Paul Benson was a key member of the famous John Still team who took us back to the Football League from our exile in the Conference – making 38 appearances and chipping in with 18 goals as the Town cruised to 102 goals and 101 points, finishing 19 clear of our nearest rivals! ‘Benno’ played for us over three seasons, returning after two seasons away to become part of the Academy set up which he now manages.
We started by asking him about his background, his career and what brought him back to Luton Town…
I was born in Southend and came through their academy, but was released as a scholar and found my way through non-league to Dagenham & Redbridge. That’s where my career really began, with promotion from the National League to League One, then on to Charlton – where I played under Chris Powell – and Swindon, with loan moves to Portsmouth, Cheltenham…and Luton, initially on loan and then signing permanently. I had three fantastic seasons here before going back to Dagenham and then Bedford Town. While I was with Bedford, I started doing a bit of part time coaching with the Under-13s at Luton. Andy Awford was Academy Manager then. I knew him from my Portsmouth days, and he suggested I join as a coach – I had made my mind up to go in that direction in my later playing days and had done my B Licence as I learned the coaching trade. I’d also played under some great managers and picked up a lot from them. Andy offered me a full-time job with the Under-16s and then the Under-18s. I worked my way through the Academy under him, then Paul Hart, doing pretty much every role, eventually becoming Head of Coaching. Then, when Paul left, I was appointed interim Academy Manager before getting the post permanently – and I’ve been in this role for coming up to three years now.
Could you tell us about the structure of the Academy please ?
We’re currently a Category 3 Academy under the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) system, which was introduced in 2012 and has four levels. We’re at the third. Our vision – and it’s an ‘infinite’ or ongoing one – is to be the very best in whatever category we’re in. In many ways we’re already set up for Category 2. As James Mooney alluded to in his Trust interview, we’re waiting on a few things regarding that, but in the meantime, I want to make us the best we can be at our level, and we have plenty of support for that from the Board in creating the environment, staffing and coaching quality to fulfil that purpose.
On the coaching side, we have three phases. Foundation is Under-9 to Under-12, Youth Development Under-13 to Under-16 and Professional Development Under-17 to Under-21. My thinking as I developed in coaching, was that if I was ever in charge I would have more coaches having more contact time with the players, with a full-time lead coach to supervise and manage each phase. And that’s what we’re doing, so the players coming through will have more elite coaching.
We’re looking to evolve that further too. Jack Ainsworth is our lead coach for our Under-9/Under-10 cell, Phil Payne for our Under-11s/Under-12s cell, Ollie Modeste runs our Under-13/Under-14 cell with Jack Cartwright responsible for our Under-15/Under-16 cell, and each of them has some great coaches working within their age groups, several of whom have come to us from the Community Trust.
Then into the professional development phase you’ve got Joe Deeney for the Under-18s, with Ronnie Henry assisting him, and Alex Lawless heading up the Under-21s. I oversee it all, with Wayne Turner helping me. He was Academy Manager when I was a player with Luton and I wanted to bring him in as a sort of mentor, with his experience and knowledge. He comes in two days a week and is fantastic to work with. I believe that no other academy at our level offers better coaching, or creates a better environment for players to develop. We’re constantly looking to build on that as part of our intention to be the category-leading youth academy.
For instance, some academies have a full-time Head of Education, which enables them to have hybrid coaching programmes where players come in and have their education on site and can train for the day too. I’m pushing for that, so we can have day releases for the Under-16s as well as for the professional development phase.
So there’s more to the Academy than just the coaching side, then?
Yes, you’ve got coaching, sports science and medical, analysis, safeguarding, player care, administration, recruitment and education. All in all we’ve currently got 22 full-time staff, and 15 to 20 who work on a part-time basis. We’re looking after about 160 players, so the Academy is quite a big operation – and growing, as we look to develop more of our own-grown players for the first team. They – and their parents – can see a pathway to that goal, illustrated by recent successful examples. Joe Johnson and Zack Nelson as first team squad regulars, and recent debutants like Christian Chigozie, Harry Fox and Fin Evans, who became our youngest ever scorer on his debut.
What is the ethos of the Academy?
We have a set of values we live by. ‘A Luton Town individual (that’s all of us, not just the players) is hardworking and humble, with a winning mentality. They are respectful, honest, disciplined and committed to creating an elite environment for all’.
That value statement ends by saying it is non-negotiable. And it is.
Let me give you some examples. Respectful – whenever they see a member of staff, our young players are expected to shake their hands and say good morning or good afternoon, or good evening. To look them in the eye and show respect – and that works both ways of course. We respect them as individuals. We ask them to be disciplined too, and honest. If they make a mistake – and we all do – to own it and be accountable. You’re forgiven a lot easier if you’re honest about mistakes you make.
And humble: that’s a big one. All of the scholars ball-boy for the seniors’ games. Fin Evans scored on his debut, but ball-boyed for the first team on Boxing Day. Christian did too, the week after his debut. We want to keep them grounded, and humble. To appreciate the opportunities they’re getting and understand they have to work for them. In the morning, they must put their phones in before they go out to train. No distractions: respect and focus on what you’re doing. We want to create an environment where they understand how special it is to play football and don’t take it for granted. That’s really important for me, that they understand every appearance they make is special and they should not take it for granted or get carried away with it.
On the same basis, we don’t like to give them too much, too soon. We want to reward them with professional contracts when they’ve earned them, but we don’t want them getting carried away with themselves with excessive amounts of money. Everything has to be earned by living out our values – and the reward is a career that millions dream of.
We have excellent facilities but we don’t go overboard and provide them with too much. Our pitches are good, for instance, but not to the level of the first team – though our scholars get to train with the seniors at times and experience that too. We think there’s a sweet spot to be hit and I think our Academy facilities do that. The young players have to earn the right to experience first team levels.
What can you do to retain our best young players – and what happens to those who don’t make the grade?
Fans will be aware that we’ve lost some talented lads from our youth system – our manager Jack was one of them! And there have been more recent losses too. One of our lads has been on the bench for Villa in some big matches this season, and there are others. It’s inevitable that some will be attracted by the likes of Spurs, Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea coming in for them, and that’s often driven by the parents.
However, what we do is talk players, and their parents, through the development path we can offer, and the high-challenge, high-support environment we provide. That’s not just the Academy team but Gary Sweet and senior management, too. I think that’s unique – as is the level of interest and commitment our Board shows in youth development. Paul Ballantyne and David Wilkinson, for instance, attend a huge number of games at every age level: I don’t know of any other club where that happens.
As for the many who don’t progress to the first team, or a professional career elsewhere, young players are looked after so much better now. They’re prepared for careers outside of football – knowing that over 99 per cent don’t get to that level – with life skills and education training, and there’s a comprehensive aftercare programme for the wellbeing of players released at scholar level, with regular check-ins from player care and safeguarding staff for three or more years.
During their time with us, players have six reviews a year, two of them being formal. That’s with all departments, with six to eight staff – coaching, education, sports science, medical – talking with the individual player. I think it’s very important for parents to be there, to see how much is invested in helping them achieve what they want to achieve and to get to where they want to be. Those reviews help them manage their expectations too: so, even though being released is always going to be painful, that pain is reduced by being prepared for it should it happen.
Going back to the youngest players: do they have set positions they play in as they develop?
No, at the foundation phase it’s about learning to love the game and filling what we call a ‘toolbox’ of experience and skills as they play around the pitch in different positions. Success for us is them building that love of the game and taking it into the youth development phase – learning to experience and navigate the pitch and the game. They might have a favoured position or we might see strengths in another position but that can change as they develop. Joe Johnson was a midfielder up to the Under-16 stage for instance, but then we saw his strengths on the left and converted him to a left-back. Oli Lynch was a centre-half for about 12 months but is now finding success as a centre forward. You see this at all levels and ages in the game.
How closely do you work with first team management?
I’ve been lucky enough to lead the Academy under three managers who take a real interest in developing young players. Rob Edwards was an academy coach himself at Wolves, Matt Bloomfield took a real interest and flew some of our academy lads out to Slovenia pre-season – what an experience for them – and from day one Jack has shown a real interest, especially given his background as a former Luton academy player, Arsenal academy player and more recently academy coach. He consults with Joe, Ronnie, Alex and myself regularly – and all the scholars. Around 80 per cent of the Under-18s and Under-21s have had time training with the first team. He’s had the faith and confidence to involve youth players in first team games and squads, too. There’s a real pathway open for them at Luton.
What effect will Power Court have on the Academy?
It’s already having an effect – it’s a fantastic incentive to attract and motivate young players. Do you want to be in that first team to step out at our fabulous new ground in front of 25,000 fans? What a thing to dream of and strive for!
What do SoLYD – Supporters of Luton Youth Development – bring to the academy?
SoLYD are absolutely amazing, Derek and Paul particularly. The Trust do so much for us and their funding makes a massive difference: it enables us to do things we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. Putting money towards a pre-season team-building week away for our scholars to get together and gel, for instance. Funding flights and expenses for our Under-21s to go to Glasgow and play at Rangers. Buying us a set of dug-outs for The Brache. A hardship fund for young players who need a bit of support with kit and expenses. And now taking the lead with a shirt sponsorship initiative for the academy – that’s new and I’d encourage all of you reading this to support it!
We meet regularly and, as a player who was around in the club’s conference days, I know just how important SoLYD has been historically. Without it youth development would have disappeared in those dark old days when dropping out of the Football League meant the loss of all central funding. SoLYD was set up to come to the rescue and have been brilliant ever since.
Finally – a word for the supporters about how they can help our young players?
Your support at the Under-21 games at Kenilworth Road is wonderful and gives the boys a chance to experience playing in front of a crowd. That’s great. And I’d also say that when they get a chance to play for the first team. Your encouragement and positivity can make a massive, massive difference. That applies to the senior players too, especially when mistakes are made – frustration is totally understandable but getting behind them can only build confidence back and up.
I know from playing as an opposition player at Kenilworth Road what an intimidating place it can be – and as a Luton player what an inspiration our fans can be too. We’re all part of the team.
As my old manager John Still famously said, the stronger the team, the stronger the team!
We’re certainly with you on that Paul – and thanks for sharing such brilliant insights with us. COYH!
