City’s youth department are used to working just as hard off the field to find the club’s next generation on it.

In these tough financial times, the Valley Parade production line is feeling the pinch.

Youth team boss David Wetherall (pictured above) and centre of excellence manager Peter Horne know the need to generate their own cash has never been greater.

“Football is not the be all and end all,” said Wetherall. “If only it was so easy that myself and Pete went out on the training pitch every morning and coached the lads.

“That’s essentially why I’m here. But like most other things, money dictates to a large extent what you can do.

“We’re in a time where our grant from the Football League is staying constant while costs go up. We’ve come up with a lot of ideas and a lot of them have fallen by the wayside.

“We’re also in geographical area where we face direct competition not just from our local rivals but Premier League clubs.

“We’ve got our hands full in terms of getting hold of players and the more scouts we can get out there the better.

“You try to move things on like that but rising costs mean our balance sheet is under pressure.”

With no academy status, 60 per cent of the grant is swallowed up in renting venues and the staff needed to keep the centre of excellence running.

Horne said: “The criteria now is that you’ve got to have two staff per group with the relevant qualifications. Even assistants have to be UEFA B coaches so you can’t simply pay them as a bibs, cones and markers man.”

So the department are constantly looking for ways to drum up funds. Their current plans are two-fold – the 50/50 half-time draw at every league home game and box-to-box, where a football pitch in the programme is divided into squares which supporters can sponsor at a tenner a throw.

Wetherall said: “It’s an opportunity for the individual. I know when I was young I would love to have seen my name in the programme.

“I’m a football person; my background is not in marketing but we do need to structure ourselves to give us an improved chance of bringing players through.

“There are no quick fixes at our level of youth development. Any plans we have must be long term.

“You’ve got to give yourself the best chance of getting the best players in. If that means doing it when they are eight or nine-year-olds, you’ve got to be patient until they are 18 or 19.

“We’re raising money with one hand to try and free ourselves up to invest in youth with the other.”

l Contact Billy Bingham for details about box-to-box on 01274 706836/07967 294168 or by email at billy@synergypeople.co.uk.