Academy boost
STOCKPORT County’s ambition of developing their own stream of young talent was boosted this week when the club took over the ownership and management of Alan Lord’s Professional Football Academy.
Former Hatters boss Lord will remain in operational control and will continue to be supported by County boss Jim Gannon.
It will now be known as the Stockport County Pro Football Academy, with Lord continuing as Head of Youth Development.
The academic provision for players within the Academy will be transferred from Bradford College to Stockport College this summer, with a new HNC course added to the current Extended Diploma courses which will enable players to spend an extra year being developed by the club.
This deal, brokered by County director Steve Bellis with Lord and Stockport College, is the culmination of twelve months of negotiations and planning.
Chairman Richard Park said: “This has been a long-term goal as part of our five-year plan and we are delighted to be able to bring the development of young players back inhouse, under the continuing guidance of Alan Lord, who is widely recognised as one of the best in the business.”
Director Steve Bellis said: “This new agreement strengthens the club and forms a key part of our plan to engage more with the local community as we establish a new partnership with Stockport College. It also gives us more protection over our young talent. We have spent the best part of a year putting this together and we are all excited about seeing it come to fruition this summer.”
The management and delivery of the education provision and associated pastoral care will be the responsibility of Stockport County in partnership with Stockport College, while the management and delivery of the football provision and associated pastoral care will be under the direction of Lord, who said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to strike this deal – it will give me more time to focus on developing young players.
“It will also make us much stronger from a recruitment perspective as talented young players will know they are coming into an Academy under the wing of Stockport County Football Club.”
The agreement applies to full time players/students enrolled into the Academy, and does not include the Saturday morning Development Centre for 12-15 year olds operated by Lord at Cheadle Heath Nomads.
In 2016/17, the Pro Football Academy ran four squads, all underpinning County’s Under-21 Development Squad. They included an Under18 Youth Development squad, two Under-18 ‘Floodlight’ squads and an Under-19 National Alliance squad, with players training every day.