Rovers are committed to their Category One Academy after passing a recent audit.

The club have been granted Category One status for a further three years after meeting the required standards of a Premier League assessment.

The Academy structure is becoming more competitive, with 28 clubs now falling under the Category One status which brings benefits such as grant funding, the age of which players can be signed, the games programme available and greater protection over keeping hold of players.

The funding of the Academy, which is around £2m a year with a further £1m in grants, also isn’t factored in to any Financial Fair Play calculations.

Rovers’ head of Academy Stuart Jones said: “A couple of months ago, the Premier League now have their own audit company that they have appointed to come in and assess Academies.

“We’ve been through a full audit, across all disciplines of the Academy over a four-day period, and the good news is we’ve come out of that and continue to be Category One because we’ve met the required standards.

“That’s been a real positive and the next cycle, although there’s an annual safety compliance check, the actual standards of where you measure on the day-to-day work is done over a three-year cycle. It’s a positive for us.”

Burnley and Crystal Palace are among the clubs recently granted Category One status, which adds a more competitive element, according to Jones.

He added: “The rewards of Category One in terms of a recruitment perspective, the games programme, it’s definitely something that the Category Two teams have been looking at and they see the rewards.

“That’s probably going to have an impact on the Category Two in terms of the number of teams left, but it’s certainly become more competitive.”

Rovers retained Category One status even after relegation to League One in 2017/18 and are currently one of only two Championship clubs competing in the top division of Academy football.

With five Academy graduates regular starters in the first-team, and high hopes over the futures of a number of prospects coming through, the production line looks to be working well.

Writing in the club accounts, published this week, chief executive Steve Waggott said: “Our Category One Academy programme continues to develop players that fit in with Tony Mowbray’s philosophy, with player development being at the forefront of everything we do with our emerging talent pool.”

Meanwhile, Rovers are in the final stages of their interview process for a new Under-23s assistant manager.

It will be the first time Rovers have had an assistant manager at that level since David Dunn’s departure from the club in 2018.

The new incumbent will work alongside manager Mike Sheron who landed the job last summer following the departure of Billy Barr.

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