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Academy

Under-16s reach EFL South West Floodlit Cup final

6 December 2019

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Cheltenham Town's under-16s side are gearing up for the EFL South West Floodlit Cup final after reaching the final for the first time.

Lead Youth Development Phase Coach Gerry McGinty is in charge of the under-16s at the club.

He will lead his young team into the final against their counterparts from Exeter City next week.

It's a crucial time for the under-16s. As well as their commitments in this competition they are also focused on the possibility of earning a full time scholarship with the under-18s set-up for next season, with many of the youngsters also involved in the under-18s current FA Youth Cup campaign with Arsenal to face in the third round.

"It's a tournament that is run by Bristol Rovers," McGinty explained. "There's a 14s and a 16s age group and the EFL run the under-15s age group.

"There is a group of four and a group of three - it's like a Champions League format. In our group it was us, Swindon, Bristol Rovers and Newport. The top one from the group goes and plays the top one from the south group which is Yeovil, Exeter and Plymouth.

"This is the first time we've got to a final in it. This age group I think got to the semi-finals at under-14s and they were unlucky last year as under-15s - they lost out to Bristol City who then got to the final.

"It's been coming for a few years now as a very good age group and it's something that we've been looking to try and get them into for a while. This year it all fell into place."

Watch the full interview with McGinty explaining the competition and the under-16s squad as a whole above on iFollow.


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