Alex Norwood is looking forward to putting into place a new culture at the club this summer as the Blues prepare for life in Division One next season. Despite a disappointing campaign that saw Nelson relegated from the North West Counties Premier Division, The Admirals have started to build a reputation under Norwood as a club that gives talented local young talent a chance.

“Towards the end of last season, I made reference to a culture change at the club and a lot of work is going on off the field to reinforce that.” said Norwood this week. “It is no secret that younger players will feature heavily for us this season and it’s important that there is a support network on the pitch, in terms of experienced players and also a coaching staff with different areas of expertise.”

A host of Blues U18s players benefited from a taste of first team football at the end of last season, and a number of impressive performances including a 5-1 win at AFC Liverpool and a 2-2 draw against Padiham showed the club has a lot of exciting young talent looking to step up into the first team. A League and Cup double in the North West Youth Alliance Division One capped a fantastic season for the U18s under the management of Dominic Knowles which sees the Admirals promoted to the Premier Division much to the delight of Norwood.

“It was an interesting exercise to see how the young boys coped with the intensity of senior football “ added Norwood. “I have to say, their commitment was first class. They have had a fantastic season in the youth team with Dom Knowles and some lads who we thought would do well actually looked as though they would benefit from another twelve months with Dom, whilst others exceeded our expectations so it just goes to show that sometimes, you can speculate all you want but the only way of finding out whether a young player can cope with senior football is to give them the opportunity and see how they respond. I don’t see too many clubs at this level doing that and I’m extremely proud to be a part of a football club that promotes young players.”

The new season sees Nelson returning to Division One having won the league in 2014 and having competed for 3 seasons in the Premier Division the Admirals now face the challenge of improving their fortunes on the pitch and having a successful season back in Division One, however Norwood is under no illusions of the task ahead.

“You only have to look at how the three relegated teams from the previous season fared to see just how challenging this level of football is. We played FC Oswestry, Chadderton and Atherton LR in the cup competitions last season and they were all tough games; Chadderton were particularly impressive. We will not be dropping into this league with arrogance and an inflated idea of our own self-importance – every team will present a different challenge and it is down to me and my staff to ensure the players are as well prepared as possible in order to answer those challenges on a weekly basis. There has been investment made to ensure things are in place to facilitate what is, ultimately, the most important thing – the development of the players and the team winning more games of football.”

The Admirals have announced this week two home friendlies with Evostick Div One Champions Lancaster City visiting Little Wembley on the 18th July followed by local neighbours Barnoldswick Town on the 22nd July and another home friendly expected to be announced tomorrow.

“Pre-season friendlies are a great opportunity for players to get minutes under the belt after a period of relative inactivity after the season ending,” said Norwood. “We are fortunate to have secured fixtures against strong opposition with two excellent coaches who I have the upmost respect for. These games, as well as the rest of the pre-season programme that the club will announce in due course, will challenge the players mentally as well as physically in preparation for the start of the season.”

While other clubs have announced numerous signings already, The Blues are yet to make any announcements on new players with Norwood clearly keen to keep player recruitment in private for the time being. “It is a busy time of year and there has been a lot of phone calls and a lot of meetings. We’ll go about our business quietly and diligently and when there is something to tell, the club will announce it.”

Meanwhile the Blues have a number of coaching opportunities and vacancies for 2017/18 season with information available on the website soon. News and updates throughout pre-season will be available on this website, follow all the build up to an exciting new chapter for the Admirals!