Luton chief believes achieving Category Two status would change the Hatters completely
Luton boss Rob Edwards believes if the Hatters can finally achieve their goal of reaching Category Two status it would change the club completely and allow them to protect their younger players from being pinched by other teams.
Town have been looking to move from Category Three to Two for a number of years now and recently resubmitted a planning permission to build an air dome on the playing field to the rear of Barnfield Academy South in Cutenhoe Road. That would enable Luton to join the Premier League’s U23 development games programme, which would in turn give their youngsters the valuable experience of playing against some of the top talents at their age level.
Edwards himself knows only too well just what a big thing it would be, having spent a large part of his coaching career within an academy set-up, starting out as U18s head coach with Wolverhampton Wanderers and then becoming head coach of the U23s at Molineux, winning promotion to Premier League Two Division One. He was also head coach with the England U16s and worked with the England U20s, as speaking on the matter, he said: “To move to Category Two status would be a big thing, it helps no end, with loads of stuff.
“To protect us more from other clubs coming to look at some of our young talented players, game programmes, it helps to push our young players and get the best games, the best opposition possible, so it will change us completely. It’s something that would be really beneficial and hopefully we can get that and get it moving as quickly as possible. These things never happen overnight, there’s a lot of planning that’s going into it and we’re pushing all the time, it still might not be straight away, but it will really benefit us.”
Luton’s dramatic rise from League Two to the Premier League means more of the focus has been with the senior squad in recent years, although last term saw Joe Johnson and Zack Nelson both make their top flight debuts, with youngsters such as Axel Piesold, Dominic Dos Santos Martins and Christian Chigozie all on the bench as well,
Edwards knows it’s essential the academy now catches up with those above them, adding “The fact that stuff on the grass with the first team has progressed really quickly, it does leave other areas behind. We’re trying to move the whole club forward, we’re always trying to push and it’s really important to us as there’s nothing better than having your own players coming through and playing for the first team. Having that Category Two status would give us a great opportunity to keep giving our players the best opportunity here, rather than go elsewhere.”
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