DARLINGTON manager Tommy Wright says he would like local players in the club’s first team squad and is inviting youngsters to attend a trial next week for the club’s new academy.

He also launched an academy at his previous Nuneaton Town, where the squad was populated by youngsters, and is now hoping to create a pathway to Quakers’ first team for the area’s talented teenagers.

“It’s the next step for our football club and a club of our stature should have one anyway,” he said. “It’s going to give us a platform to develop our own players and that is where we’re at and what we want to do.

“Myself and Alan White have the same kind of vision and it is shared at boardroom level.

“We want 16-18-year-olds, we’ll get them in and coached the way we want them to play, and hopefully we can get them ready for first-team football sooner rather than later.”

A trial day takes place on Sunday, April 22 at Blackwell Meadows, beginning at 11am.

Registration will be followed by a game and information on the BTEC course will be handed out to parents and prospective students.

Interested parties are asked to complete the application form here. 

Wright added: “We’ll hold the trials and we’ll take a look at what we’ve got.

“We’ll be honest and open with people, but we’re encouraging everybody to come and test themselves and hopefully we’ll get some players through the system.

“It would be great to get some young local lads in and around the first team.”

The programme begins in September with lectures staged at Blackwell Meadows and training taking place on the venues’ nearby grass pitches.

Students who complete the first year will gain a BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Sport, and those who complete the second year will gain a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Sport.

Students will continue their football development through a training programme designed and delivered by a coaching team led by Wright and White.

A club statement read: “Our coaching team will work alongside SCL Education Group, who are one of the UK’s leading independent providers of education and offer a wide range of engaging, forward-thinking and successful programmes. They provide education programmes at numerous clubs, including Premier League club West Ham United.

“Graduates of the programme can use their qualification to consider playing football professionally or semi-professionally, remain in further education, continue training or gain employment in a sports environment.”