his strength, his athleticism. That’s his strength. Players can have a trick and he’s more of a player who will knock it by them and run past them,” says Gill.

The Bath City boss remembers one game against Welling United where Semenyo had a very good match, knocking the centre-backs about: “He reminded me of a young Ade Akinbiyi.”

Now Semenyo is rampaging through Championship defences and no doubt the lessons learned earlier in his career have helped. Wood is getting that education himself currently.

Fellow Bristol City-to-Bath City loanees

Romans boss Jerry Gill’s word on his former loans now back at City or elsewhere (plus on Wiles-Richards)...

James Morton - “He was great for us when he played [2017/19]. He’s just come back. Where will he be off next? Technically so good. He can be more than a deep-lying midfielder, which he’s been pigeon-holed as. He really needs to go somewhere and play 40 odd games. We’d love him if he wants to play 40 games here!”

Sam Pearson - “Played 30 plus games for Bath City [in 2019/20] and I keep in touch with all of these players. Sam’s now playing at Inverness. I stay in touch with all of them.”

Opi Edwards (as well as brother Owura) - “Opis’s gone on to have a career, so when the guys come here on loan it’s not just about heading back to Bristol City and being in the first team there. It can be about more than that.”

Dylan Khadji - “He’s a bit younger so everything is a bonus. Only a first-year pro and he’s finding the speed and physicality of the game is different to the U23s. He’s a number 8 and he can go box to box, and use that physicality in doing that. He’s very leggy, a bit like Tyreeq Bakinson when he came in. He’s going to be a very good player but it will be bit part for us at the moment. He’ll get opportunities at this young age.”

Tommy Conway - “One of the most refreshing attitudes I’ve ever seen. A striker who wants to do something different: go down the sides and in behind. We got him doing that for us and he scored quite a few goals for us [last season]. He was here when it was null and void during the pandemic so it was a tough time for us. Great to see how he’s developed the power. Great attitude, wants to press, wants to score goals. Can play wide or down the middle. A great lad.”

Josh Owers - “Had a great first loan but then found it hard to get in the team in the second loan. He probably suffered with us working out our system and shape, as we were in a transition after covid. He’s like his dad: a very combative player. He wants to break up play. I think he’s more than just a ‘4’ who sits in front of the defence.. He can get box to box.”

Marlee Francois - “He’s got that amazing thing that everybody wants: pace. When we got him in we were really lucky because the club were pitching him to clubs a bit higher. When he came in, it didn’t really work out as Marlee didn’t want to cup-tie himself and the agent wanted him to play higher. He played right wing-back for us but he was electric. In the one vs one he could take people on and he had lovely balance. Really good in the press as well. He’s another one who I predict - as long as he understands his pathway himself - he’ll have a bright future as well.”

Harvey Wiles-Richards [joined Bristol City from Bath City, rather than a loan, like Cundy] - “We had him as a training goalkeeper to start as he came from the college system. He’s a confident boy. The more he was around the men’s environment he learned to deal with the emotional side of the game, as he used to beat himself up about mistakes. He played at 16 for us in the FA Trophy - a big game for a young player. As a goalkeeper, as Pat Mountain says, you want to see personality and character - and he’s got that in abundance. Good shot-stopper.”

Louis Britton - “He came through the same college programme as Harvey. He found it difficult to get in our team. He’s an old fashioned striker and a goal-scorer. So he brings different attributes and his weapon is goal-scoring. We were looking for some other attributes at the time, beyond that. He’s gone out to Ireland and he’ll score goals as he’s a fox in the box. Good lad, and good dad behind him too, who follows him everywhere.”

Saikou Janneh also came through at the Bath City college academy too.

Before Jerry’s time: Max O’Leary - played under Gary Owers for the Romans in 2016/17, with 37 appearances.