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A fast-growing North Wales law firm has hired a senior commercial property expert after a post-pandemic surge in demand for business premises across the region.
A West Midlands private school is offering youngsters a direct pathway to professional football through a new academy backed by Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Lucton School has teamed up with the Molineux outfit to launch an International Football Academy aimed at developing talented players aged seven to 18.
The programme is being led by former Shrewsbury Town, Luton Town, Oxford United and Cheltenham Town midfielder Asa Hall, who enjoyed a professional career spanning more the 20 years.
There are 27 talented young footballers from the school in the initial intake at the academy
Hall, currently player-manager of Southern League Tiverton, said: “When the opportunity came to work with the school as the Director of Football, I could just see the potential in the area.
“That’s especially so with an exciting link with Wolves and everything a connection with a powerhouse Premier League club brings.
“To combine that with the kind of elite education available at Lucton is very exciting and is a unique opportunity for me as a coach and for the young boys and girls at the school.”
The schedule for the Academy sees Wolves coaches coming twice a week on Mondays and Tuesdays to work with Lucton’s young footballers on the 4G pitches at nearby Ludlow ahead of matches on Wednesdays at Sixfields Stadium in Worcester.
Their performance is reviewed by Hall and his team on Thursday and on Friday Lucton’s squad travel to train on Wolves’ indoor dome with its full size 3G artificial pitch.
The Lucton squad includes students from Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan who board at the school alongside a core of UK-based talent, many of them from the West Midlands.
Local boy Mattie Smith, 13, from Orleton, just three miles from the school, has had spells with the Wolves and Aston Villa academies and is really enjoying a switch to Lucton School.
Mattie, who plays centre midfield or on the right wing, said: “We heard about the academy opening at Lucton, spoke to the headmaster and liked the sound of it and it’s been great for me.
“The coaching is really good and Asa has been brilliant. It’s definitely improving my game and it’s backed up with strength and conditioning work and looking after our nutrition.
“I’m really enjoying the school as well. I’m dyslexic and there’s lots of help and support for me and really good educational materials.”
Tributes have poured in for retiring Senedd member Lesley Griffiths as she bowed out with an emotional final visit to a Wrexham care home.
