YOUTH | Blues to host Hartlepool United at the Deva Stadium!

    Chester FC will host Hartlepool United at the Deva Stadium in the First Round of the inaugural National League Academies Cup.

    The fixture will take place on Monday 11th November with a 7pm kick off at the Deva. Admission will be free but donations will be welcome at the turnstile.

    The Blues will name an Under 19 side in this new competition which is open to all clubs within the National League system, regardless of what level their Youth sides compete at.

    There is a Northern section and a Southern Section, culminating in Regional finals to progress two winners through to the national finals.

    With this new competition running alongside the Youth Team’s FA Youth Cup and National League Alliance League Cup campaigns, it is expected that the Blues will field an Under 19 side with opportunities set to be given to the seven Academy Graduates that signed first team forms in the summer as well as the most promising Youth Team players.

    The clubs participating in the Northern Section of the competition are as follows…

    Chester FC
    Hartlepool United
    AFC Fylde
    Chesterfield FC
    Wrexham AFC
    York City
    Kidderminster Harriers
    Guiseley
    FC Halifax Town
    Alfreton Town
    Darlington
    Solihull Moors
    Boston United

    Academy Head Coach Calum McIntyre said: “We are really excited by this competition. This season has seen us work hard on looking at what we do with our Academy Graduates to continue their progression from Youth Team football to our first team and we feel this is an important step.

    “We have obviously had all seven of our Under 19 Graduates out on loan already this season and we also saw a number of them involved in the Cheshire Senior Cup. This competition will give us another opportunity to give them a high quality games programme in a competitive environment in a Chester shirt as well the invaluable experiences they are getting on loan. Equally, this will allow us to push the best of our Scholars amongst the Under 19s and field a really strong side in a competition that will guarantee really competitive opposition at a National level.

    “Much has been made of our poor fortune in cup draws and there are obvious financial implications of constantly being drawn away from home. We hope the nature of the tie being played at the Deva sees a really healthy crowd come and see what these young players have to offer but equally allows us to raise some funds to continue the work we are doing to develop young players for the football club”.

    As mentioned above, the home draw provides a welcome opportunity to raise some funds for the Youth Academy with all proceeds on the gate being used to boost the work done within the Academy.

    Hospitality will be available and details of how to book will be released shortly!