The new-look Youth Team has started its pre-season preparations with 10 new scholars on board.
The new arrivals – a mixture of homegrown talent that has progressed through the Whites’ academy set-up and those recruited from elsewhere – join 10 second-years in Julian Darby’s U18s’ squad.
Last season the Whites secured a top-three finish in the NW Youth Alliance and reached the final of the Lancashire FA Youth Cup, with five players going on to secure professional contracts with Wanderers and a sixth extending his scholarship to also move up to the B Team squad.
“We have now got a real pathway for these players to come through, which makes it easier to attract players,” said Head of Academy Dave Gardiner.
“Each year we’ve got to keep growing and keep evolving and get better and what we do and if we do that right we get the results on the pitch as well.
“We’re excited for this season to try and evolve from what we achieved last season and try and build on it with our new in-take.
“We’re only a few days into pre-season but we’ve started really promising and we’ll see now how we develop and progress over the coming weeks.”
After two weeks back in training, the youths play their opening pre-season friendly at home to Atherton Collieries on Saturday morning.
Keep up-to-date with B Team, Youth and Academy news on our dedicated X account @BWFCBandAcademy
