Hughton’s Contacts Ensure Top Youngsters Arrive At Newcastle
Chris Hughton is a very sensible guy, and he and Colin Calderwood are now starting to build some relationship on Tyneside and Northumberland, with other clubs in the immediate area.
Chris Hughton – forming good football relationships in the area
Hughton and Calderwood, as one example, are working with the Northern League management duo at Ashington – of Gary Middleton and Neil Winskill.
Both managers are coaches for the Newcastle United Foundation, and have already worked at the Academy level for Newcastle.
Hughton talked about local football:
“Grassroots football is vital to any area, especially this one.” “We have to provide a link between the club and the community.”
“The Foundation is helping the club to nurture new and emerging talent at grassroots level, not just in terms of young players but also managers.”
Neil is the Football Development Officer at Newcastle United and UFC and Gary works as a coach – part-time – on the advanced Academy program.
This is a very good move by Chris and Colin, to start getting local managers involved at the Newcastle club, and the club wouldn’t go far wrong either, if they formed a much tighter relationship with the likes of Wallsend Boy’s Club, as one example.
These relationships will ensure the best of the local talent ends up at Newcastle, and not at other clubs like Manchester United, West Ham and Southampton as some of the top North East players of that past have done.
We’ve missed lots of local talent in the area including Bobby Charlton, Brian Robson, Alan Shearer, Steve Bruce and Michael Carrick to name just a few.
Hughton added:
“It was great to spend time with Gary and Neil.”
“This is what the project is all about, and long may it continue.”
In the last year, the Newcastle United Foundation has worked with 10,000 youngsters from the local area, and that’s just great.
It seems to us the club are finally starting to get their act together, and doing the things many fans have wanted the club to do in the past, like concentrating on bringing in the very top youngsters, and long may it continue.
Firming up local football contacts in the area, as well as building up our world-wide coaching staff, will ensure the club doesn’t have to pay ridiculous transfer fees and huge wages on what turn out to be only average players, who have no attachment to Newcastle.
These local lads will already be naturally committed to the Newcastle club, so if money needs to be spent on building up these relationships, so be it.
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