For Jordan James it was a year of growth at Rennes, even if it didn't always go how he would have liked on the pitch.
The midfielder opted for a switch to France after Birmingham's relegation in 2024, making 23 appearances in Ligue 1, and even getting the chance to play against PSG.
"I have always been quite a quiet lad who gets on with my work," he tells the Your Site Essential EFL podcast. "Being abroad pushed me out of my comfort zone. I had to speak to people who did not even speak the language.
"It was tough, but I learnt a lot and I am now able to voice my opinion. Even though I am still 21, I feel like I have a lot of experience from Birmingham and from Rennes.
"It built my character and my confidence. My family said I changed a lot from the experience. Playing against the best, like PSG, showed me that I can compete at the top level."
He has taken that confidence back into the Championship, where he is currently impressing on loan at Leicester City.
A big part of that came from his game against PSG last season. Rennes were beaten 4-1, but it gave James the belief he can compete with the best.
"That game was huge," he adds. "Psychologically it gives you so much. Every footballer doubts themselves at times, but moments like that remind you that you can compete with the best. It has been the same playing for Wales against Belgium, Croatia and others."
Bobby Clark had just turned 19 when he found himself on the bench for Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final last year.
As injuries took hold at Anfield, Clark was introduced into the squad by Jurgen Klopp and had made his Premier League debut a few weeks earlier. But even then, he barely could have imagined he would be thrown on at Wembley.
"It was mental," Clark recalls, after being introduced in the 72nd minute. Liverpool would go on to beat Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a late Virgil van Dijk header in extra-time.
"There were a lot of injuries so you have it in your head you might get on. When the manager finally turned round and said I was going on, I got ready and stood waiting on the sideline looking around Wembley. It is what you dream of: playing there and coming out with the winner.
"Winning it with six or seven lads I had played with in the youth team was strange but great. It helped us settle because the manager played all the youngsters he could, so it felt easier to settle in with all the boys."
Even despite that breakthrough, Clark still decided to move on that summer to further his career, leaving to play at RB Salzburg in Austria. Unfortunately for him, it didn't quite work out. Pep Ljinders had left Liverpool to become their head coach, but Klopp's former assistant lasted just six months.
"Leaving Liverpool was a massive decision," Clark admits. "I loved living there and I'd settle so well. But the move to Salzburg felt right. But I was not prepared for living in Austria at that age. It was very difficult, more difficult than I expected, but it was a good experience and it grew me as a person.
"Looking back now, it helped me grow so much. Now I feel better than ever, playing football and enjoying being back in England at Derby."
Being the son of a former kickboxing and MMA star, Stoke's Million Manhoef always had a passion for combat sports.
"I started kickboxing when I was two or two and a half," Manhoef, whose father is Melvin Manhoef, recalls. "When I was four I started football. I did both until I was about 14.
"When I went to Vitesse I could not combine fighting and football, so I had to choose. I chose football. If it did not work out I could always go back to fighting, but not the other way around."
But could he have a future in the ring? He hopes so.
"After my career I want to box. Not kickboxing because I probably will not have the legs anymore after football! But I want to box after my career."
Once he had settled on his sport, Manhoef then had to settle on his position.
"I came up as a left wing-back at Vitesse and sometimes as a left-back," he says. "I did not always like left-back. I wanted to be a right forward or a 10. I worked my way into the team and got my chance as a forward.
"As a left-back I did not show my true potential. My qualities are going forward, scoring, giving assists, creating chances. I'm a creative player who can go past a man, score and assist. I like to dribble and score."
Josh Neufville was one of the stars for AFC Wimbledon a they sealed promotion through the play-offs in League Two last season.
Despite that, he chose to move on and switch to Bradford City - who also went up to League One last season. But for the wing-back, it was the right one.
"Whenever you leave a club it is tough," Neufville says. "Given the way I left, winning the awards at the end of the year, getting promoted at Wembley, and leaving best friends, plus moving from down south to up north, you have to factor all of that in.
"They are tough decisions but you want to be ambitious. You can stay where you are loved or you can go somewhere else and try to earn that love again. That was the route I took. There are more fans, there is a different type of pressure, and it tests me."
Neufville also scored a superb goal in their second-leg semi-final win over Notts County, helping steer the Dons to Wembley. An excellent run in behind and a lifted finish - showing off his array of physical and technical attributes in one fell swoop.
"I don't know if it is the best goal I have scored, but it is definitely up there," he recalls. "In terms of importance, it is probably the most important.
"It also did a lot for me personally, giving us a platform to go to Wembley. It is definitely up there.
"You can only dream of going to the play-off final, winning it, and doing it at Wembley. Those are things you dream of as a young boy. It lived up to everything I expected."
Micah Mbick is thriving on loan at Colchester United. The 19-year-old striker has taken to League Two like a duck to water. Five goals already, including one that won him Sky Bet League Two Goal of the Month for October.
"I think I have transitioned well," the Charlton Athletic loanee says. "It is about taking each day as it comes.
"I set myself goals and I work hard every day, even after training, doing extras. Things like that help me a lot and give me confidence on the pitch."
For Mbick, it has also been about growing away from football, as well as on the pitch. Something familiar to teenagers everywhere leaving home for the first time, not just professional footballers.
"It has been a transition from living with my parents to living on my own!" he says. "It is about becoming more of a man and being more responsible, and I think that has helped me on the pitch as well.
"To be honest I kind of prefer it. There is a lot of freedom and free time. Parents are always telling you what to do.
"But every now and then I come back home and surprise my parents because I know they miss me. It is the first time I have been away, so I try to go back when I can."
Every game is live on Your Site+ and the Your Site app, with free highlights on the Your Site app shortly after full-time. 7.45pm kick-offs unless stated.
Tuesday December 9
Championship
League One
League Two
Vertu Trophy
Wednesday December 10
All 7.45pm kick-off unless stated
Championship
League One
League Two
