Boost for young footballers as Morpeth Town AFC establishes academy

The newly-formed youth set-up will provide players in the 16 to 19-years bracket the chance to develop their skills in a high-quality football coaching environment, supported by state of the art technology and facilities.

Running alongside the football side of things – training full-time and playing top quality opposition – each student will have the opportunity to take relevant football courses and also learn a trade, should their football journey prove unsuccessful.

Academy Director Nick Gray, who has extensive experience in academy coaching, is delighted to unveil the plan to deliver these opportunities to youngsters in the North East.

“We want to improve the students as footballers, to get them to the highest level they can achieve whether that’s professional, Morpeth Town, or Northern League,” he told the club’s official website.

“If players can’t get to the pro standard, hopefully they’ll get opportunities in the Morpeth Town first team; we’ll put them in the shop window.

“But we also want to give them an education or a trade and life skills, which I feel is really important. The connections we have at the club, in the construction and engineering industries, will give the students other pathways on top of football.”

Gray will spearhead the delivery of high-quality provision, with individual player analysis set to be a key driving force on the programme.

“I’m excited about it. It has been in the pipeline for the last 12 months but these things take time,” added Gray.

“I’ll use my experience to get the best for these lads. It is an exciting time for the club but more so for the students.

“It is going to be limited numbers; it is because we want to give each and every one of these students a realistic pathway, be it education or trade or football.

“It provides more time to provide one-on-one scrutiny of individuals. We’re training at the ground and utilising the fantastic facilities.”

For more information on the Morpeth Town Academy contact Gray at [email protected] to register your interest.