England Universities training camp

England Universities Training and selection camp

Earlier this month the annual training and selection camp was held at Warwick. 36 of the countries top University players attended. Dawn Scott, Exercise Scientist from The FA put completed fitness tests for on all 36 players. In the afternoon of the first day coaching sessions were held by James Ellis (Loughborough), Tom Curtis (Loughborough) with support from Tom Radcliffe (Hartpury), Mel Davies (UWE) and Neil Cunning (Brunel). Kevin Pilkington (Notts County Pro) lead a session for the goalkeepers. These sessions allowed the staff to form a better view of the players. In the evening the players had a dinner where last years England Universities and now England C centre back Exodus Geohaghan (Wolverhampton) returned to wish everyone well.

The following day the players were due to be split and play reserve teams from the two high flyers in League 1 in MK Dons and Leicester City. The weather in particular the freeze go the beating of the group and we had to call off both games.
At the end of the camp the staff have decided to look at all the players in the next fixtures to give everyone a completive chance of making the squad.
This years captains of the programme will be Marc Richards (UWE Hartpury) and Ashley Nicholls (Anglia).

England Universities season

The above group of players are due to share two fixtures in the week commencing 16th Feb. The first is on Monday 16th February against the RAF. The second fixture is yet to be confirmed but will take place on 17th or 18th February. We will also look to play MK Dons, Leicester City in the near future. We are also hopefully of playing our friends north of the border in England at some point this season - it is always great to have a game against the Scots.
At the time of planning the a squad of 18 players will travel to Ireland to play against the Irish WUGs team and also the Ireland U19 team. This will be a great opportunity for the players to gain experience outside the regular domestic / non league football. We also have been invited to play in a four team tournament in Guernsey this year that will include Guernsey, Southampton Res and Exeter Res.

England Universities funding

This is unfortunately not good news....this year our funding from the Football Association has been cut. Myself, Steve and Bryn are however working with BUCs to remedy the situation as this will severely hamper what we can achieve in the future. This is a real blow but we will be looking at ways of ensuring that the players do not miss out!

FA Cup football

Tomorrow sees Kettering Town play Fulham in the FA Cup fourth round and yet again is a chance for two players from HE to make names for themselves. Exodus Geohaghan (Wolverhampton) and Brett Solkhon (Loughborough) will be chasing the dream!
Hope for another student to turn pro
Andy Brown (Loughborough) who currently plays for AFC Telford and was part of last seasons England programme is currently being looked at by Dagenham and Redbridge who are doing well in League two. Andy would follow Mark Nowokeji (London) who signed for them in the summer.

Domestic BUCs Football

It is now coming to the business end of the season where the leagues are coming to an end and the battle for silverware in the knockout competition commences. Wish you all the best of luck.