On-loan Blues keeper Henry Gray has been named Braintree Town’s Young Player of the Season.
Gray, 20, joined the Iron on loan in January and made 20 Vanarama National League appearances as the Essex side finished 17th in the table.
"What a season it’s been since coming into the team in January,” Gray wrote on Instagram. "This team on and off the pitch was an honour to be with and to be able to stay up for another year in the national league has been a great achievement for us.
"Thank you to all the fans who travelled home and away and to making me so welcome at the club, I’m hoping your mind has been changed since last season 🤣. It felt like a family at Braintree and I will never forget it. Thank you Braintree.”
New Zealand U20 international Gray joined Town in the summer of 2023 from New Zealand Central League side Waterside Karori following a trial at the end of the previous campaign. He was previously with A-League club Wellington Phoenix’s reserves.
Prior to making his move to Braintree, Mönchengladbach-born Gray trained with the Blues’ first-team squad having signed a new contract at Portman Road.
In October 2023, Gray, who had a spell on loan with Chelmsford in the second half of 2023/24, spent time training with the All Whites senior squad at a training camp in Spain. He was also named as an alternate for the New Zealand party taking part in the Paris Olympics last summer without being called into the squad.
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