‘Local’ starlet signs for Villa

The daughter of a local couple will begin life in the professional game this July after signing academy forms with Aston Villa women’s team.

Lauren Purchase is the daughter of Dacre Purchase and Caroline Morris who were pupils of Llanfair Caereinion and Welshpool high schools respectively. She is also the great grand daughter of former Welshpool mayor, John Gwilt.

The family have been living in Malaysia as part of a 12-year stint in Asia, but the 15-year-old came onto the Welsh national team radar last year having impressed following 14,000-mile round-trips to training camps and matches with the Wales U-17 side.

She has also caught the eye of a number of clubs, and an offer landed in her inbox this week to start a new challenge with Aston Villa, who intend to become one of the female game’s top clubs having finished top of the Covid-19-shortened FA Women’s Championship.

“I’m so happy to be joining the Villa Academy, building on everything I have learnt with the Wales squad and my Kuala Lumpur Team,” Lauren told us.

“Villa have such tremendous vision and the skills and resources to back it up. It’s such an opportunity it would be madness not to snap it up and give it 100%, plus the chance to integrate play with Aston Villa’s first team once a week is also so exciting!”

Covid-19 travel plans permitting, Lauren is scheduled to start preseason activity in July, with a friendly against Manchester United in August, and take up her full academy place in September 2020.

She will continue to study for her A-levels at the local sixth form college in Sutton Coldfield and mum, Caroline, says she will also move back to the UK as oldest daughter, Leila, is expected to start studying at Loughborough University this autumn, leaving Dacre to clock up the air miles as he links family life in the UK with his work in south east Asia.