Chelsea on the Horizon…
Half Term has seen the Oxford United Academy continue to take steps forward as we look to play our part in building a bright future for the club.
Over the last 10 days we have played a number of fixtures against local sides as part of our commitment to building strong relationships across the local footballing landscape. Last week saw our U15’s take on a “Junior Premier League” Representative side down at the Oxford Academy School whilst in the same week our U8’s played a series of fixtures against local Academy sides ”First Soccer” and the “AJD Academy.” Our thanks go to Richard Camden and Gareth Hamer for their help arranging these fixtures.
Tonight sees a young U’s side travelling up the M1 to take on a Corby Town U-18 side managed by former Oxford United defender Steve Kinniburgh. These games provide a good opportunity for our lads to test themselves against strong local opposition as well as enabling us to build relationships that will hopefully help both parties over the coming years.
On the recruitment side of the Academy, I am pleased to announce that Andy Ransome has now joined the Academy staff on a part time basis. Andy is a well-known PE teacher in the area and has previously worked for Aston Villa FC. We are delighted to have been able to attract someone of Andy’s calibre to the club and look forward to working with him over the coming years.
Our commitment to providing a pathway for local talent has seen 34 trialists train with the Academy over recent weeks. As a club we have to be relentless in our desire to identify, recruit and develop the best young players in our County and the coming months will see the Academy staff being much more visible at local games and tournaments.
This weekend sees six of our Academy sides travelling down to Cobham training ground to play against the age group teams at Chelsea FC. Giving our players the opportunity to compete against a wide range of opponents presents them with different challenges and we look forward to seeing how our young players perform against one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
In finishing I would like to draw your attention to the U-18s Youth Team EFL Cup Final against Luton Town being played at the Kassam Stadium on the 31st March. It would be great to see as many fans as possible supporting our young players over the Easter weekend. This family-friendly game is a great chance to see some the emerging talent here at Oxford United including young strikers Owen James and Dejon Noel-Williams who have been in rich goal scoring form this season with over 35 goals between them. Watch this space for ticketing details over the coming days.
For more information on life in the Academy here at Oxford United check out our new dedicated twitter feed - @AcademyOUFC.
Proud History – Bright Future!
Dan Harris
Academy Manager