YOUTH NEWS | Academy to be restructured during 2021/22 season

Chester FC can confirm that, following a lengthy review period, the club’s Academy will be restructured during the 2021/22 season to enhance the quality of the programme on offer to our Junior Players.

As part of this restructure, the club will be revising it’s current structure to offer increased contact time, a higher quality games programme with a clearer pathway through to the club’s Scholarship programme which provides players for Chester FC’s First Team.

The restructure will see age groups re-organised with fewer players in each age group and a more detailed plan to encourage player development through the provision of a high quality training programme and accompanying games programme. The restructure ensures the club will be offering an Academy programme that caters for all age groups from Under 9’s through to Under 18’s.

As part of this restructure, the club will be appointing a part-time Junior Co-Ordinator who will be responsible for the provision of the programme for players below the Under 16 age group. They will report to the existing full-time Academy staff who currently work with the club’s Youth Team Scholarship programme to further develop the link between the club’s Juniors and the club’s Scholars.

The Junior Co-Ordinator will be responsible for implementing the agreed change in structure that has been communicated to parents and players during May 2021.

Academy Head Coach Calum McIntyre said: “This is a really exciting restructure that has been under consideration for nearly two years now.

“We are desperate to see more players progress through to the Youth Team from our own junior ranks, not just players who have joined us from football clubs further up the pyramid. This restructure will see us focus on quality over quantity with fewer players in the programme and a challenging age group model that puts player development first.

“Squad sizes will be reduced to maximise playing time, training sessions will be extended to in some cases double our current contact time. There will be a clear pathway to progress players and challenge them in multiple ways to look to further aid their football development.

“The Youth Team have thrived in recent years since the establishment of our full-time programme, now is the time to turn our attention to replicating that success with the juniors in the development of players. Those that have worked with the Juniors over recent years have done a fabulous job and we look forward to building on those foundations as we bring the Junior programme closer to the club’s Youth Team model.”

Academy Technical Lead Mike Allcock added: “The restructure means that our Junior Academy Programme can become much more bespoke. This will give us the opportunity to ensure our programme is tailored towards the Individual players wants and the individual players needs as every player has their unique way of developing.

“This is important for the player’s football development, but also for the welfare of the player as we want our coaches to have a strong relationship with our Young Seals.

“This will not only make them better football players but also inspire them to become better people within the Community.”

The role of Junior Co-ordinator will be advertised shortly. The club would like to place on record their thanks to the Academy Coaches, Players and Parents for their continued support in what has been the most challenging season and understanding of the reasons behind the restructure.