International update
Under-16 midfielder Sam Kelly has received recognition at international level for the first time, having recently been called up by Republic of Ireland under-17s.
Sam will take part in a trial match where he will be looking to impress enough in order to earn further call-ups for the full under-17 squad.
I would like to wish Sam the best of luck for his forthcoming trip, if he works hard and performs to the best of his ability I am sure he will impress the watching coaching staff and give himself a great opportunity to represent his country.
Elsewhere, first-year scholar Matt Ball continues to receive international recognition for Northern Ireland under-17s, most recently he has been asked to join up with his colleagues for a Christmas get together in Ulster.
Whilst there, Matt will take part in training sessions and play matches against local opposition. This will provide Matt with further opportunities to impress and help boost his match fitness now that the Academy games programme has entered its Christmas break.
Christmas break
The under-18 team now enter a five-week period with no fixtures, their next match being the home game against Crystal Palace on January 16, 2010. The break is even longer for our Academy schoolboy groups whose fixtures against Fulham on Sunday, December 13, were their last scheduled games until Sunday, February 7 when they take on MK Dons.
The schoolboys will also have a rest from training over the Christmas break, however, the youth team players will all spend a period of time during the break training at Colney and carrying out their daily duties around the training ground whilst the first team players are training.
The Christmas break has always proved beneficial to the younger members of the Academy where the physical demands of matches are not as great, losing match fitness at this young age is not such an issue. It also provides the youngsters with a chance to recoup their energy and the players always come back into training full of enthusiasm following such a long period of time with no football.
Hopefully this year will prove to be the same and our young schoolboy players will return ready to get straight back into the swing of things.
Enjoy the game.
Ricky Martin
Academy Manager
