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Swindon Town's 20-year-old striker Charlie Austin has been named March's Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month in The Times newspaper's football supplement, 'The Game'.
The award follows a month in which the frontman netted three goals in six games for The Robins to secure 1-0 victories against Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton and Hartlepool United and help consolidate Swindon's promotion push.
Just six months ago, Austin was lining up for Poole Town in the Wessex League and laying bricks for a living, but since climbing the six divisions to Coca-Cola League 1 in October, the striker has scored 19 times in 31 appearances.
In presenting the award to Austin, Swindon Town Manager Danny Wilson said: "All credit goes to Charlie himself, he's worked very hard to put himself in a position where he's being talked about. We saw little bits of ability that suggested he would possibly score goals, even though he was playing at the level he was, we still felt the basic rudiments were there.
"There's still a lot of his game that he needs to brush up on but one thing you can't give him is that instinct, it's inbuilt. He's maximising that himself which is brilliant."
The Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month for March, Charlie Austin said:"Everything's happened in this one season and I hope it carries on.
"If you're confident enough to take the opportunity, then you can do it. There are players from non-league that are out there - just don't give up, keep looking forward and you never know who's watching."
Each season, Football League clubs invest more than £40m on identifying, training and educating the next generation of football talent. Around a third of this money (£12.6m) is provided by the Football Association and Premier League. There are 8,700 young players registered with League clubs making Football League Youth Development the largest centrally co-ordinated young player programme in world football.
Each month, the Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month Award will be awarded by The Football League to the young player who has made the most significant contribution and impact in first team football. To be eligible the player must be either under 21 years of age or be playing in the season during which he turns 21.
During the month of March 316 players under the age of 21 appeared in Football League matches with 12 players making their League debut.
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