Andy Pilley talks Fleetwood Town academy

The club have announced plans of a £1m investment into their Poolfoot Farm base for their academy.

There will also be a formal application to be upgraded from a category three academy to a category two.

Pilley feels the plans are a sign of intent from the Fylde coast club.

He said: "Our academy is something we are incredibly proud of at Fleetwood Town and something we intend to continue to grow. The steps we’ve made in recent years has been a credit to everyone involved and we now feel it’s time to take it to the next level.

“The investment we are making at Poolfoot Farm is a real signal of intent, we want to continue to grow and continuously improve both the training ground and our academy.

“There’s nothing better for a club than to see a young player break through into the first team - particularly a local lad. Hopefully this development will see the stars of the future developed here on the Fylde coast.”

Not content with the £10m facility that is already used by 300,000 members of the local community a year, Pilley wants to push on.

He said: “The site is constantly being improved. The dome will see us match the best publicly available training facilities in the country, and we are proud this will be available for community as well as professional use.

“The huge impact the site has one the community as a whole is something which means a lot to myself and the football club. It also allows us to give our professional footballers the best possible chance of success on the pitch.”

Despite the plans for investment into the academy, it will soon be without a manager as Ciaran Donnelly will soon be departing the club, with Blackpool the expected destination.

Applications to replace him however have pleased the Fleetwood owner.

“To be honest we’ve been blown away by the quality of applicants which have come in so far, it shows how highly regarding the club now is in the footballing world,” he said.

“We are looking for someone to take us to the next level, so it’s a big appointment for us at a crucial time.”