Hartlepool United academy set to return as club welcome application process for Category 4 status

Last month the club announced they were formally working on an application to the EFL to see the return of a Category 4 academy with chief operating officer Stephen Hobin confirming Pools are now at a stage where they can accept applications from potential players who would like to be a part of the club’s new structure.

After dropping out of the Football League in 2017, Pools have struggled to provide the financial resource required to maintain their academy system before ultimately being dissolved in its recognised guise.

At the beginning of last season, with Pools still outside of the EFL’s licensed academy system and corresponding funding, the club formed an innovative partnership with the Hartlepool College for Further Education to develop young talent alongside a programme of education for participants.

But after their remarkable promotion success last season, a return to the EFL has allowed Pools to establish themselves once again within the EFL’s system, as well as being eligible for the appropriate funding for their academy.

Both the club and HCFE have been delighted with the progress over the last 18-months and are keen to further grow that scheme following success stories such as Oscar Fletcher who was recently named in the England Schoolboys Under-18’s squad.

The programme will continue next year, with a focus on education and providing a pathway for young footballers through to the club’s Category 4 academy.

Chief operating officer Hobin admits he expects the EFL application process to be granted while also admitting the club do not want to stop there with visions of swiftly being able to move to a Cat 3 in the future.

“We’ve put the application in for a Cat 4 academy starting from next season which we’re confident will be accepted,” Hobin told The Mail.

"I’m positive we’ll get through for Cat 4 next season and hopefully Cat 3 the season after.

“It’s massive for this football club in terms of producing local talent and stopping the best young boys in the town going to our neighbours.

“Obviously we had to lose the academy when we dropped into the National League which was devastating.

“The last two or three months we’ve been really getting into looking at the local youth teams.

“We want to keep the best talent in this football club and this football town and get them coming through the ranks and one day playing for the first team.”

Hobin added: “It’s a massive step for the football club and something I’m personally passionate about in terms of driving it for the town.

“It’s not just the academy but we’ve also got a youth alliance which sits underneath that because a Cat 4 is only 16-18-year-old’s.

“[And] we are now at the stage where we will be accepting applications for boys to try out for us for the Cat 4 academy so they can send their CV’s in to [email protected] and we’ll have a look at those between now and the end of the season.

“We want to develop the stars of the future and we want to keep them local.”

Hobin’s drive for the club’s academy has been impressive since his arrival at the Suit Direct Stadium with the chief operating officer often pictured around the town championing the local youth teams.

The move to a Cat 4 will certainly boost Pools, and manager Graeme Lee, who will then be able to look at replicating their production of talent such as Joe Grey who has been a bi-product of those previous youth alliances.

Lee told The Mail: “It’s brilliant. We’ve been in a few meetings trying to get that application put forward and it’s great news for the town and for young kids of the town to know the academy is going to be getting up and running.

“It’s an opportunity for local lads to come and play for their local team and have a chance of being a professional footballer. It’s what having the academy is all about.

“The opportunity for these young kids, who we’re seeing at the games now, and they’re loving the games and the noise and the singing, but that thought in the back of their head that it could be one of them one day is what it’s all about and what the academy is all about.”

There has been a lot of effort gone into help push this move for Pools, but one man expected to have a big role with the club’s forthcoming academy is Antony Sweeney.

The Pools legend, who recently picked up the John Fotheringham Award for his services to football within the region at the annual North East Football Writers Association Awards ceremony, signed a new contract with the club until 2024 with a role in the upcoming academy highlighted in his decision.

“With the potential of the academy returning, it is an exciting time and a new opportunity for me to work with both the first team and the youth setup and build that bridge between them,” said Sweeney.

And it’s not the first time Sweeney has been vocal about the importance, and allure, of the club’s academy.

Sweeney was asked about the club’s academy structure during his spell as interim-manager in November with the 38-year-old clear on the significance of this moment for the club.

“It’s huge for the academy to come back. It’s massive for kids of the town and in the local area to aspire to play for the football club and have a clear pathway to do that.

"It’s huge where if we can produce our own players then it’s cost effective. It’s even more cost effective if you produce very good ones because bigger clubs will want to pay money to buy them.”

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Hartlepool United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor.