Blackpool academy boss pleased with youngsters’ efforts in the 2025/26 season

Blackpool academy director Ciaran Donnelly hopes to see some of the club’s youngsters stake a claim for selection in the senior set-up over the next year.

The Seasiders used a number of younger players in their Vertu Trophy campaign this season, with 10 of them finishing the defeat at Tranmere Rovers last November.

Of those 10, only Theo Upton and Terry Bondo featured in League One with both having a brief taste of first-team action when used as late substitutes.

Oluchi Nwankwo, Jack Richardson, James Butterworth, Spencer Knight and George Elder were all unused substitutes at various points as Blackpool faced a number of injuries to their senior players.

It has been a positive campaign for Blackpool’s youngsters, with the Under-18s defeating Bolton Wanderers in the Lancashire FA Professional Youth Cup at the start of April.

They also reached the EFL Youth Alliance Cup final a fortnight later, which they lost on penalties against AFC Wimbledon at Bloomfield Road.

Speaking to Blackpool’s in-house media, Donnelly said: “Across the academy, we’ve had some good success.

“The Under-18s had a successful season, we’ve progressed plenty of our boys from the schoolboy provision into becoming youth-team players for next season.

“We’ve managed to get away on trips and tours abroad with the younger academy and we just keep getting better.

“We’re hoping that we can take it forward again next year but, overall, we’re pleased with the progress the academy makes.

“We’re eagerly anticipating seeing how one or two of them maybe transition into the first team over the next 12 months or so but, overall, as an overarching view of the academy, I think we can be pretty pleased with how it’s going.”