Spennymoor Town’s academy is celebrating after earning the Football Association’s highest chartered accreditation.

Spennymoor Town Youth FC has been recognised for providing the most advanced level of youth football provision possible for its players by being awarded FA Charter Standard Community Club Status.

This achievement puts the club at the pinnacle of the grassroots youth game in England.

The accreditation is a standard of excellence for all grassroots clubs to aim for, which encourages clubs to employ top-class standards to allow people to enjoy football in the best possible environment.

Charter Standard Community Clubs receive a range of opportunities including applications for funding, tailored FA support, coaching and exposure to help retain players and volunteers.

The criteria that clubs must meet to become chartered include effective and robust policies and codes of conduct; a specified level of coaching qualifications; and clear pathways with development plans for young people within the club.

Spennymoor Town Youth FC’s links with the County Durham community have seen the club surpass the minimum criteria and secure prestigious Community Club status – the highest accolade the FA can give a grassroots club.

Andy Lowe, Head of Academy at Spennymoor Town FC, said: “In the past nine months we have developed a partnership with the National League Trust.  As a continuation of this we have now achieved this wonderful accreditation, which is a remarkable achievement in such a short period of time.

“We are very clear on what we want to achieve at this youth football club.  We want to develop people, players and coaches to a level whereby they foster a life-long love of the sport.

“We now have 600 members of our football club, including new age-appropriate coaching programmes; school and community programmes; a new girls’ programme; and a ladies’ team who have just been crowned champions of their league.  Not forgetting the club’s senior men’s team in the National League North.

“We have worked hard to embed our ‘One Club’ ethos throughout the last 12 months and by everyone working together for the love of football, we have seen this result in some real achievements, such as this accreditation.

“Our structure and five-year strategy have now been recognised and we’ll certainly be challenged to deliver on this and achieve new levels of progress.

“Achieving FA Community Club Status requires a significant amount of time to make it through a robust application process.  It has been a team effort and I’d like to express my gratitude to our volunteer coaches, club officials, specialist coaches, players and parents.

“Everyone at the club should be extremely proud.”

FA Charter Standard Community Club Status is valid for 12 months and is reassessed every year to ensure a club is maintaining its levels of excellence.