Community hub is well underway for Pilgrims

THE new long-term contract for exciting teenage prospect Freddie Issaka is an example of why Plymouth Argyle are so committed to the project to building a new academy at the Brickfields site in Devonport.

- Chris Errington

Argyle want to not only produce their own young talent to play in the first team, but also for significant financial gain by eventually selling some of them on. Up until now, the Pilgrims' academy has not had a permanent base and youngsters have had to train and play at a variety of venues, not just in Plymouth but further afield than that.

So Argyle chief executive officer Andrew Parkinson is convinced the new academy, which is set to be ready by September 2025, will be a hugely significant step forward for the club.

The academy will be at the centre of a £21 million transformation of the under-utilised Brickfields site, and will be a permanent home for the club's youth section and women's team, with the planning permission for it granted in March.