Hartlepool United confirm eight new scholarship deals ahead of 2023-24 campaign

Hartlepool’s academy returned in its full guise last summer after former chief operating officer Stephen Hobin was able to re-establish a category-4 status for the club following its return to the Football League in 2021.

Within that, the club appointed former Middlesbrough academy and FA development coach Andy Lowe to oversee the academy and implement strategies to, in the long-term, progress to a category-3 academy.

The academy is partnered with Hartlepool College, who recently announced their latest intake for the youth programme, who provide educational programmes such as BTEC's, A-Levels and apprenticeships to the players.

Despite Hartlepool’s first team suffering relegation from the Football League last season, the academy is to remain in place after Lowe confirmed to The Mail earlier this summer that his remit would not change.

"There’s been a clear remit where, if we weren’t a Football League club, the academy still exists,” said Lowe.

"Years ago when they went out of the league the academy went. So my task has been to put a strategy in place where that doesn’t happen, which isn’t easy by the way.

"To go from a cat-4 or a cat-3 funded programme off the EFL, where you get ‘x’ amount of money, to then, potentially, not having that money is a big challenge.

"There’s a lot of clubs who, if they haven’t got back into the league after three or four years, don’t have that funding and support. So my task is to try and make sure we put something in place where we’re a sustainable model where the academy remains.”

And not only will the academy remain this summer, but they have now moved to confirm its intake of players to have agreed two-year scholarships – the eight players taking the academy squad to a total of 18 for the 2023-24 season.

Edi Ormerod, Tyrese Grundle, Ollie Duthie, Joel Ingram, Alfie Steel, Charlie Berry and Joseph Aungiers have all committed to the club with an eighth player joining next week.

"This is the start of an exciting journey for the players and their families,” said academy coach Lowe.

"The football club and staff are very much looking forward to supporting the young players in their development and building on the successes of last season where four first-year scholars made their first team debuts, accumulating a number of appearances throughout the season and gaining valuable senior experience.

“Our recruitment team and coaches have worked extremely hard behind the scenes over the past six months to recruit the new cohort of players so it’s a huge thank you to them and the clubs who have supported us.”

Lowe added: “I am delighted that we continue our strong relationship with Hartlepool College of Further Education which continues to provide our players with exceptional education provision, expertise, and unwavering support – which is an essential aspect of the wider support all players receive as full-time apprentice footballers.

"The college runs its very own football-education programme for aspiring footballers, which saw a number of players represent Hartlepool United Football Club regularly throughout last season which was very pleasing to see.”

Louis Stephenson, Campbell Darcy, Joe Kitching and Max Storey were four players to make a breakthrough from the academy last season to be included in first team squads – Stephenson, Darcy and Kitching all making their first team debuts under previous manager Keith Curle, the trio all featuring in the FA Cup third round defeat to Stoke City at the Suit Direct Stadium.

Curle often included the academy team in his first team training sessions with Stephenson also part of a handful of Hartlepool’s league squads in 2022-23.

Among those eight academy players to pen two-year scholarship deals is 17-year-old Steel who was spotted by Hartlepool’s head of youth recruitment Jonathan Constantine playing for Middlesbrough-based T6 football academy in the National Football Youth League North East Premier Division, where he was last season’s top scorer with 17 goals.

Steel attended All Saints Catholic Primary in Thirsk and then All Saints Catholic School in York before joining T6 Football Academy as one of its first cohort of players.

And, following a successful trial, Steel was handed a scholarship, with T6 manager Dave McTiernan predicting a bright future for the 6ft 3in centre-forward.

“Alfie's had a fantastic year and a lot of credit goes to our strength and conditioning team for implementing diets and a conditioning programme to help him fulfil his potential,” said McTiernan.

"We had a lot of interest in him,” he added.

“His dedication in getting picked up at seven o'clock every morning and travelling all the way here has really paid off. He’s got the right attitude and the right family and he’s determined.

“He's done really well, but I imagine there’ll be one or two others moving into the professional game this season.”

Hartlepool’s lead professional phase coach Ian McGuckin said: “Thanks have to go out to T6 academy for facilitating Alfie’s trial period and helping with the smooth transition across to our programme.

“His attitude and application was excellent, which is always a good starting point. We also like his positivity and desire to score goals. He can finish using various techniques, something we look forward to enhancing even further over the duration of the programme.”

Steel will continue his academic studies at T6, where he attends A-level business studies classes.