Sunderland College’s Football Development Centre has been crowned North East Colleges League champions after the season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The squad, coached under the guidance of Improtech Soccer, fulfilled 11 of their 12 fixtures before the Open-Age league season was suspended in March.
Stuart Brightwell’s side were top of the table with 24 points and one win away from the winning the title when the NECL announced their decision earlier this month.
“I am absolutely delighted for the lads being crowned league winners,” said Stuart. “They put a lot of hard work in, both in training and the games throughout the course of the season and I am immensely proud of them.
“Their never say die attitude and togetherness was a joy to watch and they always responded positively to whatever I asked of them and as a coach.
I believe this achievement will have a very positive effect on this group and will give them a lot of confidence moving into next season.“
The Open-Age title is Sunderland College and Improtech Soccer’s latest success which has included the NECL Premier League and numerous cup wins in recent years.
Carl Jones, Football Development Centre Coordinator, added: “Congratulations to Stuart Brightwell, his squad and all of the Improtech Soccer coaching team for this achievement.
“The team have been very competitive this season, making a flying start, and to mark the culmination of this success with a title speaks volumes of the hard work and application from everyone involved.
“The title follows previous successes which help our student-athletes progress both on and off the pitch.”
Sunderland College and Improtech Soccer’s Football Development Centre supports students who want to progress into professional and semi-professional football as well as onto international scholarships.
Running as a professional academy would, the Development Centre combines academic studies with professional training and competitive games.
Players will receive unrivalled levels of football training from UEFA qualified coaches ensuring they develop as individuals and team players whilst studying a professional, technical or A-Level programmes.
Although a decision is yet to be made on when the 2020-21 season will begin, Sunderland College and Improtech Soccer are recruiting ahead of the new academic year.
The programme is open to both boys and girls, so If you would like to combine a high-quality football programme with a first class education please contact steve@improtechsoccer.com or sport@sunderlandcollege.ac.uk for further information on how you can apply.
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98% of our students progress to a positive destination
(*Destination data for Sunderland College students aged 16-18, academic year 2017/18).
Our achievement rates are well above the national average.
We are the College of the Year.
(*Top college nationally for BTECs, Pearson 2019)
100% of our HND and HNC students progressed to employment or further study.
(*Destination data, academic year 2016/17, HNC 19+)
We have recently invested £50 million in our facilities.
