International travel is just one example of how the academy provides essential learning for a player’s development at all ages. Last month, an under-9s and 10s squad combined to fly the Wolves flag in the Gallia Cup, hosted in the historic Italian city of Turin.
A heroic run saw the old gold progress all the way to the final, narrowly missing out on lifting the trophy after losing on penalties to Empoli, as Wolves’ very own Ricco Ritchie was recognised as Player of the Tournament for his fine individual displays.
It was a first venture abroad for the 2013 year group, who recorded five successive victories in the group stages and found themselves on the right side of a five-goal thriller following a stunning victory over Italian giants Juventus.
For Wolves Academy foundation phase lead coach Nathan McConville, getting one over on the Old Lady was a highlight of the weekend, with the fixture being the centrepiece event under the lights to bring the opening day of the tournament to a close.
“We’d done the stadium tour at Juventus on that morning,” he said. “The players were mesmerised by that, and then they were actually playing them that evening and were fortunate enough to win the game.
“It was tight, but we were 3-0 up halfway through it with a rub of the green. We were definitely under pressure towards the end but fortunately a few goal line clearances helped us out and we were able to hold on, while giving all the boys some minutes in the game at the same time which was good.
“The noise in that game was incredible for an under 9s game. The Italian fans all wanted Juve to win, and they obviously knew Wolves were here which added to it.
“That was the best game – it was the showpiece game on the Saturday night, and everybody was watching.”
The momentum continued through the second group phase and knockout stages, with an appearance in the final the reward for the rising Wolves stars. In fact, one handle of the trophy was buckled up on the plane back to England with the scoreline at 1-0 for the majority of proceedings, until Empoli struck 30 seconds from time to equalise with a free-kick. A bitter pill to swallow for the team, as the Italians eventually went on to edge the tie from 12-yards to win the silverware on spot kicks.
McConville admitted the disappointment amongst the players having worked tirelessly as a team to go so deep into the competition. However, there was much more to take from the weekend away, as the squad acquitted themselves in a manner that left the off-field reputation of Wolves Academy in a positive light.
“The kids were devasted and were all on the ground crying their eyes out – they’ll learn from that and be better for it.
“We wanted the players to go back having left a good impression of Wolves, both on and off the pitch. There were a lot of comments from people in the airport about how well behaved the boys were – the captain took them into the cockpit on the plane home and their behaviour was brilliant.
“On the pitch, we wanted to do as well as we could. The way they performed over-exceeded our expectations, so we were really happy.
“The experience for them in terms of their first European tour and the pressure that comes with playing these massive clubs in front of fans will only benefit the players.
“Academy football in England can be very sanitised when you score a goal but when you go to Europe they’re banging on the drums and it’s a totally different environment.
“It taught them a lot about playing in a competitive environment and the confidence they got from playing those teams and winning games. It gives you that real belief – we played Juventus and were as good as any of their players.”
Despite their exploits on the pitch taking centre stage, the tour also presented the Wolves youngsters with a new culture to sample.
“It was really good for them, the first time for them being away from their parents and for one or two players it was their first time going on a plane,” McConville added.
“It was a really invaluable experience, probably off the pitch as much as on it. We had some of them eating food they didn’t want to eat for the first time.
“Any player that I’ve previously coached, it’s the first thing they’ll say to me – do you remember we went to Spain; do you remember we went to Italy?
“You can talk to them about anything, but these are the things that they vividly remember from their academy experience at Wolves.
“Training sessions and daily stuff passes by whereas none of them are going to forget playing Juventus – that’s special.”
The road to the final
Group E:
- Sisport 2-4 Wolves
- Vigor Milano 1-5 Wolves
- Juventus 2-3 Wolves
- Pozzomaina 2-8 Wolves
- Accademy Moretti 0-4 Wolves
Group X:
- Albinoleffe 1-5 Wolves
- Wolves 0-0 Parma
Semi-final:
- Wolves 2-2 Atalanta (5-4 pens)
Final:
- Empoli 1-1 Wolves (7-5 pens)
Player of the Tournament
Ricco Ritchie, Wolves
Squad
Spencer Bourton, Archie Prescott, Casen Vaughn, Jayden Murphy, Luca Jones, Treyvan Campbell, Ezekiel Welch, Lincoln Riley, Ricco Ritchie, Eddi Coldicott, Jake Bates, Jack Tyler.
Staff
Nathan McConville
Paul O’Brien
Jonathan Redhead
Christina Poxon
