Academy boss Darren Edmondson takes the under-18 side to face Morecambe at a slightly different ‘home’ venue on Saturday [kick off 11am] thanks to a new partnership agreement with local club Penrith AFC.
The young Blues will play a series of fixtures at Frenchfield Park this season, including this weekend’s league meeting and another game against Morecambe in the Reserve Cup.
Speaking about the agreement today, he said: “It’s a developing partnership and I think we’ll be able to play quite a few games there this year. Match days at Frenchfield Park will have a different feel to them and, with the pitch being revamped in the summer, it’ll be a great surface to play on.
“Our staff helped with that and we started talking between the clubs some six or seven weeks ago about the possibility of playing a few of our games there. If it means Penrith get a look at some of our lads and they want to take them on loan, as happened last season, that will be another benefit that both clubs will be happy to pursue.
Generally it’s a great arrangement all round and I know it will be good for our lads ...
“Generally it’s a great arrangement all round and I know it will be good for our lads. As I say, we’ll play five or six games there before Christmas and we’ve also entered a Reserve Cup which, for the home games, we’ll also play down at Frenchfields. It’s good news for all concerned in my opinion.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s meeting with the Shrimps, he said: “We had a couple of good games against Morecambe last season. They’re new to category 3 status so they’ll have developed and improved even further.
“They were very direct in the way they played last time we met so it’ll be a good game, I have no doubt about that. I know they have new coaches in place so it’ll be interesting to see how they approach it this time round.”
“Playing it at Penrith’s stadium will add a bit more excitement for the players as well,” he concluded. “They’ll be walking out of proper changing rooms into a tunnel, and then out onto the pitch.
“There’s the little stand there as well so it’s great that Penrith have been able to allow us to use their excellent facilities.”
United v Morecambe, Frenchfield Park, Saturday 26 August, kick off 11am
United PlayerHD subscribers - your platform is now called iFollow United. Click HERE to watch an interview with Darren Edmondson now.
