Honour and Pools seeking the next Adam Johnson

The former Pools midfielder and crowd hero has linked up with the club to try and develop talent in the East Durham area, where Honour has a successful coaching business, in a move described by Pools as "massively exciting''.

The Brian Honour Soccer School is to provide a foothold for the club in Blackhall, Horden, Peterlee and surrounding villages with the aim of unearthing the best talent in the area.

Johnson, from Easington, was spotted by Honour and coached from the age to six before he moved to Middlesbrough and on to Manchester City and England.

"Pools is the closest professional club for people in Blackhall, Horden and Peterlee and I keep telling them that,'' said Honour, who made 384 appearances for the club from 1985 to 1994 after he was freed by Darlington.

"When he was five and six, I was coaching Adam Johnson and now look at him.

"The aim is to find the next Adam Johnson and make sure he is playing for Hartlepool and not Middlesbrough before he makes a big transfer to the Premier League.

"I called him Magic Johnson when he was young and look what he's gone onto - he's just won the Premier League with Manchester City.''

A number of players have progressed from Honour's schools to professional clubs, Tommy Miller among them.

Honour explained how his link with Pools will work.

"I just got a call from John Hewitson (Pools' head of youth) to meet up and have a chat about it all,'' he said.

"I think they recognised the sheer volume of kids I coach during the week - there's about 300 at various ages, levels and abilities at different schools and organisations.

"Hopefully, with the link up with Pools, we can spot a little gem in there and help develop him.

"I just want to help the club out, it's a club I have a great affection for. There's a lot of untapped talent in the area I work in and around and it's a chance for Pools to move into it all.''

He added: "The advice I always give to youngsters is not to think of the bright lights of St James' Park, the Stadium of Light or the Riverside and look at Victoria Park instead.

"Very, very few players make it through the ranks at the bigger clubs - look at how many are being released at this time of the year.

"Look at Pools and see how many players have come through the ranks at the club.

"I was looking at some old programmes and you can see the names over the years. There's the likes of the Linighans, Dobson, Staff and those more than 20 years ago and then more recently there's plenty like Ingram, Thompson, Skedd who all came along as well.

"And that has carried on in recent years, there's some young lads come through to the first team this season as well - it happens all the time there and it's fantastic.

"Hopefully, I can identify any talent already within the Brian Honour Soccer Schools and in East Durham and Peterlee areas and push them Pools' way.''

Honour will act as a middle man to bridge the gap to the professional game. He coaches each Saturday at East Durham College in Peterlee, with hundreds of youngsters improving from his popular classes over the years.

"It's a step up from my coaching sessions to the club's centre of excellence and the aim is to set up development centres from August as a middle ground between the two for those we identify,'' he added.

"It can help raise the profile of the club in the area, it's a club I have a great affection for after playing for them for so long.

"We hope that the Brian Honour Soccer School will be the first step to going all the way, moving to Hartlepool United, and then becoming a top player - it's something I am really excited about.

"The club approached me. I know John and I am close to Micky Barron and Ritchie Humphreys, all part of the coaching staff now.

"It's a pleasure to help them out, it's still my club and always will be.

"And we hope to pick out some of the really young ones through my sessions. The plan is to put on some soccer tots' sessions for five and six-year- olds.

"Clubs can't sign up them that young, but the aim is to have them as part of the production line by joining in my soccer schools.''

Hewitson said: "It's great for us to be able to tap in to the East Durham area by using this link-up with Brian.

"Instead of us just looking at Hartlepool for young players, this development will give us a foundation level for recruitment outside of the town.

"We are looking to set up hubs around the region and we're delighted that Brian will be in charge of the one in Peterlee.

"He's a figure who is well respected by the club and its fans already for what he did as a player, so it's brilliant that he is now going to be helping us in this manner.

"For a club like ours it is very important that we continue to provide players who can come through the system and up towards the first team so this kind of development is massively exciting."