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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Dan Marsh

Fulham's Jay Stansfield to follow tragic father's lead after emotional loan move

While the narrative surrounding transfer deadline day in the Premier League is mainly one of desperation and greed, Fulham bucked the trend and played their part in helping to engineer of the most poignant stories in English football this week.

The top-flight newcomers gave highly-rated prospect Jay Stansfield the green light to head out on loan to League One outfit Exeter City late on Thursday - three years after they plucked the teenager from the Grecians' esteemed academy.

On the surface, that may not appear to be a story that particular piques interest. But when you delve a little deeper into the relationship between Exeter and the Stansfield family, it's impossible to not be moved by the deal that will see the 19-year-old follow in the footsteps of his late father, Adam.

At the age of just 31, Adam Stansfield passed away in 2010 after battling bowel cancer while he was still on the books at Exeter City. During his time with the Grecians, Adam established himself as a firm fan favourite; so much so that the club have since gone on to rename a stand in his honour.

Since Adam's untimely passing, his family have been inundated with love and support from the striker's former club - and now Jay, who has been forging a path of his own at Craven Cottage, will grace the same hallowed turf at St James' Park that his father starred on over a decade ago.

Jay will now don the same No.9 shirt that his father wore after the club made the decision to retire the shirt for nine seasons in Adam's honour.

Adam Stansfield sadly died while still an Exeter City player at the age of just 31 (Matthew Ashton)

And the youngster, who almost netted a goal inside the opening 60 seconds of his Premier League debut against Brentford last month, has spoken of his pride at the prospect of wearing the shirt he "dreamed" of having after watching his father as a kid.

He told the club: "It means a lot. I know the pressure is going to be high if I had the number nine shirt or if I didn't. So I thought it was the right thing for me to do.

"To be able to come in and take the shirt, I'll be proud to wear it and hopefully I can follow in the footsteps of what he did and hopefully go beyond. When I was at the academy and when he used to play here I dreamed of playing in the number nine shirt. To be able to come here and wear it, I hope I can do him proud."

Jay's return to Devon is the latest chapter in the special relationship between the Stansfield family and their home county.

The Adam Stansfield Foundation, which was set up shortly after his death, has raised over £300,000 to date after it was set up in Devon to help young people get into football and raise bowel cancer awareness.

The Foundation has helped countless families already in the south west - and Jay is now eager to make his own impact in the county after his temporary exit was sanctioned by Fulham.

Jay made a big impression on his Premier League debut against Brentford (Mike Hewitt)

Despite making a big impression in the west London derby, Jay was given the go-ahead to seek regular first-team football in the EFL this season following an influx of attacking arrivals at Craven Cottage on deadline day.

And Jay was in no doubt over his preferred destination once Fulham had given their blessing for him to head out on loan.

He added: “The way that Matt [Taylor] wants to play is very attacking football, the same as working with Fulham. Experience is key and managers look massively at if you have played games and scored goals. I just want to come in and develop.

"League One is a different league, more physical, but I think I can deal with it and show my technical side, and I can learn a lot from the players here and I cannot wait to make an impact when called on.”

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