Newcaslte Elite Academy Benfield FC
NEA Football Education Programme Newcastle Benfield FC Partnership

Newcastle Elite Academy are delighted to announce their new partnership with Newcastle Benfield FC. This vital new partnership comes as a huge positive to both parties, in terms of successful youth development and a clear pathway for talented players in the area.

NEA is based out of Northumbria University’s Coach Lane sporting facilities and provides talented U17-19s players the opportunity to engage in a high-quality football programme emulating a professional environment whilst studying sports specific qualifications leading to University and careers in sport.

All under the watchful eyes of the academy directors Rob Elliot, Paul Dummett, Matt Ritchie, Dwight Gayle and Mike Williamson they are committed to providing the very best experience for the players as well as achievable opportunities on and off the pitch with desired outcomes for the players leading to pro and semi-pro opportunities, UK and USA scholarships, industry-specific careers and higher education.

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A SUCCESSFUL YOUTH SYSTEM PATHWAY

The academy will represent Newcastle Benfield FC who compete in EBAC Northern League Division 1 by fielding a team in the National League U19’s Alliance League for the 2020-21 season. They will be playing several youth teams of clubs across step 3-5 of the non-league pyramid on Wednesday afternoons at Sam Smith Park, home of Newcastle Benfield FC.

The club will also be fielding teams in the FA Youth Cup and local U18s Saturday league in conjunction with Newcastle Elite Academy providing a structured and progressive youth setup across the U18’s and 19’s age groups. The newly formed Newcastle Benfield FC teams will look to provide a successful youth system to the club with opportunities for players to work towards breaking into the first team, allowing the club to produce there own local talent.

What the players say about the partnership...

“We are delighted to finally announce our partnership with Newcastle Benfield FC. Ever since the start of our full-time football programme in 2018, one of our goals from the outset was to set up a link with a local non-league football club providing a clear pathway into semi-pro football for our student athletes. Hopefully, as time goes on we can help produce players who will make an impact on the club’s first team helping there pursuit of moving up the pyramid.”
– Rob Elliot, NEA Director

“Many talented local youngsters can lose their when leaving youth football especially when transitioning into senior and semi professional football, this partnership will held bridges the gap for our student athletes. We work hard to create the best opportunities for them to pursue various footballing avenues whether that’s professional or semi professional levels or UK and USA scholarships and this is another example of this.”
– Mike Williamson, NEA Director

“It’s a great opportunity to work alongside Benfield, it’s vital that the boys are given the best opportunities to develop and showcase their abilities at levels that help with their progression as players. It’s ideal for the academy to be tested in the FA Youth Cup so that they can excel to their full potential as well as an indicator of what levels they need to be at to succeed. The bridge given to us by this partnership feels like another positive step towards helping the community prevent quality players dropping out of football as it allows players that bit extra time to develop as we see so regularly people developing at different ages.”
– Dwight Gayle, NEA Director

“The opportunity to represent the club in the national league U19’s alliance is a brilliant progression for the academy providing a great challenge for our student athletes, which comes at a perfect time alongside offering our brand new Year 14 education programme for September. This offers our U19’s the opportunity to train everyday with a flexible education timetable, essentially training like professionals and providing a fantastic opportunity for them to really develop in the next 12 months in their transition from youth to senior football.”
– Paul Dummett, NEA Director