Owls in US mission

Last updated : 08 November 2007 By Andy Parsons

The Owls currently have partnerships with organisations in Canada and Argentina although they are currently in negotiations to get another scheme going with another club, believed to be in Michigan, USA.

Owls Academy chief Sean McAuley, who has of course had a small spell in temporary charge of the first team last season, believes that the link-up to look at young players as well as using the state-side facilities as a summer training camp for injured first-team players is a good idea.

He told the Yorkshire Post: "We are currently in the process of setting up a partnership with a club in America, which runs a good programme.

"We currently have one in Vancouver, Canada, but there's an American club in Michigan that wants to be associated with us, and we have a development program with a club in Argentina, set-up through an ex-player, Juan Cobian.

"But what we don't want to do is build these partnerships and then not service them. We want to safeguard the club's reputation. I don't want to do what some other clubs do, and say we have this fantastic partnership, but there's no outcome.

"The American club has a really good standard of football. We want to progress that partnership at youth level, get young players over, but if any of our players don't make it, or any of the older players get injured, or are suffering from an injury at the turn of the New Year, the season over there runs from May and June so what that gives us is the opportunity to monitor their development over there."