The run to the FA Youth Cup Quarter-Final was a really good experience for all the players and staff involved, and I think it’s given our Academy a bigger profile, which is really important.
I believe everyone involved should be proud of themselves for the preparation, planning and organisation that went into every round of the tournament, and the backing we’ve had from the rest of the Club has been fantastic.
We talk about having an open and inclusive football club here and that has been very evident throughout, particularly when it came to the game at the Cottage when we could sense there were a lot of people willing us on to do well from every department, which was really nice.
On the night of the game against Aston Villa I was very proud of the boys, and obviously very disappointed for them at the end, because being so close to what would have been a marvellous experience, playing Newcastle over two legs in the Semi-Final just to have it snatched away, was a tough situation to swallow. Yet we can learn so much in defeat.
For the boys who will go on and earn themselves a career in the game it was a vital, vital lesson about how to finish a game off when you’re less than a minute away from going through. Maybe in those dieing moments nerves and the occasion played their part, so now they know the importance of keeping a clear mind and playing the clock down to see the game out.
I didn’t think there was a great deal between the teams over the 120 minutes. In all honesty I thought we edged it in terms of clear cut chances, but it was a great experience for the kids to be put under that kind of game pressure, and I thought a number of them did very, very well. The others will learn from the experience and when they find themselves in a situation like that again in the future they’ll be wiser.
That’s what the Youth Cup is all about. They are the big games for kids at this level, and in terms of their development, it provides invaluable lessons for when they make the next step up to play in the reserves.
In fairness to the players, I think we’ve taken as much out of them as we could have asked for. They’ve done really well for us and worked extremely hard on the training ground. We had a really trying start to the season when we had a lot of youngsters in the team, but they’ve got their heads down, applied themselves and they deserve all the accolades they’ve received.
It shows the progress they’ve made, and I think the staff that have worked with the boys should take a lot of credit too: Vic Bettinelli, Mark Pembridge, Kit Symons and also Billy McKinlay for the work he does with the boys when they step up to the Development Squad. Everybody that had a part to play in the development of the kids this year should be very, very proud of the work we’ve done.
But the biggest thing is that it’s given us a thirst for more. Now, having had an amount of success, the drive is to lick our wounds and get ready to push even harder in a new campaign next year.
It’s been a great experience that we’ve all learned from – even people like myself who have been around the block a few times. I’ve certainly learned this year how important the Youth Cup can be to an Academy.
