9 September 2009
Former Chelsea Player Secures Spanish Signing
Former Chelsea Academy and Reserve team player James Simmonds has sealed a move to Spanish club Écija Balompié following his professional development programme at the Glenn Hoddle Academy Club in Spain.
Simmonds, 21, was released from Chelsea last year and has become the sixth player to move on from the Glenn Hoddle Academy so and has signed a year-long contract with a Écija Balompié.
Simmonds from Ealing in London, a talented central midfielder was lost to the game following his release from Chelsea and impressed at the Glenn Hoddle Academy Club trials held at the Chelsea Training Ground last year. He joined 20 other hopefuls, all with the goal of securing a full time career in professional football.
He worked hard throughout his year in Spain following a unique and personally designed development programme, supervised personally by Glenn Hoddle at the Academy.
The Glenn Hoddle Academy is a professional football development centre designed to turn around the careers of footballers released from top flight clubs around the world and to provide the right development, in the right surroundings for players with the talent and ability to make it back to the top of the game.
James Simmonds said: “The time with Glenn and the coaches in Spain has been amazing. I really cannot thank them enough for putting their faith in me and now I have achieved my first goal of a full time professional contract, that faith has been rewarded. I am really looking forward to the challenge of first team football with Écija and so far it has been a fantastic experience. The club has made me very welcome.”
Glenn Hoddle said: “James is another success story for the academy and shows the opportunities that are available for players who show the right attitude and have the ability, drive and determination to succeed. James has these in abundance and over the last year he has strengthened all areas of his game. Seeing a player move on from us is really what the business is all about and it proves that what we are doing really does work.
“To have six players back in to the professional game already is just the start. We have new players joining us all the time and with that the opportunity to change the lives of footballers who would otherwise be lost to the game. We all wish James well at Écija and are confident that he is destined for greater things in the game”.
For further information please contact: Neil Duncanson - nd@glennhoddleacademy.com
Fergus Bell Signs Up with the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain
Aspiring professional footballer Fergus Bell, aged 19, from Durham, has received a scholarship to the prestigious Glenn Hoddle Academy, a unique professional football development centre, based at the Montecastillo Resort in Jerez, Southern Spain.
