The following is an Academy update provided by Academy Manager, Richard Anderson.
It has been quite an exciting period across the Academy lately, with several notable achievements drawing attention towards the progress that is being made by our young players, and the important role the Academy has to play for the Club.
Most notably has been the emergence of graduate Ashley Akpan within the First Team. Ashley has now made 10 first team starts this season, scoring his first senior goal in the FA Cup game against Bath City. If that wasn’t enough, in the same game, another graduate Maxwell Mullins, also got himself on the scoresheet scoring a last minute winner to send the First Team through into the next round of the FA Cup, and to an enticing away tie with Bradford City.
It is an important facet for the academy that we are producing players that not only have the potential to a part of the First Team squad, but also impact the First Team on a regular basis. Ashley and Maxwell’s emergence within the First Team, through not only their talent, but hard work and perseverance, shines a light on the pathway that young talent has at Aldershot Town Football Club. Whilst progression isn’t easy (and by no means should it be) it should give hope to all those in our system dreaming one day of following in their footsteps.
When looking to what the future could be for the Club, we turn next to our B Team. Most of the boys here are gaining valuable senior experience on loan but came together recently for an Aldershot Divisional Football Association Senior Cup fixture away to Sheerwater FC. In what was a highly eventful fixture, which saw sending’s off, sin bins, successive injuries to two goalkeepers resulting in an outfield player going in goal and a penalty shoot out, the B team progressed through to the next round following a 3-3 draw in 90 minutes, winning 8-7 on penalties.
This was then promptly followed up with the inclusion of Morgan Elliott and Billy Walsh in the First Team squad for the National League/Premier League’s under 21 competition fixture again Derby County under 21s. It was a proud moment for all as Billy Walsh came off the bench in the fixture to make his senior debut for the club, the 8th academy graduate to make their debut since the start of the 2022/2023 season. Again, another demonstration to those in our current B Team group that the pathway is there to the First Team, and opportunities exist to get there.
Most recently, our girl’s academy also received a boost with the announcement of the formation of a senior women’s team for next season. This will allow for progression with the club through to senior football in our girl’s pathway. Work has begun to recruit players for next season, to appoint the supporting staff and secure a home venue for next season. We are extremely grateful for assistance we have received so far from the wider footballing community as we work towards fielding a team next season that will do the club proud.
The girl’s pathway has also been strengthened through our partnership with Merrist Wood College. This will see us run a post-16 full-time education programme with the college, alongside regular timetabled training from Aldershot Town Academy coaching staff and a weekly games programme. This will be an exciting addition to the academy by aligning high-level education and ensuring that we can support our players future every step of the way.
We’ve also had quite the rollercoaster ride with our under 18s boys side across two cup competitions. Starting with the FA Youth Cup 2nd qualifying round against Dorking Wanderers at the EBB Stadium, over 300 were in attendance to see the under 18s taken to penalties by 10-man Dorking, eventually succeeding 5-4 in the shoot-out.
If that wasn’t enough, it was penalties again against Tring Athletic in the 3rd qualifying round. Tring reached this round having knocked out Barnet in the previous round with two stoppage time goals. They must have felt history was about to repeat itself after they equalised in the last-minute of normal time, however our under 18s repeated their heroics against Dorking, once more winning the shootout 5-4 to progress to the First Round Proper where an away tie against Leyton Orien awaits them on Wednesday 30th October.
Sandwiched between these two fixtures was a First Round Hampshire County Cup tie against Cove FC. The Academy is the current holder of the under 18s Hampshire County Cup after last year’s under 18s beat Camberley Town 3-1 to lift the trophy for the first time in seven years. After falling behind early on, and again just before half-time, the boys rallied and progressed through to the Second Round where they face a trip to Hedge End Rangers on Wednesday 6th November.
Since the start of the season, we have engaged our under 18s and B Team in weekly sport psychology sessions, focused around our Phoenix Spirit mentality, which we will be rolling out to the wider academy soon. This consists of four ‘for the badge’ pillars that we believe that if our players can demonstrate consistently, they will be equipped with the mental skills and behaviours to help them be successful. No more so has this Phoenix Spirit been tested across both the under 18s and B Team squads than in these recent fixtures, and it is credit to the work being done by our Academy staff that the boys had the resources to overcome adversity and progress in three competitions.
Well done to all involved and good luck particularly to our under 18s boys for their FA Youth Cup game this evening.
