Supporters will be aware of the terrific progress we have made within our Youth setup in recent years due to a lot of hard work and effort from Geoff Harrop and Sean Parrish and we continue to be excited at the young prospects coming through the system.

However identifying and coaching young players starts from an ever younger age, our Centre of Excellence Squads start from the age of 8 upwards and over the last 18 months we have working hard to identify how we can improve our system.

Follow the link below, and you can download a flyer produced jointly by the clubs Youth and Football in the Community departments and Back of the Net Ltd, a company run by ex professional player Jon Brady, which explains fully our development routes for young boys.

Every parent and grandparent want their budding young stars to be given the best possible opportunity to play at the highest level, yet many are confused as to the many options open to them. Our Progressive Youth Development System (PYDS) which is outlined in the leaflet shows how a young player can progress from the junior leagues right the way through to a professional contract. It introduces our Coaching Centres (open to all) and also how talented players can be invited to our Development Centres run both by the club's Football in the Community scheme (General Skills) and by Back of the net (Advanced and Elite). Boys attending any of these three development centres can be recommended straight through to our Centre of Excellence squads.

Many parents are attracted by offers from 'bigger' clubs to send their children to attend their academies and coaching schemes but experience tells us that too many young players can get lost in oversized squads and schemes which perhaps concentrate too much on quantity not quality. Our intention is to make sure that each young player is given the best possible chance of succeeding, by widening our net through our partnership with Back of the Net and by being systematic in how boys progress we can give youngsters the best possible chance of making it to the very top.

If you have a young potential superstar in the house or family and you want to make sure that they get the best possible coaching and advice to enable them to enjoy their football and develop their talents then for the first time we are able to offer a complete and structured programme for them to participate in.

Leaflets are also available at the club's reception or by contacting Julie Delauney on 01604 683761.

Pathway leaflet