To provide the Cornish Football Family with an overview and understanding of the current football opportunities within the Cornwall Player Pathway, a public facing document has been created to share the revamped Cornwall Player Pathway.

Cornwall is a unique part of the country and whilst it has many amazing historical features it also comes with some extreme challenges to overcome. These include the geographical challenges of area size and in parts poor transport infrastructure meaning getting across the county can often be a problem. Coupled with Cornwall being one of the poorest regions in northern Europe and a quarter of children living in poverty makes for difficult reading and developing football and people more of a challenge. 

Our aim at Cornwall County FA is to provide football for one and all (Onen Hag Oll) whilst offering opportunities for players to develop and reach their full potential both as players and people. The continued establishment of a recognised structure that embraces these challenges and integrates them together into a long-term strategy for player development is therefore crucial. 

With this firmly in mind Cornwall County FA, the Cornwall Schools FA, Penryn College, Mounts Bay Academy and Plymouth Argyle FC have come together to form a working partnership with the aim of creating and implementing an efficient and progressive player pathway for county wide player development.

The revamped Cornwall Player Pathway provides opportunities across the county for youth footballers to develop and, where appropriate, progress to the next stage of the football pathway. 

Cornwall FA’s Football Development Manager Daniel Greenough expressed, “we are delighted to revamp the Cornwall Player Pathway to help provide high quality opportunities for youth footballers within Cornwall. 

Working in partnership with Plymouth Argyle, Cornwall Schools FA, Mounts Bay Academy and Penryn college provides a fantastic opportunity to provide accessible opportunities for players across the county. 

Recently we have seen players such as Luke Jephcott progress through the Cornwall Player Pathway and into Plymouth Argyle’s 1st team which is testament to the great work all our partners have carried out in recent years to further develop opportunities within Cornwall. This pathway also provides the opportunity for young players to develop the skills necessary to transition into open age football within Cornwall which is extremely important to us as a county FA as we continue to support our brilliant grassroots community to develop football participation levels within Cornwall”.  

With Plymouth Argyle’s increased focus on Cornwall, the introduction of 2 new Elite Coaching Hubs have further strengthened the pathway by bringing academy football closer to Cornwall for signed and aspiring players. 

Paul Rowe, Plymouth Argyle Academy Head of Cornwall Recruitment and Development added, “The creation of the two elite hubs in Cornwall, represents a significant investment from the club, creating a logistically realistic and achievable pathway to the first team, for the very best young Cornish players”.

Click here to view the Cornwall Player Pathway.