Hear from the head of the ATFC Academy, Richard Anderson with his round-up of this year so far:
“Since the turn of the year, there have been a number of positive developments that highlight the progress being made.
Toby Nelson from the B team has been regularly named on the first-team bench and has gained valuable minutes on the pitch. Kaden Hughes has also been named on the bench on two occasions, while Maddox McMillan has travelled with the first-team squad for two matchdays at Eastleigh and Hartlepool.
In addition, several B team players have been training consistently with the first team since the start of the year. Kaden Hughes, Maddox McMillan, James Martin, and Lewis Hillary have all been regularly involved in first-team training sessions, which is a strong reflection of their development and the pathway in place.
From a team perspective, the B team has performed very well as the season approaches its latter stages. They are currently top of the Suburban League, have reached the semi-final of the Suburban League Cup, where they are due to face Woking and are also just one point away from qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Suburban Shield.
In addition our under-16s are on a fantastic HCC run, reaching the semi-final stage after overcoming Sarisbury in the quarter-final. With Proco in the next round the boys are continuing to work hard in order to book a spot in the final.
Overall, it’s been a positive start to 2026 with so many proud moments for the academy in such a short space of time, it is a real credit to the coaches and the players for all their hard work setting up an exciting end to the season.”
