Although the playing seasons for both our Academy and Youth teams were cut short by the Covid crisis, both squads and staff can be very proud of themselves for what is a great foundation for the future of the club at both senior and youth levels.

This time last year, the Academy team was taking shape for its debut season in the NPLFA while the U16s were celebrating winning the Bootle league and working towards a season as U18s in the North West Youth Alliance. In covering a season which ended with relegation for the senior team, I encountered a number of the new players in passing and hoped to be able to watch/cover at least a few of their games in the upcoming season.

As the summer began, I was invited by Director of Youth Les Gallop to see the U16s so attended their first friendly game at JMO Sports Park and linked up with a friend I had not seen for a while in manager Ste Meadows. Ste's been amazing to work with since that first friendly from supplying matchday info and sharing created content to allowing me to collect images/details to build a base for the team on the club website and media platforms.

The lads had a mixed season as they faced off against teams with at times a lot more experience at the NWYA level but always showed huge effort and work-rate and even staged a few surprises, taking Chester and Chorley's Dev Squads to seven and eight goal thrillers and even stunning AFC Fylde by taking an early lead in a game that sadly ended in defeat while a number of good victories were written off after the opposition teams forfeited the season.

The squad included many players who also played in the Academy setup and their experience which I will come on to helped the other lads hugely, as the season went on the lads were great to interact with and as the senior team moved into JMO Sports Park, many became the now illusive 'Standbangers' which overall has been great to see and will be amazing to follow as time goes on.

Thanks to Ste Meadows, Chris Holcroft and Ste Howells for welcoming me into the group and aiding during the season and to all the players who I look forward to seeing progress through the club at the various levels.

The Academy under the charge of Graham Hastings surpassed any possible expectations for a new team as they stunned the NPLFA Sports Traider division by not only winning over half their games but topping the table several times across the season.

They battled with Widnes and Mickleover Sports at the top who boasted players with far more experience and age across their squads and yet the Skem lads gave them a good test in all of the meetings. The home form bar the ties against the aforementioned duo was immaculate with some really huge wins at JMO Sports Park which were a joy to watch both as a fan and media official.

The success of the squad led to a few being included in the senior setup with Jordan Dainty the first named in a matchday squad v St Helens in November before he and the trio of Ged Traynor, Nathan Carnell and Adam Morris all gained experience in a friendly later that month against Accrington Stanley U23s. Ged went on to become the first to make an official appearance for the senior team as he came on for the final 20 minutes of January's trip to Squires Gate.

Alike the Youth team, the players have been great to work and interact with as has Graham in what has been a great debut season and hopefully the second season will see them build on their experience with the possibility of more making the step up to the senior setup. Thanks again to Graham for matchday info and allowing to build a base on the website and media platforms.

A massive thank you to Les Gallop from the initial invitation to interaction and help across the season ranging from matchday info to squad updates and giving me the chance to be secretary for the final home game in January which was a good experience.

Finally, huge thanks to fellow fans, Mike Sweeney, Bob Hadwin and Nev Berkley who supported both myself and both squads at a lot of the games and to the parents and friends of the players who welcomed me and interacted across the season with special mention to Lee Dainty, Andy Traynor, Gary Feeley, Ange and Paula Gallagher who made attending and covering the games a pleasure with their cheers and support.

Links to the videos showcasing the goals are as follows...
Goals for the Academy at JMO
Youth Team Goals