Brighton announce 'strategic partnership' with Hibernian
Written by Training Ground Guru — May 17, 2021
BRIGHTON have announced a "strategic partnership" with Scottish Premiership outfit Hibernian that will see the two clubs sharing knowledge, playing and training opportunities, and friendly matches for their different age groups.
The emphasis will be on player development and Hibs Sporting Director Graeme Mathie said: “In our conversations with Brighton, it became clear from the start that they saw real benefit in a partnership with Hibernian.
“Our owner Ron Gordon and I had the opportunity to meet with (Brighton chief executive) Paul Barber and (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth – two of the most respected individuals in their field in the English Premier League - and there was a genuine meeting of minds.
"Brighton are widely recognised as having a plan and identity in how they want to grow their club and there is a clear synergy in how we want to operate here at Hibernian making them a perfect partner for us.
"Although there are a number of wider benefits to both parties, our conversations have focussed most specifically on player development.
“Dan Ashworth and I presented clear examples to Ron and Paul of how this partnership can benefit specific players from both clubs, all at different stages in their development and journey.
"Brighton have become one of the leading clubs in England at providing minutes to youth players; and we have also enjoyed a successful season with Ryan Shanley and Steven Bradley making their first-team debuts. And Ryan Porteous and Josh Doig are regular starters in the first team.
“In addition, a number of other young players are enjoying regular match minutes through loan deals and eight of our Academy graduates have signed their first professional contracts.
"At Hibernian, we have a document called ‘The Yellow Brick Road’. It plots out the steps a player might take on their development journey as a young professional player.
“Everyone’s journey looks different but now we can start to look at some of the steps the players might take; from playing with our U18 group, to potential loans in the Lowland League, to league football with Stenhousemuir, to the Hibernian first team and now beyond into experiencing what life might be like in the English Premier League through our partnership with Brighton.
"This partnership allows us to plan for how a player might potentially go from Hibernian to Brighton or Brighton to Hibernian as two new and exciting options on our ambitious roadmap and gives all our young players a pathway to aspire to play at the highest level of the game.
“We will work towards offering a number of different experiences for players and staff, whether training together or swapping best practices, staff idea sharing across all departments at both clubs, friendly matches and potential player exchanges.”
Ashworth, who was our guest on episode #20 of the TGG Podcast, added: "This is a concept we have been discussing with our counterparts at Hibernian for some time.
"We want to share ideas and knowledge, with a focus on player development opportunities for both clubs, which could include training or playing opportunities for younger players, and friendly matches between various age groups.
"Both Hibernian and ourselves believe there is a real benefit in the partnership. Each club has a plan and identity, but it is clear we share some ideas, aims and ambitions, and we know how we want to achieve those.
"I would like to thank their chairman Ron Gordon and sporting director Graeme Mathie, and we are really looking forward to this partnership and working with Hibs going forward."
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