Stancliffe's secret of success

The majority of the 1990s may have been spent in the more loftier climbs of Division Two, but few die-hards would really disagree.

Yet for a so-called minnow City have an unrivalled big reputation and it is a reputation that cannot be matched by many teams in the Premiership, let alone outside it.

For when it comes to unearthing raw talent, nurturing it and turning it into international quality City are a beacon, a standard bearer for how things should, and can, be done.

According to Paul Stancliffe, Bootham Crescent legend and one-time granite-like centre-half, there is no magic quick-fix formula to City's success.

But pay heed to the words 'commitment', 'investment', 'patience', 'coaching' and, perhaps most importantly, 'quality' and clubs aspiring to the ways of the Minstermen will not stray too far from the path.

"There are lot of factors but we have a solid foundation, a strong base from which to work," admits Stancliffe. "That has been built up over the years and I cannot take any credit for it.

"It started when Ricky Sbragia was here, with the help of a few others, including Garry Naylor and Brian Neaves who are still with the club.

"We have a decent scouting system, although you are always trying to improve, and good coaches.

"We can bring the boys in all the time, but you need the coaches and I can't take credit for that."

Competition for the best young talent comes from the North-east's big three - Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough - while Leeds United, a club also with a reputation for developing stars of the future, are pretty much on City's doorstep.

If anything, however, the proximity has forced City to develop a finely tuned scouting network that works - Chris Hogg, Lee Bullock, Christian Fox and Scott Jordan have all emerged from north of the Tees, while Russ Howarth, Jonno Greening and Richard Cresswell were snared closer to home

Not that City are resting on their laurels. Indeed, as Stancliffe explained, the club are stepping up their searches in the immediate vicinity of Bootham Crescent.

"The North-east is probably our strongest area and, as daft as it sounds, we have been a little bit short in York. But we are sorting that out and we are getting stronger in the area and we are getting more boys in."

Since the Bosman ruling put the onus on smaller clubs to develop their own talent, Stancliffe insists it would be a rarity these days for a talented player to slip through the net.

Surprisingly, given the amount of money that clubs pump into their youth academies and scouting set-ups, putting pen to paper is still often the best way for would-be David Beckhams to secure their place on the first rung of the professional ladder.

"We still rely a lot on boys applying for trials and I try to reply to them all, even if it is in the negative" explained Stancliffe.

"But there aren't many boys now, especially as they get older, who will slip through the net because of all the scouts there are in the country. There maybe the odd one but it is very rare.

"Every club in the land has to have a good youth policy. What Leeds, our nearest neighbours, have at Thorp Arch is first class. They have Brian Kidd as head of their youth programme. That's how important it is to clubs.

"We have got to try and compete with that. Financially we can't, so it is a matter of quality over quantity."

That sought after quality is evident at City's training Wigginton road training complex. Few clubs outside the Premiership can boast such a facility and the University of York, with its all-weather floodlit pitches, is also used for City's Centre of Excellence.

"The training facilities we have are a great selling point," admits Stancliffe. "We have a good set up at the university and since the chairman bought the training ground we have spent money getting it right.

"It means the training can be better and it is a big plus when it comes to games. The surface there is so good it encourages football."

Stancliffe admits the job satisfaction he derives is "brilliant, just brilliant".

"You bring a boy in at 12 or 13 and to see him progress into the international set-up is a great bonus. But our job basically is to bring them through and then try and pass them on to the manager. If you can do that it's a great feeling."

But for every positive there is a negative - for every Hogg or Howarth there is a Chris Marshall.

The third year youth trainee was on the bench for City's last home match of last season, but never made his Football League bow and was cut free from the club earlier this season.

Following John Keegan's recent departure to Scarborough, only John Fielding of the third year intake has his future yet to be decided, while a number of the second-year trainees could find themselves shown the door before the end of the season.

"It is the worst part of the job and it's not just having to tell the under-19s, it happens all the way through," said Stancliffe.

"You try to convince them it is not the end of the world but at the time they don't believe you and you can feel you are destroying somebody's life.

"We try to emphasise to the boys, we do still monitor them and we have proof that we do bring boys back in.

"We tend to encourage them to go back to their Sunday League teams and we continue to watch their progress.

"Marc Thompson is an example of a lad who was released at a young age, but who was brought back in a couple of years later."

Only a tiny percentage of those boys currently tied to York will ever realise their dream of making the grade.

And with more than 100 boys contracted to City at anyone time, the number of youngsters cut-free is high and a regular occurrence.

"But that is one of the reasons for our success," said Stancliffe.

"It might sound cruel but we have a good turnover. We don't keep boys for the sake of it.

"We look for quality and if we don't think a lad is up to the standard we do release him so we can bring someone better in.

"In many ways, it is like being manager of the first team who is always trying to improve his squad. We try to do that."

The current youth systems at City and other Football League clubs is all a far cry from the days when Stancliffe started out on his footballing career.

"There is a lot more coaching now," he said. "I was a schoolboy with Sheffield Wednesday until I got released and went to Rotherham, who I actually signed apprentice forms for.

"But it was just two nights a week in the gym and there wasn't much coaching, mainly five-a-side games. Now I would say 90 per cent of work is on technical work.

"Obviously, the older they get we try to bring more team play into the coaching. If any come through to me I shouldn't have to be coaching how to trap a ball.

"We do still work on the basics but my job is to file the edges off and let the manager know who I think is ready to step up."