“Me and Sam worked together initially through working at Huddersfield YMCA and our relationship grew and that went into working together at Barnsley Football Club working on their shadow scholarship program and working together in their academy system”, Alex said.

“He messaged me about coming onboard, it sounded an exciting opportunity at a very good club, and I couldn’t say no”.

Alex, who holds a master’s degree in Sports Science, described joining the club and bringing in a “different pair of eyes” as he joins as Sam’s right hand man “I’m coming in as an assistant coach, bringing in knowledge around sports science, along with adding a psychological input from a different perspective.

To say Alex has a lot of strings to his bow would be an understatement, not only in football but Alex has done nearly everything in sport.

“I’ve swam for West Yorkshire, I’ve played Australian rules football for Great Britain, my current interest is Brazilian Ju-Jitsu.

“I’m a man who plies his hand to everything, I’m one of those who can use these different experiences to help me in my coaching”.

These varying and important experiences throughout Alex’s short life, only being 23, will be helping him through his role at the Academy.

“I’ve worked within high performance sport and being able to get the best out of myself but also the best out of others in all different places. This is just something else I’m going to add on and something new that I’m going to try and do my best at.”

It might come as a surprise, but Alex believes Brazilian Ju-Jitsu can be used beneficially when coaching the team.

“It comes with the term ‘pain is mandatory but suffering is optional’ that’s like when you play 90 minutes of football, it’s going to hurt, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be tough but you’ve got a decision you can either sit there and moan about it or you can go this is part and parcel of what you need to do to be successful and be the best I can be and that’s one thing it’s taught me and I can relate that to Emley Academy.”

Excitement around the Academy continues to build and this excitement isreciprocated by the new coaching staff.

“I’m just looking forward to this experience and helping provide young players in a critical age group (16-23), with a platform to turn into a semi-professional footballer or even higher.”

Academy manager Sam Sutton said: “I’m delighted to welcome Alex onboard with us. Alex will prove a high-quality addition to the team taking a lead in the strength and conditioning of our players development. Having worked closely with Alex before, I know how driven he will be to help our players progress and reach their potential.”

Reporting by Olly Wood