Major shareholder Ruben Emir Gnanalingam explains importance of academy development
This is no four-year plan, it’s more like a 40-year plan"
Ruben Emir Gnanalingam
RUBEN EMIR GNANALINGAM has spoken of the Board’s long-term plans this week following the youth department’s recent move to BA Clubs’ Concorde Club.
QPR’s under 18s right through to the under 12s will be developed at the Cranford-based complex, and Gnanalingam took time out from his busy schedule to go on a recent tour of the facility.
“This area of the football club is the one we are most interested in,” he told www.qpr.co.uk. “Definitely one of our priorities going forward is the development of our younger players.”
The Board demonstrated their determination to see QPR retain its Premier League status with their recent activity in the January transfer window which saw them twice break the club’s record transfer fee with the acquisitions of Loic Remy and Chris Samba.
But Gnanalingam - pictured presenting BA Clubs CEO Tony Dormer with a signed QPR shirt, alongside R's CEO Philip Beard - is keen to stress they are focusing on more than what occurs in the next 11 weeks.
“The rules of football are changing dramatically and you have to be able to develop your own players in order to be sustainable,” he explained, in reference to the introduction of Financial Fair Play.
“We have to make sure we can compete with other clubs in terms of the facilities we offer our younger players.”
Gnanalingam joined QPR along with chairman Tony Fernandes and fellow-major shareholder Kamarudin Bin Meranun in August 2011, and he explained: “We have always had a long-term vision from the moment we came to QPR.
“This is not short-term for us. This is no four-year plan, it’s more like a 40-year plan.
“Developing our academy and a new training ground are things we will do regardless of where we are. That has never changed.
“From day one when we arrived, we said the training ground needed to be changed, and the academy needed to be built up. And that’s what we are doing.”
Raheem Sterling came through QPR’s youth system before being sold to Liverpool in 2010, and has since gone on to feature regularly for the Merseysiders’ first team.
“He is a perfect example of why we must make sure our academy can compete with other clubs’ academies,” Gnanalingam added.
“It means a great deal for the QPR fans to see a player come through the youth system and represent the first team.
“We want to see that happen too. A moment like that will represent one of the better moments in what will hopefully be a very long time for us here at QPR.”
发表于 4-3-2013 10:22 AM
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