The annual AFC Youth Academy presentation evening, sponsored by Amplus Energy Services Ltd, took place last week at Pittodrie and recognised the achievements of the players and staff over the 2019 season.
It is a celebration of Aberdeen Football Club’s Youth Academy.
Head of Youth Academy Neil Simpson spoke to RedTV:
“It has been a brilliant year.
“The awards recognise the achievements of all the players and coaches.
“This is the fourth year that we have had our annual awards and every year we have promised that there is something in the pipeline but now we can officially say we are in Cormack Park.
“The new facility will bring the Youth Academy into the 21st century and provide an opportunity to look and train like an elite academy.
“When we moved into our new office three weeks ago you would have seen the smile all over our faces.
“For the kids you see the smiles when they come into the dressing rooms and then walk out onto the training pitches. Also all the coaches have a real buzz working in this environment.
“Since building goals at Seaton park 42 years ago I have dreamt of rolling a goal into place. And that become a reality on the 4th November 2019.
“We look ahead to a bright future at Cormack Park and are confident that players with our Academy will be part of the Cormack Park conveyer belt and play for Aberdeen FC in the future.
“For all the players, the coaches, the parents, all the staff; to be able to come together and all to be in one venue is fantastic.”
As well as the domestic fixtures, many of the highlights this past year have taken place in Europe as every age group has participated in at least one tournament outside Scotland.
Europe
Due to the reputation that the AFC Youth Academy has, the club have been invited to some of the biggest competitions on the continent and seen our young players compete against some of the biggest clubs in the world.
It gives all the youngsters a fantastic learning experience as Head of Academy Coach Gavin Levey explains:
“We talk about the outcomes of all the different tournaments that we have travelled to. Sometimes it is results, sometimes it is where we finish and sometimes it is just scoring a great goal and creating a great memory.
“This year you could look at in on paper and say they have been very fortunate, but we want to give our players these opportunities.
“When you stop and look back at an event like this you have no idea what has gone on, all the hard work behind the scenes.
“It is great to get everyone together and celebrate everything that is achieved.”
Bobby Clark
A big thanks to our special guest for the event, Bobby Clark
Neil paid tribute to the former Dons keeper and AFC Hall of Famer:
“Bobby has been an inspiration for me since I was 15 when Bobby and Len Taylor the former Academy Director were my youth coaches.
“The high level of coaching they delivered was ahead of their time and the demands they put on you at training to work hard and maintain high standards stays with you forever.
“And it was through there guidance and expertise that gave me the grounding to enjoy playing and coaching football for 42 years.
“I am delighted that Bobby’s role in helping establish the youth training at AFC has been recognised and resulted in the Academy facility at Cormack Park being named the Bobby Clark Academy.”
Winners
The winners of the Neale Cooper Awards, presented by Ian Herd from Amplus Energy Services Ltd for 2019 are:
U10s | Mason Porter U11s | Cayden McGuinness U12s | Lewis Carroll U13s | Archie Gibson U14s | Finlay Marshall U15s | Adam Emslie U16s | Finn Yeats
Amplus Energy Services Moment of the Year | WINNER Adam Emslie
Scotland
The AFC Youth Academy also provides an opportunity for our young players to enhance their profile and gain International recognition and we are very proud when they represent their country.
It was particularly pleasing to see 12 current players who have been developed by AFC get international call ups for the following age groups this past year:
U16s – Finn Yeats, Lyall Booth
U17s – Kevin Hanratty, Tom Ritchie, Calvin Ramsay, Ryan Duncan
U18s – Connor Barron
U19s – Dean Campbell, Ethan Ross.
U21s – Connor McLennan
Full squad – Scott McKenna and Michael Devlin
Sponsors
Thank you to Amplus Energy Services LTD for sponsoring the event.
Central Coaches for proving our away fixture travel and transport the performance school players from Hazlehead to the various venues around Aberdeen for training every week.
Katona engineering, there sponsorship allowed us to host the last two really successful indoor 5 aside Futsal tournaments at the Aberdeen Sports Village, and they have committed to the next tournament this January for 2008 squad.
Vatenfall, who sponsored the pre academy centres, Robert Gordon University, our official education partner and Saltire the club kit sponsor.
And a big thank you to The Parents Association who do a fantastic job behind the scenes.
