YOUTH NEWS | Chester FC Scholars crowned Champions!

Chester FC’s Under 17s Scholars have been crowned National League U19 Alliance (North West Division) Champions!

An 8-0 victory over Stockport County’s Under 19s side has seen the Blues crowned champions in their first season in this competition. A Sion Jones hat-trick alongside a brace from Lloyd Marsh-Hughes and goals from Nick Lynch, Cain Noble and Leighton Kendrick were enough for the Young Blues who have won the title with three games to spare.

The club’s new scholarship programme was launched in July. The programme sees elite players combine their full-time training with a high quality education programme. The model is designed to offer more contact time for Youth Team players as well as being able to be supported with their studies.

Academy Head Coach Calum McIntyre said: “It’s an unbelievable achievement for this group of players. Launching our Scholarship programme was one of the clear goals we had set when we revamped our Academy strategy. We were really clear as to how we wanted to do it, ensuring that we continued to recruit elite players at Youth level but were able to improve what we do to continue to develop players through our Academy.

“This achievement needs to be placed in some context. WE have fielded the youngest side in the division with zero experience of the level of football we were going in to. WE have some of the most limited resources at this level in terms of Youth development and have used the smallest amount of players in the league. It is a testament to the outstanding players we have in this group and their character and desire to succeed. I have no doubts that we have future first team players in this group and will continue to develop players through this programme”.