BASINGSTOKE Town FC and Queen Mary's College have agreed a deal that will give more young footballers the chance to attend the club's youth academy.
The agreement will give talented players attending QMC the chance to play for the club's youth team, where they will line up alongside youngsters from the existing academy at Basingstoke College of Technology.
The scheme at BCOT has been running for the past year, with players working towards a BTEC National Diploma in Sport in the morning and training together in the afternoon.
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Things will work slightly differently at QMC, with players not required to do a specific course - instead fitting football around their existing studies.
The two town colleges will continue to field teams in the Hampshire Colleges League, with Town FC academy manager Mark Hughes able to select players from both to play for the Dragons in the Football Conference Youth League. In addition, Hughes is able to select up to five players not at either college.
Town president and chairman Rafi Razzak sees the academy arrangement as a big step forward for youth football in Basingstoke, and he believes it will help the club's bid to forge links with the academy at Southampton FC.
Razzak said: "This is great news for the club and the town as it means all of our talented young players can be part of the same programme.
"The whole idea is about trying to forge links with the youth academy at Southampton. Any players at the Basingstoke academy who are capable of playing at a higher level will be given the opportunity to go on trial at Southampton."
QMC principal Stephen Sheedy added: "This deal will benefit everybody as it gives the best players in the town the opportunity to play together, whatever they are studying, and allows the club to access all of the talent."
The agreement will also bring money into the academy system at the club, and Razzak hopes to develop a ladies academy on a similar basis in the near future.
The academy received further good news this week when it was announced that an anonymous supporter has offered to donate £500 a year to the youth system.
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