Promising Portsmouth youngster and ex-Crystal Palace striker earns maiden Republic of Ireland call-up

Academy striker Sam Folarin made his debut for Pompey at Leyton Orient - and has also won an international call-up. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

Promising striker Sam Folarin came off the bench in the 85th minute of Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory at Leyton Orient in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

It represented a senior debut for the second-year scholar, who has netted once in six appearances for the Academy this season.

It follows last week’s call-up for the Republic of Ireland under-18s as the former Crystal Palace youngster continues to make encouraging progress.

The 17-year-old Folarin has asked to train with Eire’s squad for two upcoming matches against their Belgium counterparts, taking place at the Oliva Nova Result in Spain.

The fixtures are scheduled to take place on Thursday, November 16 and Saturday, November 18, signalling his first international involvement.

The towering forward joined the Blues in November 2022 following a successful trial which saw him score four times in 10 matches.

He was previously with Crystal Palace under-16s, but released in the summer of 2022 when they declined to offer him a scholarship.

Folarin then lined-up as a triallist for Sutton United against Pompey in the Youth Alliance Cup in September 2022 – and impressed sufficiently to be asked to trial at Fratton Park.

He was subsequently snapped up by the Blues, where he has impressed with his physicality and strong running when leading the line.

Folarin featured in three matches during pre-season, consisting of starting against Gosport and coming off the bench at the Rocks and the Hawks.

He subsequently earned a loan switch to Poole in August, along with third-year scholar Destiny Ojo, yet was quickly recalled.

While Ojo has thrived for Matt Tubbs’ men, Folarin was not involved and it was decided to instead bring him back to Fratton Park.

Since then he was an unused Pompey substitute in August fixtures against Fulham Under-21s in the EFL Trophy and then the Carabao Cup clash with Peterborough.

However, he finally got his opportunity at Brisbane Road on Tuesday night, coming on for Christian Saydee in the 85th minute.

Goals from Saydee and Abu Kamara secured a 2-1 win to ensure Pompey topped their group in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

They will now have a home tie in the next round of the competition they won against Sunderland in March 2019.