Unfortunately the players at the Centre of Excellence have not been able to train or play matches over the last two weeks. The heavy rain and snow fall made the training area and match day pitches unplayable.

The players have to look forward to the next set of matches, the under 10s to under 15s play Lincoln City and the under16s will play Bradford City. The Centre players look forward to every game but the fixture they all look out for is the local derby against Mansfield. This fixture is on the week after the Lincoln games, it is amazing how the rivalry filters all the way from the first team right down to the Centres under 10 team.

These games are very competitive but are still played in the right spirit with both sets of teams showing respect for each other after the matches are finished. The main thing that is stress to all players at the Centre is that the players try to play good football no matter who they are playing on the Sunday. We stress this because we want to produce good footballers and hopefully these players will start filter through the youth system into the first team. There are some very talented players at Chesterfield Centre of Excellence, I hope these players keep progressing and stay on this steep learning curve.

If any companies or individuals would like to sponsor the Centre/players kit please contact me, Dave Bentley, Mick Beddingham, Jason Elliot or Chris Breeze at the football club.

Mark Jules

Centre of Excellence Manager