The U17s welcomed Billingham Synthonia Reserves to Brierton, with Gary Liddle’s charges coming away with a resounding 6-1 win, with plenty of minutes for all players. Goals from Raitt (3), Lupton (2) and Swift ensured the lively front-line all got on the scoresheet.

The U19s also welcomed Billingham Synthonia in the afternoon to Blackhall, with Alex Cross’ side winning 2-1, goals coming from Kilic and Josaolo. The U19s continued their preparations against Park View on Wednesday evening, losing the game 2-0, but performed well in large spells.

We welcomed our Shadow Youth Team players to our new Academy Training Hub this week, along with the appointment of Damian Shanahan as the Shadow Youth Team Coach.

Damian brings a wide range of experiences to Hartlepool United Academy with a history in coaching, analysing, recruiting and scouting.

With over 20 years in the game, he joins the club to coach the players in the Shadow Youth Team and our newly formed U16s Academy whilst assisting both Gary Liddle and Alex Cross with the U17s and U19s Youth Teams.

“Firstly, a big welcome to Damian, and I am thrilled to be working with him.

“He gives us a different dimension as a coaching team with his experiences across football that will help with the continued development of the academy and the players within the structure.

“Damian has started working with the Shadow Youth Team and has already been able to lean on his experiences to give the players the best possible start to life at the club.

“We are seeing the work we have been putting in place on the training round come to fruition in games, which is the most important part. The players are in a fantastic place physically, which has been a real team effort from all players and staff.”

We can now confirm our coaching team for the season as follows:

Alex Cross – Academy Manager – Lead U19s Coach

Gary Liddle – Lead Professional Development Phase Coach – Lead U17s Coach

Damian Shanahan – Shadow Youth Team Lead Coach

Paul Johnson – Lead Football Coach

Jonathan Constantine – Head of Academy Recruitment

Melody Jones – Lead Physiotherapist

Sukhraj Dhilon – Sports Therapist

Jay Constantine – Lead Academy Analyst & Set Piece Coach

Rhys Pearce – Strength & Conditioning Coach

Ben Taylor – Player/Goalkeeping Coach

The Academy U19s are back in action on Wednesday when they travel over to Bradford (Park Avenue) and the U17s host Ian McGuckin’s Middlesbrough U16s on the same day.