Chris Mepham was presented with the Mary Halder Youth Team Players’ Player of the Year award at half-time during Saturday’s match with Fulham. The 18-year-old picked up the award after a fine season for Jon De Souza’s Youth Team which saw him break in Dean Smith's matchday squad for the home match against Derby County.
Chris, whose great uncle was on the books at Brentford in the 1960’s, joined The Bees in February 2014 and impressed enough to be given a two-year scholarship just four months later. The tall, ball-playing central defender, who can play at right-back, made 17 appearances for Jon De Souza's Under-18s this season, scoring once. On top of those Youth Team appearances, Chris has featured 20 times for the Development Squad this campaign.
The right-sided defender signed his first professional contract with Brentford in February and was named in The Bees matchday squad for the visit of Derby County later that month. Chris has trained regularly with the first-team this season and has been part of the matchday squad on a number of occasions.