EXCLUSIVE by Tony Kelly, Chief Sports Writer

Humble York Railway Institute Football Club are to act as a talent-magnet for Premiership titans Manchester United.

That is the ambitious aim of former York City player Barry Tait, who has just been appointed manager of RI.

Tait, who has spent the last 11 years scouting for the Old Trafford giants, the bulk of that time scrutinising players on the say-so of United boss Alex Ferguson, has agreed to lead the West Yorkshire League premier division club on an ambitious two-pronged front.

Besides providing a 'nursery club' for United, new boss Tait has targeted a return to the Northern Counties East League for the club.

But it is the prospect of fast-tracking talent across the Pennines from New Lane to Old Trafford that has fired hopes that RI can get back on the rails as a major force in the city.

The strong links between the Red Devils and Tait, who helped to broker the deal that took York City ace Jonathan Greening to Manchester United last spring, have been reinforced.

He explained that he is to now switch his attention from scouring the professional game to alerting Les Kershaw, recently appointed director of United's new youth Academy, of young potential.

Declared Tait, who figured in 16 games for City in the late 1950s: "I will be able to see a lot of players at York RI. They run nine teams in all, from under-nines to under-16s.

"Any that impress I will be pushing over to 'Man U' and, of course, RI will benefit from that."

Under Howard Wilkinson's new charter for youth, professional clubs can only operate one Academy in their name, thereby returning to the past trend of having satellite clubs provide a stream of talent.

"There always used to be nursery clubs in my day and we are getting back to that. Under the new rules clubs can take players who live within an hour and half of them," said the new RI manager, who insisted that distance factor allowed RI youngsters to be dispatched to Old Trafford.

He added: "It will make a change from running around the country for Alex Ferguson, though I believe I'll still be doing a bit of scouting for him as well."

However, the 57-year-old Tait insisted his United 'work' would not conflict with his task of leading RI to a step up in status.

Committed to starting next season in the WYL premier division, RI's most immediate target was re-admission to the NCEL, whose officials recently toured the club's New Lane base.

Tait said: "There is some work to be done, but we will be looking to get into the Northern Counties next year. I want RI to be a force as well in local football."

Tait will be assisted in the running of the senior team by former RI manager Nigel Rhodes, who welcomed the arrival of Tait.

Said Rhodes: "We want to put last season behind us and get back to the forefront of local football."

RI will return to pre-season training on Tuesday, July 7 from 7pm, and thereafter each Tuesday and Thursday at their New Lane ground.

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