CITY today confirmed new roles for key staff in the NCFC Academy following the retirement of Youth Team Coach Dave Williams at the end of last season.

The changes see Ricky Martin's existing role enhanced from Academy Manager to Academy Manager/Youth Team Coach and Ricky will now be working with City's rising stars on the training pitch at Colney every day and taking charge of the team for all matches at Under-18 level.

He will be assisted by former King's Lynn and Wisbech Town Manager and UEFA Pro A Licence holder Darren Bloodworth, who will combine coaching support for Ricky with his existing role as Education Officer for the Academy.

Meanwhile Andrew Blofeld leaves his current role as Assistant Club Secretary and moves to Colney as Academy Operations Manager, where he will take on much of the office based work of the Academy Manager's role enabling Ricky to spend more time on the field with the players.

City boss Peter Grant said: "I'm delighted with the new structure in the Academy. I think it's a real plus to bring good, talented people through and keep them on board. Sure, we could have gone and looked for someone from outside the Club, but Ricky and the Academy have enjoyed an excellent year and he is certainly the right man to continue the good work that Dave put in with the youngsters on the training ground. I'm pleased to see Darren lending a hand out there as well - he is well-known and respected by the young scholars coming through the ranks thanks to his educational work and he's an excellent coach."

Ricky Martin told First News he was excited about the prospect of more hands-on work with City's stars of tomorrow on the training pitch after a particularly successful year for the Academy in terms of players breaking through into Peter Grant's first team.

" On a personal level it's an exciting challenge to have a more direct involvement with the players on the pitch and this is an aspect of the role I am thoroughly looking forward to. The successes we have enjoyed this year have made me more determined to ensure that continuity remains within the Academy, particulary the older sector of the set up where the players have to make the transition from Youth Team Football to First Team. It's vital we continue the hard work and we carry on from where we left off last season and strive to maintain the high standards we have set. "

"I would like to take this opportunity to once again recognise the excellent work Dave Williams put in during his time here in terms of helping the players to develop their game and assisting me with the strategic and management side of the Academy."

Darren Bloodworth, who has also been coaching the Academy Under-13s, said he was looking forward to assisting Ricky with the older lads. "I'm happy to be able to blend the educational work I do here with coaching work alongside Ricky. The progress made by some of the Academy products breaking into the first team last season was very exciting for all of the staff here and that progress has also been going right through the younger age groups as well."