Ambitious former Welsh Premier champions Bangor City are looking to use their Italian connections to set them on a path back into European action, courtesy of a programme to develop young players with Italian giants Inter Milan.
Arranged with the help of the Cyrmru North side’s Italian president Domenico Serafino, coaches from the Serie A side will take training sessions in North Wales, while young players will be able to visit Inter’s San Siro home.
The first Inter Milan Academy programme in the UK, it will be open to children and young adults between the ages of six and 18.
“In Wales there is a hotbed of young, skilful players,” said Serafino. “This is a chance for them to make the most of their ability. Inter’s coaches will come over here and work on a daily basis with the players and instil in them the routines and practices that they will need to get to the top of the game.”
A phoenix rising from financial hardships, Bangor dropped into the Cymru Alliance in 2018 and became one of the inaugural members of the Cymru North last season, when Serafino came into the club to head a consortium that took control from Vaughan Sports Management.
The takeover brought an end to a tumultuous time for Bangor, who had suffered demotion from the top flight despite being runners-up in the league in 2017-18 and had a Europa League campaign plucked from their grasp.
A 52-year-old musician and producer, Serafino replaced Stephen Vaughan as chairman.
Last season Bangor finished fifth in the curtailed Cymru North campaign, with manager Pedro Pasculli replaced this summer by former Barnsley midfielder Hugo Colace, who joined the Citizens as a player in January from Mons Calpe, a professional outfit in Gibralter.
The 36-year-old Colace took over the reins of the club from Argentine compatriot Pasculli, a World Cup-winner in 1986, who moved into a role as technical secretary at the club.
After a successful career playing in Argentina, Brazil, Italy and the UK, where he made more than 100 appearances for Barnsley, Colace had been combining a role as first-team player and co-ordinator of the club’s youth development centre before moving into the managerial hot-seat.
“I am grateful for the confidence that the president has put in me and I would like to continue the good work that has been done by Pedro to get the club back on track,” Colace said of his move into management. “The job now is to get promotion, do well in the other two competitions and then classify for the Europa League. I want my players to make the most of every training session, every little detail will count in us getting back to the top division.”
Arriving at Nantporth last week, Riccardo Pellegrino has been appointed as Colace’s assistant. The Italian coach arrives with a wealth of professional experience having headed the academy system at Orvietana, where he worked with Colace, and Serie B side Perugia.
“Having known Riccardo for a while, I know his ambitions are high, matching not only my own but also the club’s,” Colace said. “His attitude and professional approach will only benefit the club and myself.”
Meanwhile, Inter Milan chief executive Alessandro Antonello is delighted to be opening the club’s first academy in the UK.
“We’re pleased that a club with such long traditions as Bangor City has bought into our project and decided to join the Inter family,” he said. “The partnership will facilitate mutual growth by sharing Inter’s expertise with a country that is placing great importance on the development of football.”
