Blackpool academy boss: First-year professionals have plenty of hard work ahead
Blackpool’s academy boss has sent out a warning to the club’s would-be next generation of players.
Ciaran Donnelly has warned Blackpool’s young professionals that the hard work will only continue if they want to progress through the ranks at Bloomfield Road.
A number of youngsters are under contract with the Seasiders, with eight coming through from the academy to play first-team football this season.
However, the club’s academy director doesn’t want anybody thinking that means it is ‘job done’.
He told Blackpool’s in-house media: “It’s been a good group, it’s not necessarily what happens every year.
“Taking somebody through as a first-year pro isn’t meaning they’re going to have a career in the game, it’s a stage.
“What it means is we’ve decided as a club that over the time they’ve been with us, they’ve shown us enough to continue that journey.
“We make that clear when we’re signing them on that pro contract; this isn’t ‘Sign on the dotted line and that’s it, take your foot off the pedal and you’re done.’
“That is very much ‘Well done for getting to this stage, it’s a great moment for you and your family to say that you’ve signed your first professional contract. However, you’ve got all these blocks in the road now. You’ve got to get better than the first-team player who’s in your position, you’re going to have to go on loan at some point and face some adversity.’
“There’s lots of things that can happen but we’re taking them through because we think they’ve got some potential to maybe do that.
“If they show that and really prosper in that environment, then hopefully we might have two or three players from that eight that maybe make it into our first team.”