Season 2014/15 was a very successful one for Glentoran Academy as the youth section of Glentoran FC grew in numbers and productivity leading to some fantastic results both on and off the pitch. You will have seen recent news articles on Glentoran.com relating to the Academy’s new training complex at Dundonald High School and a review of our end of season awards event at La Mon Hotel, attended by over 400 people. At this event the Senior Academy Manager gave a short presentation summarising the season, broken down into a list of numbers – this presentation was also given at the recent Glentoran AGM by the Director in charge of the Academy, Mr Grahame Jenkins. These numbers and their meaning are listed below to give a real flavour of the season past and a measure of the success of the Academy.
250 - The Academy has grown to a membership of over 250 players including our girls’ teams – the largest number of players ever on our books
3 – Three is the age of our youngest player, the number of teams in our Junior section that completed a full season playing up an age group and the number of former Academy players who made their first team debut either in pre-season 2014 or throughout the 2014/15 season
5 – The number of ex-Academy players who played in or were a part our Irish Cup winning squad
50 – We facilitated over 50 trials for Academy players at cross-channel pro clubs last season
44 – We had 44 players involved in squads or currently on advanced trials with the IFA’s Club NI set up or International squads
2 – The number of NIBFA Cups won last season by Academy teams – the joint most of any club in NI (won by our u14 and u15 sides) and the number of Academy players gaining moves to full time football in England for next season
76 – The number of players who played up an age group within the senior end of the Academy as we continue to push players towards our ultimate goal of reaching our first team
20,000 – Our incredible volunteer coaches, together spent over 20,000 man hours volunteering for our club and its future – time spent away from families and work helping to develop and improve our next generation of players.
450 – Over 450 goals scored by Glentoran Academy teams in the National League last season!
Let’s hope for even more impressive figures this time next year.
Glentoran Academy survives on the support and generosity of parents, sponsors and donations as well as the tremendous fundraising efforts of our tireless committee but it is a continuous effort to make ends meet and provide the best facilities and opportunities for our young players. We would like to appeal to any businesses or groups that feel they could help in any way to please get in touch with us at info@glentoranfcacademy.com and we would be delighted to engage with you. We would also be delighted to hear from any potential community outreach/ inclusion efforts on-going that we could be of assistance with.
Finally we would like to finish by thanking the supporters of Glentoran FC for their continued interest and support of the Academy and we trust you will all see the benefits of the hard work in years to come