CHELTENHAM Town have announced that they are running a Hereford Development Centre for talented players aged seven to 14 and 16 to 19.

The development centre will be managed by former Hereford Academy head coach Andy Bevan.

Cheltenham have created a link with Hinton FC and are looking to create more links with clubs.

In the 2021/2022 season the club plan to run a full-time post-16 programme in Hereford and partner with a local college.

Academy Manager Antoine Thompson said: "The development centre will be managed by Andy Bevan who has a good track record of developing footballers and creating an enjoyable, positive learning environment.

"The Hereford site will work in conjunction with our Cheltenham site. Hence, we will have two development centres feeding directly into our academy.

"Herefordshire has an abundance of talented footballers. With the right coaching and games programme and opportunities, I am confident we can produce more professional footballers and/or help players to make a living in non-league."

The post-16 programme will start as soon as academy football can recommence following Premier League and EFL guidelines.

The post-16 programme will help bridge the gap from youth to senior football.

The post 16s will compete in the under-18 and under-21s Midland Leagues.

Cheltenham will be running a foundation phase programme for ages 7-11 year olds and 13/14s side with four teams in the Junior Premier League (JPL).

Bevan said: "Cheltenham Academy Manager Antoine (Thompson) and I spoke numerous times and we both shared a massive passion for making this work.

"To prove so we have had full board and head of football approval within this timescale, which shows the level of commitment given by all parties.

"This is a massively exciting time for all involved with so much work and planning gone into the scheduling around the programme, it is now starting to pay-off. I can now see, some potentially great opportunities for our boys.

"It is also great for players who may have thought that they may have missed a chance to realise a dream and play football at a decent level and who also may just be late developers.

"The under-21s is exciting as for me the post-16 teams will all be about development rather than results, hence the project to field younger players. Players will be integrated for trials into the Academy once they show they are ready."

To apply for trials please contact Andy Bevan by emailing: andybevanctfcdc@gmail.com