Vanarama’s Deal In Focus: Sam Beckwith

Max Kilman’s £40 million move to West Ham United secured the Magpies a healthy sell-on fee, following his stint in Berkshire. Less heralded, however, was Sam Beckwith’s switch from York Road to Rochdale.

Picked up by Alan Devonshire in the summer of 2022 after being released by Luton Town, the Bedford-born full-back went from strength to strength at Maidenhead and was named Vanarama National League Player of the Month in April.

Now, Jimmy McNulty’s side have acquired one of the National League’s outstanding players in his position ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Speaking to Dale’s website, McNulty said of his sixth summer addition: “Sam is a player we identified as being able to help our team immediately, after what was a very impressive season for him last year in the National League, whilst also having the potential to progress to the EFL.”

Modern full-backs are expected to contribute to offensive phases of play – often to the detriment of their defensive responsibilities. In that respect, Beckwith is a throwback.

While he contributed with four goals and as many assists last term, he is a defender primarily.

No National League left-back who played in at least 25 per cent of available minutes was successful in more defensive actions than the 22-year-old with 526.

Naturally, that reflects Maidenhead United’s league position. Devonshire’s side were always going attempt more defensive actions than, say, champions Chesterfield.

To offer some context, the Magpies were 19th for overall possession share (45.78%) and attempted the fourth-most defensive actions as a team (8,515).

Overall, Beckwith was successful in 80 per cent of his defensive actions – which combines defensive duels, interceptions and sliding tackles. That puts him 10th overall versus all other left-backs.

Breaking that down further, nobody in Beckwith’s position recorded more interceptions than his 269. The next nearest player was Hartlepool United’s David Ferguson with 60 fewer but recorded in 200 minutes more.

That speaks for his timing and reading of the game, qualities which mean he is rarely caught out of position and is a tough, aggressive customer in one-on-one duels.

As we can see from his defensive action areas map (above), he regularly regains possession in the opponents’ half and no left-back did this more times than Beckwith (130) last term.
Once in possession, Beckwith is comfortable getting forward even if opportunities were sometimes limited at Maidenhead.

The graphic below shows where he received the ball most frequently, and the positions he moved to once in possession – often advancing.

The former Luton Young Player of the Year attempted and completed more final-third passes (that is passes that end in the final third of the field) than any other National League left-back last term.

He was also top of the charts for forward passes attempted (950) and third for completions (529) giving him a credible completion ratio of 55 per cent. The graphic below illustrates every pass Beckwith made ending in the final third with the white lines leading to shots.

Dale boss McNulty added: “His signature was sought after by clubs higher up the pyramid than ourselves and within the division.

“So his decision to commit the next stage of his career to ourselves is really pleasing and we are delighted to welcome him to our group.”

Much like Kilman, who traded Maidenhead for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018, it’s not hard to envisage Beckwith heading to the EFL. Rochdale will hope it’s with them.

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