We want to produce our home-grown talent, says Ealham

ASHFORD resident Lee Ealham, 34, cannot wait to start using the sports facilities that are planned at his home-town football club, writes Stephen McCartney.

Former Ashford Town favourite Ealham was last week appointed the club's under 18 manager and he jumped at the chance to become involved with the ambitious Ryman League Division One South club again.

The club unveiled it’s plans for an £8.5m sports village at the club’s Homelands Stadium, four miles south of the town at Kingsnorth.

The plans include a 5000-seater stadium, 100-bed hotel and a sporting village complex, which has a tennis centre and all-weather pitches.

Ashford Town already boosts impressive facilities for a club at this level, albeit a bit run down, but what the wealthy owners, Don Crosbie and Tony Betteridge, have in store for the Kent club, excite the former Gillingham professional.

“What Don and Tony have got planned is going to be amazing,” Ealham told www.kentishfootball.co.uk at yesterday’s press conference at the club.

“It’s very exciting and everybody’s looking forward to it.”

Ealham, meanwhile, will have a very important role at the club, developing local youngsters for Steve Lovell’s first team squad.

“We’ve discussed it at length, all of us, and I think what we’re looking for these kids, well they’re not kids anymore, that’s the whole point, they’re young adults and it’s an important area the club’s looking to develop,” said Ealham.

“I’m honoured and excited to be asked back to come and do it.

“It’s very important that it feeds the reserves and first team and these boys will be worked hard, run like an academy side here, progress into the senior set-up and yes, we can’t wait to get started.”

Some youth teams in Kent are run separately from the first team - but this won’t happen at Ashford Town this season.

“It won’t be like it at all,” explained Ealham. “What we’re going to have now Steve, to be honest with you, is have a fold where we’ll be part of the senior set-up.

“These boys will train with the first team, they’ll be part of it and as you rightly said unfortunately a lot of clubs, what’s happened in the past here as well, it’s been totally separate, it’s run as a separate entirety.

“That’s all changed now and that’s part of the reason why I agreed to take on the role.

“Don, Tony and Steve want to see it as part of the senior set-up and that’s great for us as an under 18 manager that’s what you look for at any club.”

Ealham wants local youngsters to come to Ashford instead of commuting to Gillingham and/or Charlton Athletic.

“We want to run it professionally, want to run it like an academy side like your Gillingham and Charlton academies,” he said.

“When it does progress up the league’s and Ashford Town is in a position where one day it would look to go full-time these kids know what’s expected and it’s a progression they can take instead of being a million miles away.”

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk