27 players from R-Kix Academy signed by professional club academies

R-Kix awards 2023

Twenty-seven players from R-Kix Academy, a Rochdale-based football club, have signed their first contracts with professional club academies.

The seven and eight-year-old boys have all left the Rochdale-based club to continue their footballing journeys after signing their first contracts with academies at professional clubs across the North West.

This year's cohort takes the number of players to sign with professional clubs to seventy-eight during the last three years with seven of the players signing for Manchester City, who secured a historic Treble last season, winning the Premier League, FA Cup before securing their first ever Champions League last month.

Five boys signed with Carabao Cup winners Manchester United and another six boys are continuing their journey on Merseyside with Liverpool and Everton.

Richard Tracz, the club’s head coach, said “I couldn’t be prouder having seen many of the boys develop from our tots and games programs as well as our 1-1 coaching sessions.  I’m really excited to see what the future holds for each of them."

The club is going from strength to strength and will open its own performance centre in Rochdale in early autumn featuring four football pitches, four practice cricket lanes, a gymnasium, and a small running track.
 

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Tracz added: “I’m passionate about Rochdale and the new performance centre will not only complement the town’s regeneration but will also help us reach more of the community in an environment where children can not only thrive but develop socially and emotionally.”

The R-Kix U8 class of 2022/23 includes:   

• Jovi, Accrington Stanley
• Elliot, Blackburn Rovers
• Bobby, Burnley
• Elijah, Burnley
• Laker, Everton
• Fletch, Everton
• Diego, Leeds United
• Odhran, Liverpool
• Miles, Liverpool
• Daniel, Liverpool
• Efua, Liverpool
• Mason, Manchester City
• Bobby, Manchester City
• Kavaeus, Manchester City
• Amarion, Manchester City
• Cody, Manchester City
• Diego, Manchester City
• Louis, Manchester City
• Eli Brown, Manchester United
• Jesiah, Manchester United
• Marcel, Manchester United
• Seb, Manchester United
• Ire, Manchester United
• Theo, Port Vale
• Max, Stockport County
• Alex, Stockport County
• Riley, Stoke City