Northumberland College and Morpeth Town have agreed a long-term partnership which will combine professional football coaching and competitive matches with quality technical education.

Players from the club’s academy will be able to take part in a fully integrated programme with pathways into senior football, higher education and careers.

In a first for a full-time football academy, student-athletes can choose a wide range of technical courses aligned to local skills needs such as engineering and construction alongside sport while playing in matches.

Alongside their studies at the college’s Ashington Campus, student-athletes will receive sports science support, individualised strength and conditioning programmes and sports therapy.

placeholder image — Morpeth Town Academy.

Games are filmed on VEO cameras with coaches then taking players through match analysis sessions on a weekly basis to improve both technically and tactically as individuals and as a group.

The partnership will grow further in the coming years, with the academy offering land-based courses at Northumberland College’s Kirkley Hall Campus. The college will also be moving to a new state-of-the-art campus at Wansbeck Business Park, which will boast an impressive range of sports facilities.

Dr Michele Di Mascio, head of Sports Academies, Partnerships and Wellbeing at Education Partnership North East (EPNE) said: “It is great to start a long-term partnership with Morpeth Town - we share the same values and use this to provide a fantastic learning opportunity for talented athletes. I'm excited to see where the future takes us, both on and off the pitch.

“Northumberland College and Morpeth Town are both aligned in their approach to ensuring the best outcomes for our student-athletes. Northumberland College, as part of EPNE, has the highest achievement rates in the North East and is a college that continues to develop, providing our student-athletes with a real dual career approach to education.

Student athletes can learn trades such as bricklaying through the partnership.

“Students will experience an outstanding football academy alongside a quality education, with both the Northumberland College and Morpeth Town providing the students with an array of support away from education, such as helping them secure USA scholarships.”

Led by FA Vase winning manager Nick Gray, student-athletes will receive impressive benefits that will further develop their talent, with all games taking place on the first team’s main 3G pitch.

Adam Gilley, who is studying plumbing, said: “The football and academic side of things work together really well. I chose to do plumbing at college to have two different routes to go down should I need them.”

Fellow student-athlete, Jacob Walker added: “I think it’s a very good mix of my sport course and playing football. The balance between them both means I still get to train whilst also getting a really good education at the college.”

Steven Shaw, football operations manager at Morpeth Town said: "We're delighted to secure this new partnership with Northumberland College, the opportunity to secure a long-term relationship with an education provider of such standing who benefit from being in a group of colleges, offers our student athletes an array of opportunities to progress both academically as well as in football.

“The diverse range of qualifications that are on offer to our students means that we are able to offer an excellent post-16 education option to those growing up in the county of Northumberland which both ourselves and the college group are committed to."