Breaking News Youths Win League

[BLUEBLOOD]

I did post this in the thread "Youth of today" but feel it is deserving of a thread of its own .. add your messages of congratulations and i'm sure someone will make sure they are passed on

Gillingham Youth 0 Southend United Youth 1 (Kyle Asante 90+2)

Champions !!! :support: Champions !!! :support:

Well done to Ricky Duncan and the lads, on clinching our first ever Youth Championship

 

[Boreham Shrimper]

Well done lads. A credit to the club and the new youth setup. :clap:

 

[GBJ]

i'd like to see some of them brought in against cheltenham, instead of those who are leaving us. Makes more sense trying to blood the youngsters in a league match (even if it is worthless) instead of playing the loanees who will leave, who are probably on goal/appearence/cleansheet bonuses.

 

[Fiftyone]

Excellent win in difficult conditions, strong wind blowing across the pitch and heavy rain falling for most of the 90 minutes.

Southend had slightly the better of play in the 1st half but absolutely battered the Gillingham goal in the 2nd half. A combination of goalkeeper, post and defenders throwing themselves in front of shots kept the ball out of the net until the 92nd minute when Kyle Asante, an 80th minute sub for the hard working Harry Crawford, tucked in a ball from Duran Reynolds at the back post to scenes of great joy from the Southend players.

Congratulations to Ricky Duncan and all his staff and a particular well done to all the boys who have played in the team this season.:clap:

No doubt a full report will appear later from Exiled Shrimper.:)

 

[Bielzibubz]

Well done and congratulations to ALL those involved in the Youth department at the club. Really is something the club and it's supporters should be very proud of.

 

[Basildon Blue]

Well done to Ricky Duncan and the team.

 

[Pubey]

great news!!!

 

[Pubey]

(waits to be proven wrong)
the way I understand it is that all the clubs (all PL and most CCC teams) that have an Academy are in the Premier Academy League, and then the 2nd tier is the Alliance League that has all the clubs with Centres of Excellence... so winning the South East conference of this league is very impressive. Hopefully with the new ground we'll achieve Youth Academy status very soon... I play every week at Sheffield United's academy and the facilities are absolutely mindblowing, we often see some of the youngsters playing and they are ****-hot, I can't wait for the SUFC (Southend United, not Sheffield United!) youth to really progress and it will benefit the team, the club and the town

Up the Blues!

 

[manor15]

Well done the youth team! Credit to not just Ricky Duncan and his coaches but the players too! Well done

 

[OldBlueLady]

Excellent news! Hopefully this will be a bit of a boost to the reserves' performances next season.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Would have preferred that the first team had won the League...............but you can't have everything in this life! Congratulations to the Youths and Ricky Duncan. I haven't fully understood, is he a bit like Tilly, and has to create nearly a new side next season?
However, presumably, he doesn't have the benifit of bringing in loanees!

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

(waits to be proven wrong)
the way I understand it is that all the clubs (all PL and most CCC teams) that have an Academy are in the Premier Academy League, and then the 2nd tier is the Alliance League that has all the clubs with Centres of Excellence... so winning the South East conference of this league is very impressive. Hopefully with the new ground we'll achieve Youth Academy status very soon... I play every week at Sheffield United's academy and the facilities are absolutely mindblowing, we often see some of the youngsters playing and they are ****-hot, I can't wait for the SUFC (Southend United, not Sheffield United!) youth to really progress and it will benefit the team, the club and the town

Up the Blues!

I'm not 100% sure, but to be a full Academy club you need a covered training pitch. I do not think there are any current plans for a covered training pitch at the new ground. There are not many clubs of our size that have full Academy status, I can only think of MK Dons.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

I'm not 100% sure, but to be a full Academy club you need a covered training pitch. I do not think there are any current plans for a covered training pitch at the new ground. There are not many clubs of our size that have full Academy status, I can only think of MK Dons.

You do need to have a covered training pitch to be an Academy club, as I understand it, there will be some provision for this at the new ground as both Ron Martin and Ricky Duncan have mentioned widely that the move to Fossetts Farm will enable the club to pursue Academy status.

MK Dons are pretty much the only club in the south of the country at our level to have Academy status, although both Peterborough United and Millwall have recently dropped out. Vice versa, Portsmouth only recently left the Youth Alliance, and they used to have poor results every season when they were in it. In the north, Crewe Alexandra and Huddersfield Town are both Academy-status clubs.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Congratulations to the yoofs!!

 

[BoyWonder2]

Thats terrific news. Congrats to all involved. Be nice to see them on the pitch either before the game or at half time on Saturday for us to show them our appreciation.

 

[Nobby Snide]

now we've won the league..let them play on saturday..as a reward.

possible scenarios. i) We decide during the summer that these lads arnt good enough, and release them all, or, ii) We sell them cheaply to a premiershite team.

I really hope we dont become the next Crewe and become a 'shop' for higher financed clubs.

saying that, fantasic achievement for the club and the lads involved.

Hope its the start of a long tradition of finding and developing quality youth players.

 

[manor15]

now we've won the league..let them play on saturday..as a reward.

I have mentioned something like this before about some youth players playing but apparently they would have to be registered or something like that and it's not worth it for 1 game or something I heard like that. I would play some of them though. We will end up 8th or 9th, Cheltenham are down, it's gunna be a boring, meaningless game so we might as well give some younger players a go.

possible scenarios. i) We decide during the summer that these lads arnt good enough, and release them all,

I am worried that this is already the case. In watching reserve games 3 of the most impressive I have seen are all being released or have not signed on yet but might stay; Jamie Forshaw, if he gets his fitness sorted he could easily push Scannell or Betsy out of the team, Rhys Henry, not the best player but always pops up in the right place at the right time and has a good finish, and Davis Abbey, good passer, strong tackler, a bit like Kevin Maher was but less of the wasted hoofs. Callum Whittaker is also very impressive at centre back as well as Justin Hazell at right wing but they are here for a while I think, at least for next year.

 

[Shrimperstrust]

Rob Craven's Match Report can be found here.

 

[Reg Martin]

A great achievement, well done to Ricky Duncan and the lads.
I suspect its still a long way from them being ready for first team football.
I think it was Ricky Duncan who said he would expect to only produce a couple a year who eventually make the grade.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Thats terrific news. Congrats to all involved. Be nice to see them on the pitch either before the game or at half time on Saturday for us to show them our appreciation.

Great idea - come on Southend Utd, let them experience some Roots Hall appreciation!