Luton boss had no hesitation in giving prolific 17-year-old his Hatters debut
Gawel comes on for the final minutes against Swindon Town
Luton manager Jack Wilshere had no hesitation in giving prolific young forward Dawid Gawel his first team debut when bringing him on for a late cameo during Tuesday night’s Vertu Trophy 2-1 defeat at the hands of League Two Swindon Town.
The 17-year-old striker, who was born in Poland, had been with Everton as a youngster, moving to Kenilworth Road from the Toffees in July 2025, signing scholarship terms. Since joining the Hatters, Gawel has been in sensational form for the U18s and U21s, scoring a magnificent 33 goals already this term, including a brilliant overhead kick against Watford that saw him win the League Football Education’s (LFE) Goal of the Month award for November.
Having used the competition to blood some the best prospects that the academy has to offer, with Fin Evans, Harry Fox, Jack Lorentzen-Jones and Zach Ioannides all getting their first senior outings in previous rounds, it was Gawel’s turn to make Wilshere’s match-day squad in midweek, joining centre half Vladimir Paternoster, Lucas Thomas and Lorentzen-Jones in being named on the bench, as full back Fox was given his first start in defence.
With Town trailing 2-1 and time running out, Gawel was thrown on and immediately demonstrated the kind of poaching instincts that has seen him in such red-hot form for the club’s younger age-groups, hot on the toes of Lewis Ward when Ethon Archer’s low show was well handled by the visiting stopper, and then almost capitalised on an error from Filozofe Mabete, as the Robins defender just about recovered in time to clear the danger.
Asked about the forward, who had been on target for the U18s in their 3-1 Youth Alliance victory over Sutton United at the weekend, joining Evans and Excel Ed-Okungbowa in netting when drilling home from just outside the box late on, also playing in four Premier League Cup fixtures as well for the U21s, Wilshere said: “He’s a goalscorer, he’s a box player. Whenever he comes up with the first team, I was saying this with the staff, he scores, he scores goals. That’s not an easy skill to have, and obviously the level he’s playing at, he’s been really dominant in the box.
“I knew we needed a goal and we had no hesitation. Me and Powelly (Chris Powell) had a conversation and we said, let’s put him on. He will probably want some more touches, but I think he will benefit from that experience. It will give him some more confidence, he can see the level a little bit from being around the first team and I remember from my time as a young player, you get a lot from that, just experiencing it, so hopefully he can take that forward now.”
With Wilshere clearly eager to promote from within, then he believes that having the likes of Gawel on the bench and getting his opportunity late on, then it gives the rest of the youth team, who host AFC Wimbledon at the weekend, a boost in their own efforts to make their own way into his thought process, as he continued: “I think that’s a good message to all of the younger players as (Harry) Fox has been with us in the 21s a little bit more than the 18s, but we always have conversations with the coaches and we always watch the highlights of the 18s back.
"We’re always catching up with the academy coaches as the training ground is intimate, we’re there, we’re chatting, we talk about the players. We had a really good conversation yesterday (Monday) with Al (Alex Lawless, U21s head coach) and Benno (Paul Benson, academy manager) about who it should be and it’s a good message to send to put Dawid on.
"He’s earned it, he’s earned his spot and I said to the players before, we don’t give the shirt out, you have to earn the shirt. I asked him a question, how many goals has he scored? He said 33 and the players couldn’t believe it! So credit to him for that and hopefully he can keep that going for the 18s and let’s see where he is at the end of the season.”
Writing on Instagram, then Gawel, who followed in Jaroslaw Fojut’s footsteps by being only the second player born in Poland to feature for the Hatters, the former defender joining the Hatters in August 2007 after signing on loan from Bolton Wanderers, said: “Delighted to make my professional debut for this great club. Proud to become only the second polish appearance maker for Luton. Thank you to everyone who has helped me reach this point.”