BEN GIBSON has praised Dave Parnaby’s impact at Middlesbrough, and conceded the club might not exist in its present form had it not been for the work of the departing academy chief.

Parnaby announced his intention to stand down from his role as the head of Boro’s Rockliffe Park academy yesterday, having overseen the running of the club’s youth operation since its inception in 1998.

The respected former PE teacher has been integral to the development of more than 50 academy products who have gone on to play for Boro’s first team, with Gibson the latest local talent to have progressed through the youth ranks before establishing himself in the Premier League.

A succession of Boro managers have benefited from Parnaby’s work, with his impact having a profound effect both on and off the field. The likes of Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, Lee Cattermole and David Wheater were all sold for seven-figure sums, bringing in much-needed income at a time when Steve Gibson was having to prop up Boro’s finances from his own wallet.

“You can’t really put into words what he’s done,” said Gibson, who could soon become the latest player to have worked under Parnaby to progress to the senior international ranks. “He’s someone I look up to.

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“I joke to other lads who have come through the academy that he’s the closest thing to God that you’ll get in a human form. He’s literally perfect at his job. He’s always optimistic, he’s a role model, and you can go and knock on his door at any time about anything.

“He’s been a massive part in keeping the club alive. We’ve relied on this conveyor belt at times, and the money the academy has brought in has been absolutely crucial to keeping the club going. There’s always been a core of Middlesbrough lads, and you can attribute that to him really.”

That core has been the bedrock of Boro’s success over the last 15 years, with the majority of the team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2004 going on to represent the club at senior level.

Two years after the Youth Cup triumph, Steve McClaren named a team at Fulham that featured ten academy products in the starting line-up and a further five on the bench, and the sight of so many of his fellow youngsters getting a chance in the first team was a huge inspiration to Gibson.

The defender was only 13 when McClaren presided over his final Boro game at Craven Cottage, but he remembers watching in awe as the likes of Wheater, Cattermole, Ross Turnbull and Andrew Taylor were blooded on the senior stage.

“It gave you hope,” he said. “It let you see there was a pathway, albeit that you didn’t know how good they were at your age, and you didn’t really know how good you were in relation and how good you had to be to actually get there.

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“I always used to pick Dave’s brain and say, ‘Was David Wheater better than me at my age?’ or ‘Was Matthew Bates doing better than I’m doing?’ He’s always been a calming influence, and he’s the one that’s brought those players through. That was an inspiration.”

The date of Parnaby’s departure is still to be finalised, with Boro chief executive Neil Bausor beginning the process of identifying and appointing his successor, but whoever slips into his shoes at Rockliffe Park will have an exceptionally tough act to follow.

“I feel like I’ve gone through the stages with him,” said Gibson. “When I was a toddler, I was scared of him. If you were walking down the corridor and saw him, you would shut up.

“When I was a bit older, he was someone who would look to help. You were still a bit scared of him, but gradually you’d grow out of that.

“Now, I’m friends with him and he’s someone I can still ask for advice. I feel like he’s played a huge part in my career and my life, and I’ll never be able to repay the thanks that he deserves.”