New Diss Town manager Garth Good instigated link-up between Tangerines and Future Football Elite to put Tangerines on pathway to success

New Diss Town manager Garth Good believes by linking up with one of the area’s well established football academies The Tangerines have put themselves on a runway to be able to bring long-awaited success back to Brewers Green Lane.

The club announced a new partnership on May 25 with Future Football Elite (FFE), a Norfolk-based company co-founded by Diss-raised goalkeeper Declan Rudd in 2017, ahead of his injury-enforced retirement from Championship club Preston North End in March 2022.

It was said it will see FFE take over the control of Diss’ under-18s team with one of their aims to be streaming players into the first-team, if and when they are ready for that next step.

At the same time it was evident there has been a sizeable cut in the first-team budget following some significant spending on established players under the previous management that failed to deliver a return to Step 5 football in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division.

Just 10 days after the link-up went public, FFE’s lead academy coach, Good, who had joined Diss as a first-team coach under previous joint managers Mark Sutcliffe and Matt Coote before the turn of the year, was named The Tangerines’ new manager to succeed the pair.

And he has revealed to the Express that the idea to marry up his two employers was something he had pushed forward himself in the belief it can help finally kick First Division North outfit Diss Town on to the next level, and possible further future achievements.

“If you look at recent successes of local football clubs in Norfolk, Dereham had their successes through DESA which is Dereham Education & Soccer Academy all run by Tom Parke (Dereham first-team manager),” he said.

“Wroxham had their link with CSS and their shadow squad who, until last year, was run by Jordan Southgate (Wroxham first-team manager).

“Initially, all those clubs have had great success by linking to programmes that are well established, and sometimes having a way in makes a massive difference.

“So while Tom Parke was able to channel that with Dereham and very successfully, and Jordan Southgate has done a similar sort of thing at Wroxham, it made sense to utilise what both people are looking for: the young players getting an opportunity at senior clubs.

“And that is what we are trying to do with Diss Town and Future Football Elite, of course.”

Good, who had a brief spell in charge of Premier Division club Norwich United, continued: “When I was at Grays Athletic we did something very similar.

“I was assistant manager there and we looked at how we could re-structure and improve their youth system.

“The youth system at Diss is not bad, I’m not saying that, but it’s like people who buy a lottery ticket. If you buy one ticket you’ve got a chance but if you buy 100, probability-wise you’ve got a better chance, and that’s what we’re looking at.

“As good as the team that Ed (Mark Sutcliffe) and Coote (Matt) brought in last year I think there was only two players throughout the whole season who had any experience playing for Diss Town Under-18s.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that approach, but I would like to see in four or five years’ time there is a first team where five or six players have come through some sort of system at Diss under-18s.

“It was looking at how do you entice the best players in? And how do you look to work with those players and give them the best opportunity? If that’s from Diss or any other part of Norfolk.

“It’s giving them the right opportunity and the right support to make that progression.

“At the same time, Future Football Elite were looking at four different offers from clubs looking to set up something very similar with them.

“But me getting into and working with Diss Town had a sway a little bit I would probably say and I use that word ‘sway’ very deliberately because I didn’t deliberately attend those meetings.

“While I started the ball rolling with the committee (at Diss) and the directors at FFE I felt once I had led the initial meeting I thought it was actually more apt that I wasn’t involved with some of those meetings because I had a hat on for both parties.

“I wanted neutral people to make a decision that benefits FFE and the youngsters of Diss Town and, hopefully, the future of Diss Town Football Club.”

However, he warned people it would not be something they can expect overnight success from.

“Of course we know this isn’t going to be a quick fix. We’ve not naive and thinking we’re going to come in and fly out the traps.

“I think we have to be realistic that this is a process.

“We’ve got a rebuild here to do and we’ve got some very dedicated people pitch, behind the scenes and around the club.

“And what we’re all trying to do is ensure we pull in the right direction and produce a football club that the local community can be proud of and feel part of; that’s our challenge, ultimately.”

Meanwhile, Good held his first initial pre-season introduction session last Wednesday, making them one of the first to return in the country to get back out on the grass, and the club were stepping up training to twice a week from this week.

He said there had been ‘good numbers’ at that first session but two players from last year’s season-ending squad, which finished 12th, have returned to higher-league Mulbarton Wanderers, in attacking midfielder Tom Baird and central midfielder Ben Jones.