Fulham prospect Jay Stansfield’s loan switch to join Exeter City has tugged at the heartstrings of football fans across the country as he follows in the footsteps of his dad.
Jay has joined the League one outfit on loan from the Premier League side 12 years after they retired their number nine shirt in honour of his father Adam Stansfield who died of cancer.
The Fulham prospect, 19, has spoken of his pride in following the professional path of his dad and explained how he decided that wearing the iconic number was the right thing to do.
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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.”
(Image: Matthew Ashton)
Former Yeovil Town, Hereford United and Exeter striker Adam won promotion to the Football League with all three of those sides between 2001 and 2009.
Having suffered from abdominal pain in early 2010, Exeter then confirmed that he had been diagnosed with a form of colorectal cancer.
Despite rejoining his team-mates for a day of pre-season in that July, his condition deteriorated before his untimely passing the following month at the age of just 31.
(Image: Twitter @OfficialECFC)
Continuing the Stansfield striking legacy with the support of mum Marie, Jay joined Fulham from the Grecians back in 2020 and gone on to become their best young prospect.
Having made his first-team debut back in 2019/20, he featured in two Premier League matches this season before his emotional loan switch, particularly impressing in their win over Brentford.
The young Stansfield will even be playing in front of a stand that was named after his late father back in 2018 – with Exeter sitting in ninth under boss Matt Taylor.
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