As the first half of the season has ended, as an academy it’s a perfect opportunity for us to reflect on the growth and notable moments of the season so far.
The Foundation Phase has enjoyed real variety outside of their EFL games programme, with notable fixtures vs clubs outside of our categories such as Man Utd, West Brom, and Arsenal to name a few.
However, a real highlight for the phase would be our U12 competing and winning the Wolves Cup. Hosted by Wolverhampton Wanderers, our U12 qualified out of the group stage top and ran out winners of the competition beating West Ham in the final. To top off a brilliant day, one of our own Jackson won the prestigious Player of the Day award.
The Youth Development Phase has seen lots of successful moments, including cup first team debuts from the U16. Scholarship decisions have now been made and boys are excited to continue their footballing journey with us as U18s.
As we celebrate our player pathway, we are extremely proud of boys playing across multiple age groups, with notable performances from U14 boys playing across in our U16 League, with the group on the verge of winning the U16 Youth Alliance league, needing a point from their final game vs Plymouth.
Lastly in the Youth Development Phase (YDP), some of our boys recently attended an England U15 trial day, representing the club across the southwest and making everyone extremely proud.
Finishing up the footballing round-up, our U18 have created memories for life with special moments such as the recent 2-0 FA Youth Cup victory away to Luton back in December.
This has set up an exciting home tie vs Manchester Utd later this month on the 16th Jan. With this fixture on the horizon, we would love to see as many fans as possible at the County Ground to support the boys in the Fourth Round.
On top of the above, we have seen multiple scholars training and being involved in first-team fixtures, with debuts in the league and cups.
Whilst football is always a heavy focus, it’s important to recognise the hard work being done by staff to help the boys grow as young people, including the player care and education program.
Alongside the current academy boys, it’s important to remember the graduates too. Harrison Minturn starting regularly for the first team this season is something we celebrate and makes him a real role model for all others across the academy.
Well done, Mino and congratulations on the example you set for all of our players in the academy too!
I hope you all had a good New Year and 2024 brings you plenty of success of positivity.
Alex Pike
Academy Manager
