THE NORTHANTS FA DAVID JOYCE CUP

VIEW FROM THE BOARDROOM
2 Peterborough Northern Star
G
ood evening Ladies and Gents, Girls and
Boys and welcome to the Branch Bros
Stadium this evening where our U18s
host Peterborough United in the David Joyce
Cup Semi Final.
On behalf of everyone connected to the club,
I’d like to welcome the directors, management,
players and supporters of our guests and
result apart we hope you enjoy your evening.
This evening is very much a vision of what
we are looking to achieve at Peterborough
Northern Star in the future. We have always
had an emphasis on promoting youth with the
hope they can progress from juniors through
to our senior teams with the end goal being the
first team - and from there who knows where
it can lead.
People may think this is only a non-league
Step 5 club but there are prime examples
of players who have moved onto bigger and
better things after being noticed at this level.
Recent ones being Conor Washington who was
at St Ives (and played against us) and Jordan
Nicholson at Eynesbury Rovers (who were in
the league below at the time) who are now at
Queens Park Rangers and our opponents this
evening Peterborough United respectively.
In sync with our vision and emphasis on youth
we recently launched our Scholarship and held
our first trial day. It was pleasing to see a good
turn out and I hope to see the same faces and
many more at our next trial day on Wednesday
30th March 10am here at the Branch Bros
Stadium. We will continue to be holding trials
throughout the summer so keep posted for
notice of future dates as we release them.
The Scholarship also gives us a chance to
educate talented young footballers on and off
the pitch and to do so in a place supported by
the best coaches and coaching programmes
available to a club of our size. Our approach
is based firmly on the idea that if you invest in
people and create platforms and opportunities
for development and creativity, the returns are
immeasurable and wide-ranging.
If anyone reading this has any enquiries
in regards to the Scholarship there is more
information within this programme which
is mirrored online at our www.pnsfc.co.uk
website. For any specific enquiries feel free
to contact the club via email or social media
(Twitter\Facebook) as we are very much an
open platform to both players and parents.
Back to this evening’s game. I am really
pleased for Jez, Richard, Ryan and the
players that after what was a superb night in
beating Northampton Town on penalties in the
previous round, they have been rewarded with
this tie against our well known opponents in
Peterborough United.
Add to that the incentive of reaching a cup
final and I want them all to embrace it as all
we can ask is maximum effort is put in and
what will be will be.
I must finally thank our guests for their
assistance in helping to organising the game
and help us find a fit between the two different
match schedules for these U18 teams.
Enjoy the game and even though it’s obvious
where my allegiances lie and what result I
want I do wish both teams and their staff the
best of luck both tonight and for the rest of
the season.
Tony Zirpolo
Chairman
Peterborough Northern Star 3