Millwall Community Trust’s (MCT) Football Development Player Ambassadors, Billy Mitchell and Danny McNamara, made a surprise appearance at the Player Performance Pathway session on Tuesday evening.
The Player Performance Pathway is linked closely to the Academy and has been designed to create a clear route into the Millwall Academy for players with the required ability. Sessions for the pathway run every Tuesday for 5–10-year-olds and every Friday for 11–15-year-olds.
Danny and Billy arrived at the session and signed in the young players, who also took the opportunity to speak to the first-team squad members, capture the moment with photos, and more.
After everyone was fully signed in, a Q&A session was held, and the children got the chance to ask questions and find out more about their journeys to becoming pro. From their favourite player growing up, to how they stayed motivated, the pair spoke to the kids and shared wise words that also encouraged them when they were younger.
The duo are quite familiar with player development pathway centres, as they themselves were scouted from a Community Trust’s holiday camp, before going into a player performance pathway. It was the perfect opportunity for the kids to speak with first-team players who had a similar start to them.
Tim Sells, MCT Football and Community Development Manager, said: “The kids were beyond excited to see Billy and Danny at the session. It’s great when you can have first-team players - who are also ambassadors - speak with and motivate the kids before a session.
"They’re both a great source of inspiration and show exactly what you can achieve when you work hard and stay on track at a player performance pathway.
We have specifically designed the pathway to help identify, train, and nurture local talented players, and we hope the appearance from Danny and Billy will keep them motivated.”
If you’re interested in joining the Player Performance Pathway, please contact Tim Sells at tsells@millwallcommunity.org.uk.
