Welcome to new City youth club

9:03am Wednesday 21st May 2008

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YORK City have signed eight new youth-team players on two-year scholarships.

Six of the Minstermites - Jamie Hopcutt, Nick Thompson, Ryan Qualter, Michael Duckworth, Adam Scorfield and Dean Lisles - were born in York, while centre-forwards Dominic Brown and Kingsley Wetherald have been recruited from Leeds.

Together with the eight players signed last season, they will comprise the youth development squad for the coming season and play in the Puma Football League Youth Alliance, as well as the FA Youth Cup.

All eight are City Centre of Excellence graduates and put pen to paper following an induction meeting at KitKat Crescent.

Centre-backs Lisles and Qualter attended Joseph Rowntree and Huntington schools respectively, while midfielder Michael Duckworth was a pupil at Canon Lee.

Left-back Adam Scorefield hails from Archbishop Holgate's and Hopcutt and Thompson studied at Oaklands and All Saint' respectively.

The Minstermen have managed to maintain their youth structure despite the loss of £138,000 in funding since being relegated from the Football League in 2004.

City were faced with a £10,000 shortfall in funding for their youth team this season and so far £7,500 of this has been donated by a number of supporters.

Donations have also been pledged by York Minstermen and Wards Hygienic Cladding which will take the total very close to the target.

Final donations are now being sought before the players return for pre-season training at the beginning of July.

If you can support the Youth Appeal, please forward a cheque for any amount, payable to "YCFC Ltd," or contact club secretary Nick Bassett via nick.bassett@ycfc.net or 0870 777 1922.

• POCKLINGTON Minstermen will hold their annual meeting at the United Services Club on Thursday, June 5 and not tomorrow as originally stated in the Press.

The evening will start at 7.30pm and memberships can also be renewed.