NEW DEVELOPMENTS…
This season Witton Albion is fielding a Development Squad in the Lancashire League. Although it’s a return to a competition in which Albion’s reserve team last competed three years ago before switching to the Cheshire League.
The latest move followed the board’s decision to merge the reserve and youth teams into a Development Squad under the direction of John Salmon, who joined the club as Head of Football Development in January of this year.
John is a football man through and through. Born in Hoylake, John declined the chance to follow his father and grandfather into the professional game with Tranmere Rovers to take up a career in law. He’s now a partner in Cheshire Law, who also act for the Albion.
However football has never been far away. A UEFA B licensed coach, John has scouted for Crewe Alexandra and Ipswich Town whilst building up a network of contacts through his other life as a football agent that numbers 30,000 on Twitter alone. So why Witton Albion?
“I met the chairman late last year and he explained to me the club’s vision of creating a player pathway from the youngest junior team to the seniors” John explains. “His values match my own and having seen for myself the set-up and culture at Witton I was very happy to accept the board’s invitation to join them.”
Last season was a trying one for everyone associated with the club, especially the newly-arrived Salmon. “My brief was, and is, to help develop the football structure of the club below the first team. Unfortunately all our efforts had to be directed to helping the first team so I didn’t get to spend any time focussing on anything below that.”
A fresh season has brought a fresh start. The purpose of the Development Squad is to combine local talent with players discarded by professional club academies and triallists from all over the world who approach John in his agent capacity. “If they are good enough they can be tried out in the Development Squad before being promoted to the first team or rehabilitated back into the professional game.”
With the new campaign not yet two months old, Mark Bainbridge and Jay Matthews have already made the step up. Matthews announced his arrival on the scene with the winner against Farsley. There have been testing games against the likes of Airbus and a prestige game at Greenock Morton which has already generated the offer of a pre-season friendly against Albion’s seniors next season.
Most of the Development Squad players are on dual registration forms, enabling them to play for Albion in the Lancashire League midweek and other teams in the main National League System at weekends. Jay Matthews has been a regular for Vauxhall this season (as well as receiving 1-2-1 coaching from John since the summer), whilst Wittoners saw Craig Carney appear for the Development Squad against Ashton Athletic last Wednesday, and score the first goal against Scott Dundas’ men for Kendal three days later.
John has a rule that he likes to see players before he recommends them. This protects his reputation with clubs. For this reason Carney (and many others) contacted him and he played in the Development Squad. John also receives reports on his players’ development at their ‘other’ clubs.
“It’s entirely Scott’s call who he signs for the first team” explains John. “The Development Squad exists purely to provide players to the first team; Craig Carney has been playing for Kendal in the NPL so it’s not a straightforward matter of just getting him to sign. Seven days’ notice of approach has to be given before you can speak to him about signing first team forms.”
There has been un-informed (that’s downright wrong to you and me) speculation about whether the cost of the Development Squad is draining first team resources. In reality, John is funding much of the cost from his own pocket, topped up by the subscriptions he charges his players to don the red & white striped shirts. This helps offset the cost of playing at Barnton FC, though John is quick to point out that he needs more help off the field.
“At the start of the season we had nothing. Since then Tony Ennion and Dave McDonough have both come on board (Dave is a one-time member of Rafa Benitez’s management team at Liverpool), and I’m very grateful to Tracy and Rebecca Collins for acting as our gatemen at Barnton and at the game we played at Wincham Park last week. However we still need help raising money so every offer is gratefully received.”
The Ashton Athletic game attracted over 50 spectators, numbered amongst which were at least half a dozen scouts from professional clubs. That revenue also helps to reduce the overall cost of running the Development Squad, which John underwrites personally.
So what’s the next objective? “It’s a case of ‘same again’” says Salmon. “It takes time to nurture and develop talent. If that talent blossoms here, then Witton Albion benefits. If it blossoms elsewhere then it demonstrates to other players, coaches and parents that we are building a structure of real value here.”