By Stoke City Football Club
Stoke City Football Club, Clayton Wood Training Ground, Rosetree Avenue, Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6NL
STOKE CITY CAN now look forward to nurturing home-grown talent and attract the best young players to the Potteries . . . after being granted Category One status this summer under the FA's new Elite Player Performance Plan.
The Club have been rewarded for 18 months of planning and hard work with that prestigious grading within the Academy set-up, thus boosting their prospects of achieving sustained success at the highest level in the long term future.
City's Chief Executive Tony Scholes hailed the announcement as a hugely-significant step for the Club.
"This is fantastic news because we are committed to establishing an Academy that is ranked among the best," he said.
"Terry Robinson and his team deserve an enormous amount of credit for the work they have put into making this ambition become a reality now.
"The Club scored very highly in many aspects of the extensive assessment process which we went through before a decision was made."
At the same time that a significant amount of money has been invested in the first team squad in order to preserve Premier League status, so there has also been a strong focus on building an Academy structure in recent times.
While the creation of the new training facility at Clayton Wood was an initial stage of that development process, there was also been a significant amount of work aimed at meeting the criteria of the EPPP Category One status.
As part of that quest, plans have been unveiled to develop additional facilities at Clayton Wood to enhance the £7 million state-of-the-art facility.
This will include the provision of more changing rooms, offices and a treatment room, as well as the installation of a full-sized indoor pitch.
There is no doubt that the profile of being a Premier League club for the past four years and the success which has come with it in reaching a first-ever FA Cup Final in 2011 and qualifying for the Europa League in the following season has generated a considerable amount of excitement and enthusiasm for the game among local youngsters.
The Club is eager to tap into that, so that there will be more Andy Wilkinsons and Ryan Shottons in the first team squad in the long-term future.
ACADEMY MANAGEMENT
Director of Youth Development: Terry Robinson
Academy Manager / Head of Coaching and Coach Development: Dave Wright
Head of Academy Recruitment: Kev Scott
Head of Sports Science & Athletic Development: Paul White
Head of Education & Welfare: Greg Briggs
Academy Administrator: Christian Hough
ACADEMY FULL TIME COACHING STAFF
Senior Professional Development Coach: David Kevan
Lead Professional Development Phase Coach: John Perkins
Professional Development Phase Coach / Coach Developer: James Hunter
Lead Youth Development Phase Coach (U15-16s): Earl Barrett
Lead Youth Development Phase Coach (U12-14s): Richard Carter
Youth Development Phase Coach (U12-14s): Richard Walker thuis
Lead Foundation Phase Coach: Jeremy Steele
Foundation Phase Coach: Ashley Hill
Academy Head Goalkeeping Coach: Danny Alcock
Academy Goalkeeping Coach: TBC
Coach Development: Coerver Coaching UK
ACADEMY PART TIME COACHING STAFF
Goalkeeping Coach: Greg Smith
Youth Development Phase Coaches (U12-16)
U14s Assistant Coach: Mark Draper
U13s Assistant Coach: Paul Myatt
U12s Manager : Will Ryder
U12s Assistant Coach: TBC
Foundation Phase Coaches (U5-11)
U11s Assistant Coach: Kieran Dawson
U10s Manager : Kurt Doyle
U10s Assistant Coach: Tom Holroyd
U9s Assistant Coach: Chris Millar
U8s Coach: Adam Kirkpatrick
U8s Coach: Simon Hall
Matchday Co-Ordinator: Ian Warrilow
Development Centre Coaches (U5-14s)
Development Centre Co-Ordinator: Pete Gregory
Stoke Centre
Chris Millar, Gary Barrass, Darren Brunt, Adam Cookson, Ben Mills, Josh Bill, Eddie Preece, Mark Hawkes, Tom Chapman, Steve Harper, Will Ryder, Paul Myatt
Nantwich Centre
Ben Mills, Steve Harper
Sandbach Centre
Mark Hawkes, Ben Mills
Derby Centre
Mark Cook, Mark Draper
Shrewsbury Centre
Michael Thomas, Jon Huges
Birmingham Centre
Tom Chapman, Gary Smith
ACADEMY MEDICAL / SPORTS SCIENCE STAFF
Head Academy Physiotherapist: Kevin Mulholland
Academy Physiotherapist: Brett Helme
Academy Physiotherapist: Fraser Philp
Lead Academy Match Analyst: Lewis Rhodes
Match Analyst: Nathan Cobb
Academy Strength & Conditioning Coach: Robert Fox
Academy Sports Scientist: Greg Doncaster
Data Administrator / Sports Scientist: Joel Dawson
Academy Doctors: Dr Dent / Dr Unyolo
Academy Psychologist: Mark Jones
Academy Nutritionist: Mayur Ranchordas
Academy Sports Science and Medical Support: Staffordshire University / Keele University
ACADEMY EDUCATION AND WELFARE STAFF
Childrens Services Officer: Georgina Cooper
Academy Education and Welfare Support: Dave Plant
Academy Mentors: Alan Durban / Denis Smith
Education Tutor: Georgina Stebbings
Education Tutor: Clare Kilfeather
Education Tutor: Mark Grice