How Town's youth team are bucking the trend by actually winning
The best Swindon Youth Team since the days of Don Rogers play the FA Youth Cup Semi-Final on Thursday
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Every Monday is our new Ink Sports Focus led by STFC reporter Sam Morshead.
If you are a free subscriber you will only be able to read the first part of this briefing which means you’ll miss out on Sam’s insightful scribblings.
‘History could be re-written this Thursday’
By STFC writer Sam Morshead
Not since the days of Don Rogers have Swindon Town reached an FA Youth Cup semi-final. This Thursday, history could be re-written.
Swindon’s youngsters have already beaten one of the best under-18 sides in the country, Manchester United, on their way to the quarter-finals. But their route to the last eight also featured victory over another category one academy, Sunderland.
That win, and the success at Luton in round three, were earned away from home, and so the challenge of a trip to Bristol City – who finished top of the Professional Development League South (a tier above Swindon) – will not be overwhelming.
Theirs is the feelgood story of an otherwise grotty year for the club, and at a time when headlines continue to be made for the wrong reasons elsewhere, it is important to recognise positive progress and good performance where it happens.
So The Ink went on a mission to find out what is going right further down the foodchain at the County Ground.
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Sean Wood is in his 17th season as a coach in the Swindon Town pathway.
Wood, a Town fan, joined the setup in 2007 and has steadily advanced up the chain of command – from part-time coach of the under-nines to technical skills coach at under-12 and under-13 level, then foundation phase coach, youth development phase coach and now the under-18 lead.
At a club which has been in a state of perpetual churn over the past 10 years, he – like so many behind the scenes at the County Ground - has been a constant presence.
Wood considers several former under-18 to have been particularly important in his development as a coach, while he places considerable emphasis on lessons learned from the late Alan McLoughlin.
“He believed in me, he kept me on my toes, and he made sure I was focusing on the right things,” Wood says.
“I personally believe he’s played a massive part in this cup run. There have been moments where I go and see [McLaughlin’s grave], speak to him personally and I just know he’s there supporting the boys and supporting the journey.”
Wood’s steady promotion through the ranks underlines the fact that the club has had a fully fledged academy structure for more than a decade.
Indeed, when the EPPP (elite player performance plan) system was launched in 2012, the ownership at the time was obliged to inject £100,000 to ensure Town had a category three programme; around 150 young footballers were involved. A not insignificant sum has had to be put into the academy each season since to keep the production line running.
In the years before and since, the youth development department at the County Ground has gone through various phases, its success often dictated by how relevant those in charge of the first team deem it to be.