THE connection between Ireland and Celtic Football Club is set to grow even stronger as the Glasgow giants will launch their first Belfast-based academy on May 10.
From the glory days of Charlie Tully and Bertie Peacock around the middle of the last century to modern-day stars Roy and Robbie Keane, Neil Lennon and Paddy McCourt, Irish footballers and Celtic have always gravitated towards each other.
And that bond will grow ever closer once the new Celtic academy gets under way, as talented youngsters from the North will have the opportunity to fulfil their dreams of one day running out at Celtic Park.
The academy will be based at Solitude, the home of Danske Bank Premiership outfit Cliftonville, and Celtic will work in conjunction with the junior soccer academies run by Kix4Kidz. A Celtic representative will fly into Belfast twice a week to coordinate the programme - as well as casting a close eye over the talent on show.
The man behind the innovative link-up is Marty Lavery, who started Kix4Kidz in 2011 and has seen it grow from strength-to-strength, with over 400 children aged between five and 12 on their books across Belfast.
He is assisted by a host of Uefa A and B-qualified coaches, including the Cliftonville trio of Marc Smyth - who is also head of the Reds’ academy - defender Johnny Flynn and winger Marty Donnelly, as well as Crusaders’ Andy Mitchell and Linfield defender Seanna Foster.
The Celtic connection came about after a chance meeting with former Bhoys boss Neil Lennon while on a training camp in Barcelona and he was encouraged to approach the Glasgow club about developing a link with his academy.
Three years later, it has come to fruition - and the Belfast man admits it is “a dream come true”: “We thought that, for young players from Ireland, their first port of call when they leave Belfast should be Celtic Park, instead of going to English clubs," he said.
“We were out training at the Barcelona B ground, where Celtic were also training before a Champions League game, and Neil Lennon was asking what had us all the way over there. He said we should give Celtic a call and we got in touch with a guy called Paul Brownlie and we’ve been doing summer camps ever since.
“I put together a proposal and [Celtic’s international academy manager] Tony Massie came over, met with myself and had a look at our camps. I suggested that we collaborate - Celtic bring an academy to Belfast and, in turn, the best kids have a chance to go to Celtic.
"A huge club like Celtic has link-ups and international partners all over the world, but we’re creating a network where players go directly into the Celtic academy. In that respect, it’s the first of its kind. The fact that it has got to this stage is fantastic, a dream come true.”
A selection of players from each age group will be picked to travel to Glasgow once a year for a trial as part of the club’s elite ID programme and Lavery is hopeful the initiative “will help create a direct pathway from grassroots football to professional football”.
“They’ll be a full part of the Celtic youth academy, they’ll play in the Glasgow academy at St Ninian’s High School once a year, and if they do well they’ll be offered forms,” he added.
“There’s over 400 kids in our camps and we’ve identified the best ones - now, we’re asking local clubs to send their best players to make sure we capture everybody. We’re hoping that, if this works, we can bring it right across the north. From Celtic’s point of view, they’re getting to see the best kids before the English clubs come and snap them up.”
As somebody who has been involved in underage coaching for years, Lavery has always believed that, given the right opportunities, Ireland is just as capable of turning out top quality players as anybody else.
And long-term, he admits he would love to see a student from the Kix4Kidz Celtic academy graduate to the big time at the Scottish Premiership side: “When I started to run these academies, I thought I’d chance my arm and went straight to the top - so I contacted Barcelona. They asked me to fly out and meet them and tell them what our plans were.
“I told them at that meeting that, at six, seven or eight, our kids were as good as theirs. But somewhere along the line, the coaching, the lifestyle lets them down. It all changes between 10 and 12.
“We all know the talent’s there, so if we can spot it at eight or nine years-of-age, get them into the psyche of being a professional footballer - going and training properly, eating properly – their chances will increase 10-fold. In six or seven years, we want to have players over there pushing for places in the first team. That’s the dream.”
If you are interested in enrolling your child in the Celtic academy, contact Marty Lavery on 07944 293059.
