It's been a successful end to the Academy season, not just in terms of under-18 results, but also in pushing players through to the professional ranks which ultimately, is what we are here to do.

With the addition of Sam Collins, there are now four players in the professional set-up who have qualified through the Academy. Sam Page and Sam Baldock both made their Football League debuts this season and, along with Kieran Murphy, go into the second year of their contracts with a lot of promise. We will watch with interest the development of all four of these players next season.

The flip side of that obviously comes with the boys we have been unable to offer professional contracts to. James Nash, Tom Battams, Adam Kent, Dean Lovegrove, Adam Moriarty and Ryan Flood have all been great ambassadors of the Academy in their time here and we thank them, as well as their families, for their commitment as well as wishing them all of the best in their respective futures.

For next season's under-18 side, I'm delighted to welcome Daniel Powell and David King as our first-year apprentices while Daniel Delderfield and Kurt Fox will also be part of the set-up on extended schoolboy forms.

They will join Lawrie Walker, Miles Mitchell-Coop, Charlie Shuter, Liam Kelly, Stephane Koffi, Tom Williams and Ollie Thorne in representing the club at under-18 level while we will also be able to call on the services of Collins and Baldock when appropriate.

The obvious turnaround in results towards the back end of this season came at a time when the players were playing more frequently at a very high level of intensity. Along with the under-18 schedule, there have been a lot of reserve fixtures plus the Berks & Bucks Cup which was a big success. For so many Academy players to be involved in the club winning its first piece of silverware was a very proud moment and it was nice to be on the bench to share it with them.

One of the major factors in the players' end-of-season form has been the work of our sports science team and the continuous effort they have put into the players' conditioning. Simon Crampton, Paul Collins, Andrew Stone and Mark Trowman put together a mini pre-season just after Christmas that stood the players in good stead and enabled them to maintain excellent levels of fitness. They have also been responsible for patching the players up when they have needed it, improving their general fitness and rehabilitating some of our longer-term absentees.

It has been interesting to watch the performances of our schoolboy teams in stepping up to play some of the most established clubs in the country this year. Though results are not really the issue at that level, the performances have been highly encouraging. Malcolm Lay, Darren Oldroyd, Chris McGuane, Mark Walsh, Marc Collier and all the assistant coaches have put a lot of effort into these players' development and I am sure will continue to do so.

Many of the players we are nurturing at that level have been brought to our attention through our scouting network and Ian Marven and John Doyle continue to work endless hours in search of new talent.

Our thanks must also go to Andy Gardner, our Academy Administrator, without whom we would struggle to even get on the pitch on a Saturday morning.

Finally I must say a big thank you to Simon Dwight, who has put in a massive amount of work and effort this season in a variety of areas. Not only our Head of Education and Welfare, Simon has also taken the under-16 side this season as well as building relationships with local clubs to improve our Player Development Centre at younger levels.

The summer brings little respite for the Academy and work begins immediately for the coming season. The Academy will continue to go to every length to ensure the players have the best possible opportunities to improve and that we have a set-up Milton Keynes can be proud of.

As the club takes the huge step of moving into its new stadium, I look forward to seeing the first local player running out to play in it.