Valiants: NPLFA is vital for football

Valiants coach Mick Ede said he believes the EVO-STIK NPL's academy is playing a “vital” role in giving players who were passed over at a younger age a second chance and unearthing new talent before putting out a side against the NPLFA's representative side at Kidsgrove Athletic’s Novus Stadium on Monday night.

Kicking off at 7pm, students representing Belper Town, Kidsgrove Athletic, Mickleover Sports, Radcliffe Borough, Warrington Town and Witton Albion were called into the 18 man squad on Thursday to represent the NPLFA in the first prestigious inter-league fixture of 2017.

Ede said: “The NPL Football Academy is a vital part of the football system. Players develop at different levels and at different stages in their life. The NPLFA offers a quality standard of coaching and game play for those that have not quite made professional academies but are still striving to develop and make the professional level.”

“I think at Port Vale we have always looked into Non-League for potential players. This is a strong link we have made and we use Non-League to send young players out on loan to develop certain areas of their game. This also give us an opportunity to take in a number of Non-League games.”

Looking ahead to the fixture, he added: “We know that this will be a test for our players and one we will look forward to. It is an opportunity to play under lights, which is something some of our players have not yet experienced. So there are several new factors for our players to experience and any new experiences we can expose our players to, will help their development.”

With the best of the NPLFA's students also set to be honoured for the second year running at the 2017 EVO-STIK NPL Players of the Year Awards on Sunday night in Barnsley by Welsh legend Dean Saunders, many of the youngsters are facing a busy 48 hours after being called up.

Founded with the backing of the Football Association at five pilot clubs in September 2014 to provide career pathways into the football industry and still the only league wide academy in English football combining sport with education, the NPLFA is expanding to 13 clubs for the 2017-18 season in September.

The NPLFA's tutors and coaches are currently recruiting their third intake of students at a series of trials running at all 12 NPLFA clubs until Tuesday 18 April for ambitious students either leaving school this summer or coming to the end of their first year in college.

Students and their families are also looking forward to rounding off the current season and enjoying a great day out at the NPLFA's inaugural cup final at Stoke City's Bet365 Stadium, pictured, on Sunday 28 May.

To see the NPLFA's latest promotional videos and success stories, follow on Twitter at @NPLFA or visit: www.nplfa.co.uk. To apply to join the NPLFA, prospective students should register for the trials at www.nplfa.co.uk/register or request more information by e-mailing info@nplfa.co.uk.

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