Youth Alliance League, North West Conference Current table Position - Club - Played - Points 1st Wrexham 25 58 2nd Carlisle United 24 54 3rd Burnley 20 49 4th PKE 22 44 5th Port Vale 25 37 6th Wigan Athletic 22 37 7th Macclesfield Town 23 36 8th Walsall 23 36 9th Oldham Athletic 22 34 10th Rochdale 24 33 11th Tranmere Rovers 22 30 12th Stockport County 23 30 13th Shreswbury Town 22 25 14th Bury 22 22 15th Chester City 25 21 16th Blackpool 23 18 17th Morecambe 21 16 18th Accrington Stanley 24 8
Last weekend the youth team got a very creditable 1-1 draw against table toppers Wrexham. Jake Hobbs scored Blackpool's goal with a slick finish from a Lewis Almond pass.
The youth team recently beat Macclesfield Town 3-1 with two goals from Lewis Almond, and one from Billy McKenna. The team included some of the new scholars from the Under-16 side who will join the youth team next season.
Blackpool today confirmed the signing of seven "promising youngsters" on two year scholarships as previously mentioned in the "Centre of Excellence" thread on this forum. They will all begin their scholarships when the players report back for pre-season training in June. They are: Chris Kettings Chris is a highly rated goalkeeper who was a member of the Greater Manchester Under-16 squad which won the National Championship in April, beating Essex in the final at the New Den. Already 6ft 2in, he has been with the Centre of Excellence for the last two years, having previously been at Manchester City. He has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs and the Youth Department are delighted he has agreed to sign with the Seasiders. Thomas Barkhuizen Tom is a Blackpool born striker who was picked up from local junior football where he has been a regular scorer. He has been with the club for four months and has scored in every game he has played at both Under-16 and Under-17 level! A bright future is expected for him. Liam Thomsett Nicknamed Teddy, he is a centre midfield/centre forward from Ulverston who has been with the club for six years. He recently stepped up to the Reserve team, having become a regular in the youth team. His technique and ability have impressed the coaching staff and he is another who is highly regarded by the Youth Department. Joseph McDonald Joe, from Blackburn is a tall, pacy striker and can also play out wide. He has impressed at both Under-16 and Youth level, with his strength and pace seeing him become an integral part of the youth team. Adam Dodd Adam, from Kirkham has played several times already for the youth team. He plays as a full-back or wide player and has been with the Seasiders since Under-10 level. His versatility has been vital to the youth team and he is another who has gained experience recently with the reserve team. Adam Mitter Adam, from Southport, has impressed with his strength and bravery over the last season. He suffered a broken nose in a match but insisted on carrying on playing. Plays at centre-half and is another who has already played in the youth team. Kingsley Francis-Reynolds Kingsey was formerly at Tottenham Hotspur and chose to come to Blackpool over a number of other Championship clubs. His pace, trickery and ability has seen him already become a popular figure amongst the youth team squad.
Goalkeeper Mark Halstead and defender Ashley Eastham have just signed their first professional contracts. They have both been regulars in the youth and reserve teams and will now hope to impress new boss Ian Holloway in an effort to get into the first team. Both players are on 12 month contracts with the option for a further year and will link up with the first team squad when they return for pre-season training in early July. The Head of the Youth Department, Gary Parkinson, said On Mark Halstead he said, and about Ashley Eastham,
The Blackpool Gazette have reported that Head of Youth, Gary Parkinson, has now permanently moved up to work as a coach with the first team. Apparently Ian Holloway is having discussions about how the youth set up will be run in future. Both he and Karl Oyston have stated how the club needs a stronger Youth Department.
The youth team fixtures for the 2009-10 season have been announced. The youth team under manager Gary Parkinson will begin their Youth Alliance campaign with a home game against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday 15th August. The match is due to be played at Squires Gate, with an 11am kick-off. Fixtures: Saturday 15th August: Tranmere Rovers (h) Saturday 22nd August: Burnley (a) Saturday 29th August: Accrington Stanley (h) Saturday 5th September: Rochdale (h) Saturday 12th September: Morecambe (a) Saturday 19th September: Carlisle United (h) Saturday 26th September: Oldham Athletic (a) Saturday 10th October: Bury (h) Saturday 17th October: PKE (a) Saturday 24th October: Morecambe (h) Saturday 31st October: Rochdale (a) Saturday 14th November: Oldham Athletic (h) Saturday 21st November: Carlisle United (a) Saturday 5th December: PKE (h) Saturday 12th December: Bury (a) Saturday 12th December: Oldham Athletic (h) Saturday 9th January: Wrexham (a) Saturday 23rd January: Burnley (h) Saturday 30th January: Accrington Stanley (a) Saturday 6th February: Wrexham (h) Saturday 13th February: Chester City (a) Saturday 27th February: Macclesfield Town (h) Saturday 6th March: Wigan Athletic (a) Saturday 13th March: Port Vale (h) Saturday 20th March: Shrewsbury Town (a) Saturday 27th March: Stockport County (h) Saturday 10th April: Tranmere Rovers (a) Saturday 17th April: Walsall (h)
Blackpool have signed yet another Welsh international to add to those in the first team squad! Josh Roberts has agreed a two-year scholarship deal. He is a 16 year old left back, who has moved to Blackpool from Tranmere Rovers. He has already played for the Wales U-16 side against the likes of France, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. He recently received his cap from Welsh legends Ian Rush and Brian Flynn. On 23 September 2008 he scored in a 2-4 frendly defeat to France U-16s at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli. What is good is that we are now in a position to bring in promising youngsters from other clubs - which is something that used to happen to us.
Blackpool's youngsters open their 2009-10 Football League Youth Alliance campaign with the visit of Tranmere Rovers to Blackpool next Saturday, 15 August.
Josh Roberts More info about the lad. Josh is from Carmel, a small village in Flintshire, North Wales. His father, Bill who is a junior coach, told the Flintshire Chronicle, At the age of just 7 he made his first steps in the football world when he became the youngest player to represent Ysgol Bro Carmel primary school team, competing against mostly 11-year-olds. At 12 years old Josh was made captain of his county team, representing Flintshire until he left school in 2009. In his first season for Mold Junior FC he helped them to a league and cup double. His third year with the club saw the rising star crowned the league’s Player of the Year. And at 14, he joined both the North Wales Football Development Trust and the Tranmere Rovers Academy, before Blackpool came knocking. His coach at Blackpool, Gareth Barker, has also been impressed with the youngster’s application, as well as his natural talent saying, Josh will compete in the Youth Alliance with Blackpool this season, as well as the national FA Youth Cup. All youth players are also eligible to represent the club's reserve side, and Barker added,
Ian Holloway's determination to overhaul both the youth set-up and the Centre of Excellence saw him talk at length with former Crewe boss and their current technical director, Dario Gradi after the Seasiders 2-1 League Cup win on Tuesday. Gradi is famous throughout the game in England for his work with young footballers and has produced countless players who have gone onto bigger and better things. He stepped down as Crewe boss in 2007 after 24 years. But he is still at Gresty Road as technical director and Holloway is planning to pay him a visit in the near future to ask for advice on how to identify and keep up and coming players. Holloway said Pool midfielder David Vaughan came through the ranks at Gresty Road and names Gradi as a massive influence on his career.
The youth team narrowly lost their opening game of the 2009-10 season, 2-1 away to Tranmere Rovers on 15 August. However, they were without some of their strongest players through injury, and also Louis Almond who with the 1st team so short of bodies has been called up for now at least into the 1st team squad. Two players from the under-16 squad also stepped up into the youth team for the match, giving them invaluable experience. The latest schola,r, Biko Yuondo, arrived this week.
The current youth squad, with positions and hometowns: Chris Kettings, goalkeeper. From Bolton. Joe Potts, goalkeeper. From Blackburn, Lancashire. Adam Dodd, left-back & left midfielder. From Blackpool. Adam Foster, central midfielder. From Sunderland. Adam Mitter, centre-back. From Liverpool. Ben Breakell, right-back. From Blackpool. Jake Forshaw, centre-back / right-back. From Blackpool. Josh Roberts, right-back. From Wales. Kieran Darcy, centre-back. From Blackpool. Jake Rooney, central midfielder. From Blackpool. Joe MacDonald, left midfielder. From Lancashire. Kurt Bradley, central midfielder. From Blackpool. Pa Modou Jobe, central midfielder. From Brikama, Gambia. Kingsley Francis-Reynolds, midfielder / forward. From London. Liam Thomsett, central midfielder / forward. From Cumbria. Louis Almond, forward. From Blackburn. Tom Barkhuizen, forward. From Blackpool.
Blackpool were given a bye to the quarter final stage of the 2009-10 season Lancashire FA Youth Cup, and will play Wigan Athletic. The full draw: First round 1. Oldham Athetic vs Bury (TBC) 2. Accrington Stanley vs Morecambe (21st October) Quarter final 3. Rochdale 4 Tranmere Rovers 0 4. Blackpool vs Wigan Athletic (TBC) 5. Burnley 2 PKE 3 6. Winner of match 2 vs Winner of match 1 (TBC) Semi final 7. Winner of match 6 vs Winner of match 4 (TBC) 8. PKE 3 Rochdale 2 Final 9. Winner of match 7 vs PKE (TBC)
The new daily blog on the official site revealed earlier today that scholarship paperwork has been submitted to both the Football League and the Football Association for Pa Modou Jobe. The Gambian born Belgian has been training with the club for the last few weeks and has impressed Gary Parkinson enough to be offered a full time scholarship with Blackpool.
With the pitches at Squires Gate training ground still unplayable, the youth teams "home" game against Morecambe on Saturday will be played at Lancaster & Morecambe College, kick-off 11am.
Head scratching time... I took the above scoreline from Morecambe's website. But Blackpool have the score as 2-2 with goals from Liam Tomsett and Louis Almond! Anyway, on Saturday they take on Rochdale but second year scholar Ben Breakall misses the game having picked up his 5th yellow card against PKE nine days ago.
The draw for the third round of the FA Youth Cup was made on Friday and Blackpool face a very tough trip to Blackburn Rovers.
The youth team have a league match on Saturday morning at 11am. They take on Carlisle United at Squires Gate.
Some good news on a day when the first team lost their proud unbeaten home record! The youth team were in action earlier today, and they beat PKE's youth team 2-1!!
The youth team are in action tonight, in the third round of the FA Youth Cup away to Blackburn Rovers. It will be a very tough game for them as Rovers have a good set up.