The Totesport League

The purpose of the new website was to expand on how our team looked at the reserves and Academy as a whole. So to that end we have introduced a section called Gav's Corner where I will make my comments felt on important matters and decisions within these two parts of the club.

The first Gav's Corner article I am writing about is obviously about the major issue that City has resigned from the Football League's Totesport Reserve League. Now I have to hold my hands up that when we joined this reserve level of competition in the 2006/7 season that I thought it was a mistake as too often the mainly under 17 team that was fielded was being bullied and ended up on the losing side too often. So my opinion was that perhaps it was doing more harm than good as I felt the team would have been better served having some older academy and a few reserve players included in the team to give the side that little bit extra physical presence.

This was because the opponents would generally field a few older professionals in their team that knew their way around the pitch and how to handle themselves. That early season shock to the young players really did teach most of them how to handle themselves and the season ended reasonably well in the first season.

The second season went even better by making the play-offs and beating Morecambe in the semi-finals and then having to wait for the start of the 2008/9 season to play Nottingham Forest to claim the Northern section title of the reserve league for 2007/8.
Last season was not as productive but the team certainly won its fair share of games that eventually led out to a bit of a whimper in the end after being close to challenge for the title in March but too many defeats at the end was costly; but City had not entered this competition to win it. The previous season was just purely a bonus.

Clearly the aim was to give the players that might not be ready to play regularly at the under 18 games that would strengthen them up physically and make them mentally stronger. Which clearly it did because the Under 18s and youth team won their leagues and went on to make the final of the FA Youth cup twice in the two years; winning it in the 2007/8 season against as was, money bags Chelsea; but falling a bit way short against Arsenal last season.

That short fall is not as a result of playing in the Football League's Reserve competition; I feel it has more to do with the development of the better players who are in their final year of the academy; but that will be for another article.

So now without those games; what will the younger players do to help their development if they are not getting enough games because there are too many 16, 17 and 18 year olds competing for the eleven starting places in the academy league programme. The new Academy Director might have something up his sleeve on how to deal with this problem; but my feelings are that why make a problem for yourself that appears to be working well. But I am just a supporter who enjoys studying the development of our young players and have not spent many years in coaching courses; so there is every chance I might be proved wrong. I will certainly elude to some more feelings on the further development of the older players in an article for Gav's Corner next week.

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