I worked at the academy for 6 seasons and in that time it got worse every season, the offices were old and dated with very little in the way of equipment, the equipment standard got worse and worse, the pitches were a disgrace and an embarrassment.
The coaches and staff deserved so much more as in the end lots grass roots teams had better equipment and facilities, a professional academy is meant to be the best of young players available with better facilities and coaching.
It will be a long time before Scunthorpe United can produce its own players through an academy based system! As the funding isn’t going to be there and more to the point the way this has been handled will take many years for the confidence of local parents to trust anything that the club says.
I know lots of parents have said they will never bring back their child into a Scunthorpe United academy even if it restarted tomorrow, it is a sad day for the town and club as there was some really promising youngsters who are now going to be part of academies at Lincoln,donny,grimsby, hull and other academies within the catchment area’s.
