Eric Ramsay becomes new Academy Head of Coaching
Shrewsbury Town’s recruitment drive has continued with the key appointment of Eric Ramsay as Head of Coaching at the Academy.Ramsay arrives from Premier League club Swansea City and moves into a newly formed role looking at improving coach education.
He has a wealth of experience having spent four years at the Swans and he also takes up a role at the FA of Wales.
The feeling coming out of the club recently has been that the Academy has enjoyed a rapid improvement this season, and Ramsay echoed that mood.
“I’m delighted, it’s got the feeling of a club on the up, the academy in particular, it seems as though it’s moving in the right direction and I think it will be a pleasure to be a part of”, Eric told ShrewsWeb.
“It’s seems to me that there’s a renewed drive to try and get academy players into the first team, the recent appointments reflect that.
“The general feel for me is one of a project that will hopefully produce players at a professional level and most definitely for this club.”
The youth team have earned plaudits this season, especially during the impressive run in the FA Youth Cup, and Ramsay is excited to see some of those players make the step up.
“Since I’ve been here the youth team have been on a really good run and there’s definitely some players in there that are on the cusp of making their debut at Football League level.
“We are hopefully that over the next few years we can start feeding the first team group with more quality.”
Ramsay sees similarities between Shrewsbury and his old club, and he hopes to use his experience in South Wales to help propel the Town academy to new heights.
“It was an incredibly exciting time at Swansea, they’ve got a remarkable story, similar to Shrewsbury in a way given that they escaped Football League relegation in a really vital part of the club’s history.
“My view of a place like this is that it doesn’t necessarily have the niceties of a Premier League environment but in reality the programme isn’t an awful lot different.
“I’d like to think that I can take the best of what I delivered over the course of my time at Swansea and tailor make something for Shrewsbury Town’s environment.”
Ramsay’s role with the FAW has brought him into contract with Academy Manager Andy Jones in the past, and he outlines this as one of reasons he was so attracted by the role.
“I know Andy Jones with through his involvement with the FAW, so as soon as I saw that the head of coaching role was available, it was of interest.
“Particularly given what you hear about the academy here and the feel it’s got and the direction it’s moving in, it was a really attractive role and one that I’m really excited to be in.”
Ramsay’s role will see him oversee the footballing aspect of the academy, and he gave ShrewsWeb a run through of the jobs that he will do on a day to day basis.
“I’ve also got a background in coach education with the FAW so that’s really why this role appealed to me because it gives me the opportunity to work in coach education as well as working day to day with the players.
“I will look after the coaching element of the academy, so what the programme delivered to the players looks like, it’s a case of looking after the football side of the academy.”