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NEWS
JULY: PRESS STATEMENT
Following a full business review, Football Development Schools (F.D.S.) is pleased to announce details of exciting developments regarding the future direction of the company.
The following letter has been sent to Parents and Players, and is reproduced here for your information:
Football Development Schools are writing to inform you of the changes that have happened in recent months and to put you in the picture of what is going to happen this coming season. As you know the players who have progressed from the development centres have previously been recruited by Northampton Town into their Centre of Excellence.
This was an excellent relationship because the senior F.D.S. staff were all managing age groups at the Centre within a regime that reflected our beliefs in developing talented young footballers; developing the person first to help develop the player later, with the focus on responsibility and professionalism both on and off the pitch. It is a core value of F.D.S. that the exit routes for the players should mirror the work we do within the development centres so there is continuity in the football education of the boys, enabling the best chance to improve and progress. Our focus has always been on technically able players and an emphasis on skill over strength and size.
There have been changes within the youth department at Northampton Town recently resulting in the F.D.S staff choosing to leave their coaching positions at the club. We no longer feel that there is a shared philosophy on youth development between F.D.S. and the club and it is for this reason we will no longer be affiliated with them.
Other changes include the departure of Angus Meichan from F.D.S. This will happen as soon as our joint commitments (tour and residential) have concluded. Kristian Heames, Howard Willmott and Scott Baines will now oversee F.D.S. solely, with a continued emphasis on the best possible coaching and opportunities for the players to improve their football.
In line with the changes F.D.S. are delighted to announce new affiliations for the coming season. Whilst the senior F.D.S. staff will be coaching in the newly formed Kettering Town Academy creating a natural link there, we will also be linked to the Academy at West Browich Albion, a youth department whose values strongly mirror our own. This is a massive boost going into next season with West Brom Academy director Dan Ashworth keen for us to bring F.D.S. development centre boys over on a regular basis to play West Brom teams at their Academy training ground. More news will follow on this but we are extremely excited at the opportunities this creates.
Going forward we will be continuing our commitment to going on tour each year, with the aim of taking as many age groups away as possible, as we feel this benefits the boys from much more than simply a footballing perspective. We will also be continuing with our successful Saturday morning informal match programme giving the boys a chance to play against other development centre players and the express their football abilities to the fullest. We will also be striving to organise more fixtures against development centres to help with the match understanding aspect of the players’ education.
If you have any questions about any of the above information please do not hesitate to contact Kristian, Howard or Scott. We look forward now to September and the new Season.
Kind Regards
Howard Willmott, Scott Baines, Kristian Heames (Senior Coaching Staff F.D.S.)
