By Daniel Wood
The Terriers Academy sign 17-year-old Australian youth international, Nicholas Bilokapic.
Nicholas has joined Town’s academy on a two-year scholarship that’ll run until 31 January 2022.
A perk of the signing is that he will not have to wait for his work permit due to his Croatian ancestry.
The 6’3″ tall, 17-year-old has played for Sydney United 58 and was part of Socceroos’ Under-17 World Cup squad.
Bilokapic was spotted by Town’s Head of Goalkeeping Paul Clements while playing for Australia.
He spent some time on trial with Town’s Academy in early December 2019. He kept a clean sheet in the Elite Development Team’s 2-0 win over Hibernian at PPG Canalside.
A member of his family represented Australia’s national team before. His uncle, Paul Bilokapic, made two appearances as a midfielder.
Nicholas becomes the second Australian goalkeeper at the club, as joins Jacob Chapman. Jacob (19) was in the First Team squad for the first time as a substitute in Town’s Sky Bet Championship game at Fulham on 1 February 2020.
Huddersfield Town’s Head of Academy Recruitment Emyr Humphrey’s explained:
“We’re really excited to welcome Nicholas to the Huddersfield Town Academy.
“He has real physical attributes in terms of his frame and athleticism and real ability with his feet, plus he has a calmness that it really welcome in a goalkeeper.
“He still has a lot of room for improvement, and our coaching and games programme will give him every opportunity to fulfil his potential.”