Linnets to test themselves against Altrincham.
Runcorn Linnets v Altrincham
The FA Youth Cup
First Round Qualifying
7.30pm, Thursday 22 September
The Millbank Linnets Stadium, Runcorn Linnets FC
Click here for fixture
Runcorn Linnets’ Youth Team manager Tony Nolan is in good spirits ahead of his side’s FA Youth Cup First Round Qualifying clash against Altrincham on Thursday evening.
With a youth team that was established just one year ago, it would represent an extraordinary achievement should Nolan steer the Linnets into the second stage of England’s elite youth competition. Any success that Runcorn are able to secure would be in no small part down to the invaluable contribution of the team’s UEFA B licensed coach, Gareth Burke, who the manager says has been instrumental in the development of the youth set-up in the last twelve months.
Ahead of the game at the Millbank Linnets Stadium, the Runcorn manager highlighted the novelty of the experience for many of his players and although they are dreaming of a date with a Football League youth team in the next round, Nolan is conscious of the level of opposition that his side will be facing and was full of respect for the work being done by his Altrincham counterparts.
"The lads are all hugely excited at the prospect of just playing Altrincham! I am very aware that the infrastructure at Altrincham is vastly superior to our own, but this will be a good test for our guys and hopefully it will give us an idea of the level that we are at this moment in time and to see what we should be aiming for."
Nolan stressed the positive effect that success in this competition could have on the club as a whole, stating that it would be just-reward for the commitment and dedication from those involved in the day-to-day running of this fast-growing club.
"The club has been brilliant for me, from the secretary who has been excellent with the administration to the first team manager who has been down to watch us a few times. It’s a learning curve for the club committee, for me, for the players and it would be a fantastic lift for the supporters should we get the right result."
If the Youth Cup qualifying stage is a new experience for Runcorn, the same can’t be said for their opponents and their vastly experienced manager George Heslop. Although it may no longer be a novelty for Altrincham, Heslop insists that the same excitement always surrounds the prospect of advancing through to the next stage of the competition.
"For these players, no matter where they end up, it would be one of the best things to happen to them in their whole playing career, should they be able to test themselves against the best teams. Of course, it would be a dream to play Manchester United, but I would love to have another go against one of the Football League youth set-ups."
Altrincham have, on occasion, flirted with progressing further in the competition. It was Heslop who led out the Altrincham youth team at Oakwell against Barnsley in the First Round Proper in 1998, and although they were defeated 2-0, the manager describes it as ‘one of the best experiences [he has] had in [his] time involved with football.’
That defeat at Oakwell was the last time Altrincham were involved in such an advanced stage of the tournament, emphasising just how frustrating an odyssey that The Youth Cup can be for non-League sides. Yet Heslop believes that this year’s group represents the most impressive Altrincham youth side for many a year and has a real chance of progressing beyond the qualifying stages.
"This season we have one of the strongest youth sides in last 16 years, we had the one defeat at Curzon Ashton, which is always a difficult game but apart from that we have been playing exceptionally well and scoring a lot of goals.
"When you think about it, four of the lads; Matt Fearon, Adam Reid, Joe Coombes ( who has been on the bench for first team) and Jake Barnabas have all been taken for training with the first team such has been their tremendous start to the season and it’s not just them. Eight of the eleven are in the Cheshire county FA team. That shows just how strong this team is."
