Boro's academy sets the English standards

In February manager Steve McClaren guided the first team to Carling Cup glory. The win over Bolton has been earmarked as the start of a new and successful era with a place in the UEFA Cup assured.

The senior side's triumphant afternoon in South Wales may have ended with the first major piece of silverware returning to the North-East yet there was a genuine sense that the 16,000-plus fans inside the Riverside on Monday night felt just as much pride when the FA Youth Cup was held aloft.

McClaren and captain Gareth Southgate apart, most of the Boro squad were at a training camp on the Costa del Sol for the final four games of the domestic campaign while the club's younger generation, those aspiring to appear in a showpiece themselves one day, were creating their own history.

Success over Aston Villa was achieved in the most convincing fashion. A three goal lead from the first leg set the tone and then an instinctive chip from Jason Kennedy wrapped things up.

Everyone connected with the professional game has known for some time that Boro's academy has been gaining a fine reputation.

The season before, McClaren took over from Terry Venables, who had arrived to help stop a slide into the Nationwide League. Venables said: "The club deserve to get the rewards from the Academy. From 20 downwards there is a lot of promise here and that promise has to be turned into performance and reality."

A comfortable 4-0 aggregate scoreline in the final against a club with its own competition pedigree acts as the perfect indicator of just how well the academy is working.

Eight of the FA Youth Cup winning squad have been called up for international duty next week.

Andrew Taylor, Tony McMahon, James Morrison, Matthew Bates and Gary Liddle will be hoping to play for the Under 18s against Sweden on Thursday, while Anthony Peacock has been called up for the UEFA Under-19 qualifiers with Slovenia, Ukraine and Denmark.

Another two are in the Under 17s squad and it is testament to the Boro scouting network that there are so many homegrown youngsters trying to make their mark on their own doorstep.

Fifteen of the 16-man squad who secured the Youth Cup were born in the region. Only substitute Seb Hines came from outside the North-East and his hometown was Wetherby - just 45 minutes drive from Middlesbrough.

Villa, on the other hand, paid money for a number of their runners-up team - with goalkeeper Robert Olejnik costing £50,000 from Austria Vienna.

"Ron Bone (Head of recruitment and scouting) was on the pitch celebrating with the players and he deserved to be a part of those celebrations," says Academy manager Dave Parnaby.

"People like Ron have been here something like 14 years and he's probably responsible for all of those players coming into the club.

"It must have been a great feeling for him. But there are a lot of people - from the nine coaches, through to the physiotherapists, the sports science back up, the administration and the education welfare - in the operation.

"As a club we have got a lot to thank the chairman for as well. He was as proud as anyone on Monday.

"He gave us the ability to become an Academy six years ago. We have wonderful training and coaching facilities and it's all down to him."

Gibson ploughed £20m into giving Boro a new home. Ending their time at Ayresome Park in favour of a new arena at the Riverside.

Yet it is the £10m he spent on building the multi-purpose Rockliffe Park training HQ that has helped to propel Boro to the level where they are now competing for major honours.

It's at Hurworth where the academy players are nurtured, developed and it's there where Parnaby and assistant Mark Proctor are trying to ensure the highly-rated Under-19s and Under-17s players progress on to the Premiership stage, following the likes of Andrew Davies, Stuart Parnaby and David Murphy.

"They are a very talented group but we can't get carried away and, although we have pushed one or two through of late, our aim is to get more into the first team," says Proctor.

"Realistically there are two or three players who will aspire to get into the first team environment. There's still along way to go and they have to be patient. At this level doors get closed in their face and then others open.

"We have got the cake mix right at the moment but a lot goes in to trying to help them produce it at first team level. Ron Bone and, along with Keith Noble, find the talent and what we do is try to bring them on through coaching.

"A lot of cuddling is needed to help them develop and there are also strong words needed at times."

The two-goal hero from the first leg, Morrison, has already made his debut for the first team, as part of the side that knocked Notts County out of the FA Cup in January.

But, despite his tender years, he has already set his sights on a bigger role. Morrison, Darlington-born, has his work cut out as Spaniard Gaizka Mendieta plays in his favoured position. "It's been a good year so far and hopefully it will get better. This year I wanted to get into the first team and reach the Cup final and I have done both," said the 17-year-old.

"Mendieta is a world-class player and I know I have to keep working hard to reach that level and maybe even better him. By doing that I just hope the gaffer gives me my chance at some point."

Teammate Bates, who has been at the club since signing as a 13-year-old while playing for Marton in the Teesside Junior Alliance, was instrumental in helping Boro keep two clean sheets against Villa.

And the 17-year-old from Eaglescliffe, on the bench in the Premiership this season, said: "I set myself targets at the start of the year and I have surpassed those.

"The record is quite good for the people who have been in Youth Cup finals who have gone on to do better things for England and for Premiership teams.

"This is only the Youth Cup though and all of the players in this squad have got to target the FA Cup.

"We have all got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We have all got good chances but that's all we have at the moment."

Read more about Middlesbrough here.