Former Wolves Coach Harvey Parkes appointed Head of Pre-Academy
Shrewsbury Town’s Academy have made an exciting appointment by bringing in Harvey Parkes as their Head of Pre-Academy.
The Pre-Academy looks after the youngest ages associated with Shrewsbury Town and aims to be the first step on the ladder towards becoming a professional footballer.
“We’ve brought Harvey Parkes in who will manage the Pre-Academy”, Ramsay told ShrewsWeb.
“It’s probably an area of the Academy that hasn’t had as much attention as it should have done since I came in, because it’s tended to be more focussed towards the top-end of the Academy.
“I think bringing Harvey in, who’s been a Pre-Academy Coach at Wolves and has previously worked at Birmingham as well is a feather in our cap and it will really strengthen the bottom end of the programme.”
Many of the youngsters joining the Pre-Academy will only just be starting off in their footballing journey and Ramsay is hoping to make a good first impression.
“It’s as an important a bracket as there is in the Academy, so I’m hoping that will be run really tightly this year”, said Eric.
“I think first and foremost it’s about making players fall in love with football and it doesn’t become professional prematurely.
“Making sure the Academy at the bottom end has the right feel to it and it’s not overly serious is important, but, equally, it is their first experience of Shrewsbury Town as a Football Club.
“We’re in a really competitive area in that we’re on the doorsteps of Wolves, West Brom, Aston Villa, and the North-West clubs, so I want the first experience to be a positive one.
“Making sure that we’ve got the right staff there and enough staff there is really important, so Harvey’s appointment is pivotal in that sense.”