Darlington manager Tommy Wright says that the formation of an Academy is vital for the future of the football club. In this interview with the official website, he speaks about the necessity of an academy to bring young players through.

Tommy Academy

The programme begins in September 2018, and will be based at Blackwell Meadows. Lectures will be staged in Darlington Rugby Football Club’s headquarters, while football training will take place on the nearby grass football pitches. Students who complete the first year will gain a BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Sport, and those who complete the second year will gain a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Sport.

All students will continue their football development through our football training programme designed and delivered by our highly-qualified coaching team led by Academy manager Tommy Wright and head coach Alan White.

Our coaching team will work alongside SCL Education Group, who are one of the UK’s leading independent providers of education and offer a wide range of engaging, forward-thinking and successful programmes. They provide education programmes at numerous clubs, including Premiership club West Ham United.

Graduates of the programme can use their qualification to consider playing football professionally or semi-professionally, remain in further education, continue training or gain employment in a sports environment.

We will be holding a trials day at Blackwell Meadows on Sunday 22nd April, beginning at 11am -- more information of that day are available here

http://darlingtonfc.co.uk/trial-date/

If you’re interested in finding out more about the upcoming trials for the Academy Programme or know someone who would like to apply, please contact register@wearescl.co.uk or click here https://academy.darlingtonfc.co.uk/

for further information.