Interesting partnership

[Garawa]

Every now and again Windows 8 throws up the odd gem you probably would miss elsewhere and today it brought up this from a paper in Jersey. Have we done anything like this before?

ST PETER FC have joined forces with League One outfit Gillingham to boost the development of the clubs’ academy programmes.

In a move which will allow the Island club to provide a clearer pathway to professional football for their youth players, St Peter will benefit from regular visits by Gillingham FC academy coaches and they will now be able to give their older juniors the chance to train with the Kent side three to four times a year.

Pre-season testing with the English Football League team is also within the terms of the deal, and the Western club has also offered the use of their facilities should Gillingham’s senior, youth or development squads travel to the Island for training camps.

The news means that St Peter now have two partnerships with professional clubs in England, as coaches from Premiership side Everton are already familiar with St Peter’s Summer Soccer Camps.

‘This is a fantastic opportunity for our academy to benefit from the experience, knowledge and know-how of a high calibre professional coaching team and a well structured club,’ said St Peter Academy chairman Brian Foulser.

[gillsfan1066]

Looked good till the last line, haha. Seems a good idea, I just wonder how many kids from the Channel Islands have ever made it in pro football in the past ?

[sotongill]

Matt Le Tissier , ( or Le God , as he's still known locally ) jumps immediately to mind ( incidentally , he's from St Peter Port ) , but I'm struggling beyond that .

[fan_of_mulligan]

http://www.gillinghamfcforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1360

I made this suggestion a few months a go about Gillingham using the loan system to our benefit and having a potential pathway into the first team, I think the more partnerships and affiliations Gillingham have with clubs on our doorstep, the more players we could send out on loan to gain experience and play competitive first team football on a week in, week out basis, and of course it could work the other way where we have first dibs to look at a talented young player playing for St Peter FC, Ramsgate, Faversham Town and so on.

Next time I am down the training ground, I might ask Steve Lovell and Mark Patterson about my loan suggestion to see what they think about it, and whether it is one of those idea's that looks brilliant on paper, but in reality we cannot pull it off.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

This sounds like a good idea,and can only be good for the Club.I like that they will let our players use their camps as it is good for the players to get away in pre-season whether that is France or somewhere like St Peters to bond.We may find a few talented players from that region that might be good enough for us.I see it as a win win situation.

[lidbid46]

Graham Le Saux, not sure about spelling, is from Jersey I believe.

[sotongill]

Graham Le Saux, not sure about spelling, is from Jersey I believe.

Certainly is Lidbid . I was trying to remember his name the other night , but could only remember the nickname that Vinnie Jones gave him at Chelsea - Tiny Tears , wind him up and he cries .

[Rimshot]

Yeah Vinnie wouldn't have liked GLS, he read a grown-up newspaper and used words with more than two syllables.