Dario says youngsters did us proud on the final day of the season

The club’s Director of Football, Dario Gradi, says that it was a ‘terrific gesture’ for Steve Davis to name an all home grown side against Walsall.

Dario has told Crewe Alex Player that the publicly generated and comments made by public figures such as one of the England staff Gary Neville is only good for our Academy and the need to produce young British players. Although never his ultimate ‘dream’, Dario admits that it was always in the back of his mind to try and play an Academy based team.

Dario told Crewe Alex Player: “I thought it was a great gesture on Steve’s part to name a home grown team. It was terrific for the club and all the publicity we have generated before and after Saturday has only been good for our Academy.

“It was never really my dream to have a team made up of home grown players, but I suppose it was in the back of my mind ever since I was a coach at Chelsea. I remember talking to Dave Sexton about it and he was not too sure about it.

“I suppose that in the Premier League and the way football is now with the foreign players it is something that probably won’t happen, so it is nice to have achieved it.

“It was also important that we didn’t get whacked. I didn’t think about it until we kicked off and I was thinking I hope they (Walsall) don’t score early on. The last thing we needed was to get a hiding.

“Walsall are a good team and I relaxed after about half an hour because the boys were handling it really well. They were alright and I thought they were all good. It was just a nice way to end the season.” 

There is more from Dario now on Crewe Alex Player. He talks about the Academy, developing young players and captain Luke Murphy. Now is the perfect time to subscribe to Crewe Alex Player for just £37.99 for a year.