Harrogate Town academy chief Paul Stansfield hails progress of Under-18s side during early months of 2022/23 season

Established as recently as May 2021, a number of scholars have already gone on to play first-team football for the League Two Sulphurites, while the club’s Under-18s side are more than holding their own in the North East Division of the EFL Youth Alliance.

Under the guidance of head of academy Stansfield and lead coach Josh Law, the Town youngsters have won three and drawn one of their opening five fixtures, a start to the season which leaves them fifth in an 11-team division but with games in hand on all of the teams above them.

Proof of their evolution was encapsulated in their performance at home to Burton Albion last weekend as they netted twice in stoppage-time to record a 2-1 victory and a third consecutive league success. “I’m pleased with how it’s going. I think you can see by the league table that we are making progress. Last season we finished second-from-bottom, this year we are currently in the top half with games in hand,” Stansfield told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"We are by no means the finished article. There’s so much more that we could do better and we’re trying all the time to improve, but I do think it’s going alright.

"You just have to look at the great result we had against Burton last weekend, scoring in the 95th and 97th minute to win 2-1 after missing a penalty in the 90th.

"We controlled the game from start to finish, so it would have been a travesty if we had lost, but it just shows how far we’ve come as a group because the lads just kept going and going until they got the job done.

"We’ve gone from a situation previously where we might have been saying ‘well done lads, the performance was really good, you just didn’t get the result’ to them knowing that they’re good enough to go on and win a game like that.”

As for reasons behind Town Under-18s’ improvement this term, Stansfield believes that there are a number of factors at play.

He added: "I think that confidence has definitely grown. You look at that result against Burton last week and it definitely helped that we’d won the couple of league games prior to that, so the belief was there.

"There hasn’t been the fear factor when we’ve been going to play at places like Bradford City or St George’s Park this season, whereas I think there was a bit last year when it was all new to the lads and they were coming up against established Football League clubs.

"We’ll still show teams the respect they deserve, but we’re going into these games now knowing how much quality we’ve got in our side and believing that we are capable of getting results.

"Having two cohorts this season has also made a big difference. Last season, we only had 10 scholars, so it was tough. But the second years learned plenty from last season, they benefited so much from the amount of game-time they got and are now passing that on and helping guide the first years.

"Our pre-season tour also really helped in terms of team spirit, everyone getting to know each other better and building relationships, as did having a good pre-season, which is always important if you want to be successful in football.”

Seventeen-year-old Finn O’Boyle became the latest Under-18s prospect to be given a chance by Town first-team boss Simon Weaver when he started against Morecambe in the EFL Trophy earlier this month.

And the winger went on to create a little bit of history, netting a first-half equaliser during a 2-1 win which made him the first academy graduate to score a senior goal for the Sulphurites.

Last season, Emmanuel Ilesanmi, Brad Williams and Ben Tweed all played competitive football at first-team level, with Ilesanmi featuring again this term.

And, in the summer, midfielder George Horbury was handed a professional deal and has gone on to make five 2022/23 appearances.

For Stansfield, having a clear route to first-team football is crucial.

"It’s massive for us for the academy lads to be able to see that the pathway through to the first team is there,” he continued.

"It shows that our lads will get chances, that the gaffer will give them opportunities when appropriate and when the boys are ready.

"George Horbury did brilliantly last season, the gaffer [Weaver] and Paul Thirlwell both came and watched him and then we decided it was right to offer him a professional contract. Finn O’Boyle played brilliantly for us for six months and was knocking the door down, then he got his chance.

"I thought he played very well against Morecambe and showed his quality, but I wasn’t overly surprised by how he got on, I know how good these boys are.

"The gaffer and Paul Thirlwell have been fantastic with us and ultimately now it’s just about repaying the gaffer for his backing by feeding good footballers through into the first team.”

Next up for Town’s academy side is a league trip to Huddersfield Town on Saturday, before they play host to Stockport County in the FA Youth Cup on Tuesday night.

Kick-off at the EnviroVent Stadium is at 7.45pm. Admission is free for under-18s. Tickets can be purchased online via the club’s website.