Tiernan Lynch bids to get Brandywell conveyor belt rolling again

​The Belfast man expressed his desire to 'get the foundations right' and create a 'football pyramid' at Derry City which will put in place structures that have long term benefits for the football club.

He’s got pedigree in the field having transformed Larne’s academy set-up and spearheaded the Belfast Met Academy prior to that.

And so he's delighted with the club's innovative collaboration with St Joseph's Boys School and the Steven Gerrard Foundation in a revamped scholarship programme which was launched on Monday night at the Westway school.

The exciting scholarship course offers an opportunity to young footballers to gain a triple award Level 3 BTEC National Diploma in Sport - the equivalent to 3 A-levels - alongside a full-time football training programme with coaches from Derry City and the Steven Gerrard Academy.

Derry City's U17 and U20 representatives will move into a full-time coaching and education environment with their training sessions mirroring that of the first team.

"I've been very fortunate to be part of these full-time BTEC programmes for probably about 12 years," said Lynch. "The success that comes out of them is nothing short of phenomenal, for a number of reasons.

"It obviously gives the young players the opportunity to play full-time football. It gives Derry City an opportunity to have another two full-time teams at the club and while they're doing that they're obtaining their education programme.

"I think this is probably the best venture we've done - linking in with the school, keeping them in the school environment.

"I think it's hugely exciting, not just for the football club but for the city of Derry.

"We have a whole pyramid we want to introduce to the football club,” explained the City manager who is less than five months in the post.

"It was never our intention to just come into the football club and look after the first team. We're of the belief that if there's to be any long term success you have to get the foundations right.

"I just thought it would be very unfair for Derry City from a football perspective and from a club perspective if we didn't come in and try and get that pyramid from top to bottom."

Derry City is renowned for producing top young talent like James McClean, Danny Lafferty, Niall McGinn, Michael Duffy, Ronan Curtis and Patrick McEleney who all went on to enjoy successful careers in England, Scotland and at home in the League of Ireland.

There's been a blockage in that production line for some time for various reasons but Lynch and Technical Director Mark McChrystal, who will oversee the scholarship programme, are intent on giving young footballers in the North West the best possible opportunity to make a career in the sport.

"I think the club has a lot to do and responsibility as a club to give the best young players of the north west that platform to either go on and get a full-time career in England or Scotland or Europe or come in and play in our first team."

Less than 1% of young footballers actually make the grade but this full-time, five-day week scholarship programme will help prepare its students for various other roles in the football industry.

"The odds are against you but at least if we can give them the platform and then the opportunity, then the club's done its bit.

"Hopefully they do go on and get careers in the professional game. Hopefully they do go on and play in our first team. But if not they'll walk away with an education."

Derry City is in the fortunate position to have a significant catchment area but Lynch is thinking even bigger and hopes programmes like this will attract young talent from further afield.

"That's our job. We don't just want to provide a platform for the local kids of Derry but we also want to attract players from outside the city.

“The club's definitely got the size and the stature and we now look like we'll have a programme to back it up.

"I want to be hands on. We came in here with the understanding that we'd get our hands dirty. We wanted to play a part in the development of the club from top to bottom.

"We have a football pyramid and there's still a huge amount to do. We want to get right down to as young as the ages of seven right up to the first team.

"We're definitely underway with that. We were never going to be able to guarantee anybody we would win a league.

"Hopefully we will but at the same time we want to make sure when our day's up at Derry, we leave Derry City Football Club in a much better place than we found it. Today is just the first step in where we want to go.”