COLCHESTER United completed their first summer signing on Friday when they snapped up former Spurs youngster, Jaden Williams.
The 20-year-old has joined the U’s following a 14-year stint in the Tottenham Hotspur academy, where he won the under-18 Premier League Cup and under-21 PL2 Trophy.
Williams is not the first former Spurs youngster to join Colchester – here are 11 players who have trod a similar path, in the past.
Mark Yeates
The winger became a big favourite at Colchester United, having started his professional career at Spurs.
Yeates initially joined the U's on loan from Tottenham at the start of their memorable 2005-06 season, playing a huge part in helping Phil Parkinson's side win promotion to the Championship.
The winger, who made four competitive appearances for Spurs, had loan spells at Leicester City and Hull City before joining Colchester on a permanent basis from Spurs in 2007.
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He spent two years at the U's, making 81 appearances and scoring the first-ever competitive goal at the JobServe Community Stadium in 2008 before leaving to join Middlesbrough in July, 2009.
Now 40, he is currently an academy coach at Fleetwood Town.
Luke Prosser
Prosser started out as a youngster in the Spurs academy, before moving onto Port Vale.
The 37-year-old enjoyed an impressive 17-year playing career, making more than 400 league and cup appearances as a professional, winning promotion with both Southend United and Northampton Town and playing at Wembley Stadium in the Football League Trophy Final.
Prosser joined Colchester in 2016 and made 119 league and cup appearances for the club under John McGreal, during a four-year spell at the JobServe Community Stadium.
In his final season with the U’s he played 45 times as they reached the League Two play-offs, where they lost out to Exeter City.
Prosser’s final game as a professional came for Stevenage in their League Two game at Carlisle United on April 30, 2022.
Phil Ifil
The full-back burst onto the scene for Spurs at the start of the 2004-05 season, playing in their opening-day game against Liverpool.
Ifil went onto make a further two Premier League starts for Tottenham Hotspur after coming through their academy but left the North London club in January 2008 to join Colchester.
He went onto make 60 league and cup appearances for the U's, scoring twice, before leaving to join Dagenham and Redbridge in August, 2010.
Kevin Watson
Midfield maestro Kevin Watson wrote himself into Colchester United folklore after helping them win promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history, in 2006.
The skilful midfielder made more than 100 appearances for the U's, after joining them in 2004.
Watson had started out at Spurs, where he trained alongside the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Darren Anderton and Gary Mabbutt and played under the likes of Terry Venables.
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He scored on his first-team debut in a League Cup win over Brentford at White Hart Lane in 1992 and made five senior appearances for Spurs before leaving them permanently, in 1996.
Watson had an excellent playing career making more than 400 appearances, also representing the likes of Swindon Town, Luton Town and Rotherham United.
He has since gone into coaching and has had spells in charge of the likes of Bishop's Stortford, Billericay Town and Ebbsfleet United and was assistant manager to Teddy Sheringham, at Stevenage.
Kane Vincent-Young
Kane Vincent-Young returned to Colchester for a second spell, in the January window.
He had made 126 league and cup appearances for the U's first time around after making his professional debut for them in August 2015, following his release by Spurs.
Vincent-Young spent four full seasons playing for Colchester's first team, before leaving to join Ipswich, in the summer of 2019.
He spent time at Wycombe Wanderers, before his recent return to the JobServe Community Stadium.
Chay Cooper
CHAY Cooper joined Tottenham Hotspur from Southend as a scholar, in 2017.
He was loaned back to Southend to play in their Under-23 team before being released by Spurs, at the end of the 2020–21 season.
Cooper signed for Colchester United in September 2021 and made 21 league and cup appearances for them before leaving last summer to join Braintree Town.
Johnnie Jackson
Having started his career at Spurs, the versatile Jackson first joined Colchester on loan for the final two months of the 2002-03 season.
He returned to the U's on a permanent basis in the summer of 2006, helping them record their highest-ever finish after they ended up tenth in their first-ever season in the Championship.
Jackson, who made 24 first-team appearances for Spurs, was Colchester's Player of the Year the following season but could not prevent them from being relegated to League One.
He went on to play for Notts County and Charlton Athletic and last season, led AFC Wimbledon to promotion to League One via the play-offs.
Nathan Oduwa
Colchester United signed Nathan Oduwa on a month’s loan from Spurs, in 2016.
The left winger managed only two substitute appearances for the U’s.
Oduwa joined Tottenham at the age of 11 and penned his first professional contract for them in July, 2012.
Along with Colchester, he had loan spells at Luton Town, Peterborough United and Glasgow Rangers before leaving Spurs to join Slovenian club, Olimpija Ljubljana in 2017.
Kenny McEvoy
McEvoy joined Colchester United on loan from Spurs in January, 2015.
His sole appearance for the U’s came as an 89th-minute substitute in their 4-1 defeat at Sheffield United in League One on February 10, 2015.
McEvoy, who joined the Spurs academy in the summer of 2011, did not make a senior appearance in his time at Tottenham but was involved in several of their Europa League squads.
McEvoy returned to Spurs and later had loan spells at Stevenage and York City before leaving the North London club, in 2017.
The Republic of Ireland under-21 international returned to his native Ireland to play for Waterford.
Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels played for Colchester United at the end of his successful professional career, having started it at Spurs.
Daniels played 19 times in total for Colchester, in the 2021-22 season.
He had joined Colchester on a free transfer in the summer of 2021, having been training with them for a number of weeks following his departure from Portsmouth.
The former AFC Bournemouth defender’s final game for the U’s was in a game at Forest Green Rovers in January 2022, his 500th career appearance.
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Daniels had started out in Tottenham’s academy, signing his first professional contract for them in the summer of 2005.
He did not make a senior appearance for Spurs but had an impressive career, making more than 250 appearances for AFC Bournemouth, many of which were in the Premier League.
He has most recently been coaching in Watford’s academy.
Stephen Grenfell
Back in the late 1980s, full-back Stephen Grenfell spent more than two years at Colchester United having started his career in the Spurs academy.
He had signed apprentice forms at White Hart Lane in the summer of 1984 and joined the U’s on loan, two years later.
Grenfell eventually joined Colchester on a permanent basis when he completed a £15,000 transfer to Layer Road and made his debut in a 3-0 win over Wolves, at Layer Road.
He made 70 league appearances for Colchester before leaving to join Bromley and also played for the likes of Dagenham and Redbridge and Aylesbury United, before later coaching in the Spurs academy.