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Thursday 25th February 2016 is likely to be remembered best in the history books of Manchester United as the day that Marcus Rashford made his debut for the club.
The now England international scored twice in a 5-1 victory over FC Midtjylland in the Europa League to announce himself as one of the most exciting young attacking players in the country, but he was not the only debutant that evening.
17-year-old Welsh defender Regan Poole came on as an 89th-minute substitute for Ander Herrera to become the 13th Academy graduate to be given a debut by Louis van Gaal during his time as manager at Old Trafford.
That brief appearance completed a meteoric 18 month rise which had started with the Cardiff-born youngster making his Newport County debut a few months after his 16th birthday before signing for the 20-times champions of England for an initial fee of £100,000 in September 2015.
Poole had been on trial at Liverpool, and was the subject of transfer interest from both Fulham and Hull City after breaking into the Newport first team, but it was United who secured his signature in what the player himself would later describe as “a bit of a whirlwind” of an experience.
That evening against Midtjylland turned out to be the high-point of the versatile defender’s time in Manchester, although he can hardly be accused of not trying to forge a career for himself whilst contracted to one of the biggest clubs in the world.
A loan spell at Northampton Town in the 2017/18 season ended with Poole on the bench as the Cobblers suffered relegation to League Two in the final game of the season, completing an underwhelming campaign in which he was used in several different positions without truly nailing down a spot in the first team.
The following season saw a frustrating return to the Red Devils’ development side before Michael Flynn offered him the opportunity to restart his Newport career with a loan move in the January transfer window.
Used primarily as a right-sided centre-back in a back three, Poole played an integral part in helping the League Two side knock Championship Middlesbrough out of the FA Cup in the Third Round, whilst also contributing to a defence that conceded only three goals in the final 10 games of the League Two season as the Exiles snuck into the play-off places on the final day of the season.
Poole scored his penalty in the shootout after Flynn’s side and Mansfield could not be separated in the semi-final, but heartbreak was waiting at Wembley as a 119th-minute goal from Tranmere’s Connor Jennings denied Newport and their bright young defender promotion to the third tier.
Despite captaining Manchester United’s under-23s regularly before his promising return to Rodney Parade, it was deemed that Poole had no future at Old Trafford beyond the end of that season. His performances for the Exiles meant there was no shortage of suitors for his signature in the summer of 2019 when his United contract expired though.
He ended up joining an MK Dons side that had achieved promotion from League Two, and Poole primarily played in the same position that he had excelled in at Newport under Dons’ boss Paul Tisdale, but when the former Exeter City manager was replaced by Russell Martin in November of that year, his career stalled once more.
Having been shifted between right-back and centre-back in Martin’s first few games in charge, he started only four of the last 13 games of the campaign before the outbreak of Covid-19 caused the League One season to be decided on points per game.
MK just about survived relegation back to the fourth tier, and the start of the current campaign saw them attempting to play some of the most expansive and possession-heavy football in the EFL under the former Norwich City captain and Scotland international.
Poole was regularly used as a right wing-back, forcing him to develop the attacking side of his game, and even though he scored the first league goal of his career against Swindon over the festive period, the arrival of the gallivanting Ethan Laird on loan from Manchester United in the January transfer window meant the Welshman was on the move once again.
He became a Lincoln player on deadline day of the window, joining Michael Appleton’s side for an undisclosed fee that Martin described as “a good financial deal for someone we don’t see playing regularly”.
Since signing at Sincil Bank, all of Poole’s 12 starts have come at right-back, and even though the Imps have endured a run of form that has seen them slip from the top of the League One table to very nearly dropping out of the play-off places, their January arrival has been a picture of consistency in a defence that has been disrupted by injury.
On Saturday, Poole played on the right of a back four as part of a makeshift defence for Lincoln as they looked to continue their promotion charge against a Bristol Rovers side that is currently in the relegation zone and fighting to stay in the third tier.
The 1-0 win for Appleton’s Imps may have appeared fairly straightforward on the surface, and it could have been a more convincing victory had Lincoln’s forwards taken their chances, but a backline that was without centre-backs Adam Jackson and Joe Walsh due to injury was put under serious pressure even after the Gas were reduced to ten men.
Despite Rovers’ lowly league position, they started confidently and spent much of the afternoon loading balls into the Lincoln penalty area, and Poole was the only member of the back four who looked capable of coping with the hulking figure of striker Jonah Ayunga.
His dogged defending was needed as Lincoln’s fluid attacking force was wasteful in front of goal aside from Anthony Scully’s decisive goal in the 16th minute.
Poole also looked bright going forward, linking well with both Scully and Brennan Johnson on regular occasions and often being the out-ball for a Lincoln side committed to playing out from the back regardless of the pressure put on them by Joey Barton’s struggling side.
His moment of heroism came midway through the second-half though, as Bristol Rovers piled ball after ball into the Lincoln box.
Poole clattered into the crossbar trying to defend a looping free-kick that had been played into the penalty area, and although no Terry Butcher-style headband was needed to allow him to continue, several minutes of treatment were required.
It did not detract from his game though, and just moments after returning to the field of play he was bombing down the right flank again to deliver a dangerous cross into the opposition box as Lincoln looked to make the most of a man advantage that had been handed to them after Rovers midfielder Ed Upson was dismissed for an overly-aggressive tangle with Johnson.
Poole and his defensive colleagues managed to see out the seven minutes of second-half injury-time to secure back-to-back clean sheets – something Lincoln had not previously managed since early February – and ensure Appleton’s side remain fourth in the league table with a six-point gap on the sides outside of the top six.
Even though their reserved manager was hardly getting carried away following a positive week that has seen his team pick up seven points from three games, he did offer some praise for his 22-year-old right-back.
“He’s (Poole) the type of player that can quite comfortably go in at centre-half at times, and that’s part of why we brought him to the club.
“He gives us quality in the final third and can get the odd goal, he gets into good goal-scoring positions, but he’s good in both boxes.
“When the ball comes into our box we know he’s the man and he can deal with it and head the ball.”
– Lincoln City manager Michael Appleton
Poole has 23 Wales under-21 caps and has been called up to two senior squads as cover but is yet to make his full debut, and with the current squad well stocked with both centre-backs and right-backs, the likelihood of appearing at this summer’s European Championship is slim.
The rise to prominence of former under-21 teammates Joe Rodon and Ben Cabango is ample proof that playing regularly in the second tier can provide a pathway to full honours though, and if Poole is able to help Appleton’s side to the Championship next season, a full cap surely can’t be too far away.
If Lincoln can continue on the upward trajectory that the club has been on over the past five seasons, another appearance at Old Trafford in the near future might not even be out of the question.
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