ACADEMY boss Stuart Jones says retaining Category One status was ‘massively important’ for Rovers to remain competitive with their rivals in the north west.

Jones feels Rovers’ ability to offer a pathway through to first-team level means they are still an attractive proposition to young players.

Of the current crop of Under-23s, Joe Rankin-Costello and Daniel Butterworth joined the club from Manchester United, while Lewis Travis spent time at Liverpool before making the move to East Lancashire, mixed in with those who have been at the club already for over 10 years.

Rovers announced in July that they would continue to run a Category One Academy despite relegation to League One and the significant funding it requires. The club have just splashed out a six figure sum on a new 4G pitch at Brockhall to meet the required criteria.

“I think it’s massively important for the football club,” said Jones ones said of Category one status.

“The benefits are the programme we can offer to young players. It is a competitive area, we’re in the north west with a lot of clubs, but us being a Category One club with a Category One programme helps when we’re looking to bring players in, we do sell it on the fact there is a pathway for the young players.

“There are certainly opportunities, we have a history of developing young players, and from a personal point of view, we have a real focus on the development of the individual.

“It has massive benefits in terms of recruitment and development because the other side is the first class facilities we have to have in place because of the rules and the programme we have to offer and the staffing structure we have to have.

“Ultimately that builds the programme of a Category One which is important to us in terms of developing players.

“We can be really competitive in a sense that we can sell our club on a pathway.

“For those players who are leaving Manchester United, they will want to drop in to a Category One programme and games programme and what that brings.

“I think that’s where we are in a sense, a good catch for those type of players because there is an opportunity here.

“Ultimately we have a lot of players that come to us that way.”

Jones took over the role following the departure of Eric Kinder in June and has overseen a busy period at the Academy which has also seen former player Tony Carss recruited as head of Academy coaching.

Player development remains the key priority for Jones and his staff, with six Academy graduates having already made their first-team bow so far this season.

With former head of Academy coaching David Lowe now working alongside Tony Mowbray at first-team level and goalkeeping coach Ben Benson having been promoted to the senior set up, Jones wants to continue the close relationship between the Academy and first team.

“What we tried to do is look at the key principles that the manager (Tony Mowbray) is trying to instil at first-team level to bring that down through the Academy.  I think that is really important,” Jones said

“If we’re trying to develop and produce players for our first-team then it’s important we understand the expectations and requirements when they move up in and around that.

“I think from a fans point of view and other Academies, ultimately Academies are judged on players getting in to the first-team or making careers in the game. It’s not about winning games on a Saturday and Sunday, it’s about development, and the main aim for the Academy is producing players.

“There’s a hell of a lot more goes in to it to achieve it, but from the outside it’s about producing players and that’s what we have to be judged on.”

The Under-23s have enjoyed an excellent start to their league season while the Under-18s reached the elite play-offs last term.

And Jones said: “From an Academy perspective, and at first-team level, I feel that we are in an exciting time.

“We have some good Under-18s players, we have an England international at Under-15 level, and Wales international at Under-17.

“We know there’s a lot of hard work in terms of retaining Category One status but I really think we have the staff and programme in place to achieve that.”

Reflecting on three months in the job, he added: “I was delighted to get the role.  It’s been three months, but feels a lot longer than that.

“There have been quite a few challenges early on to make sure that we continued with a first class programme for the season ahead.

“We’ve had quite a bit of recruitment to do around some coaching staff and roles within the Academy so it has been pretty intense.

“It’s really important that down here we have an environment that’s about development.

“We have really emphasised that with the coaching staff. That has been a really big challenge for us but we can see that is starting to develop but it will take time, it won’t change overnight.

“There have been few challenges along the way, but I’m really enjoying it and we have some fantastic people here that help support that.”