Middleton Departs For Tannadice Academy Role

The club can announce that performance analyst Bryan Middleton has departed the club to take up a similar role with Scottish Professional Football League side Dundee United’s academy.

Middleton joined the club at the beginning of 2015 and has been a massive help to the Premier League side, providing the players and staff with vital analysis.

The 30 year old Dundonian informed head coach Mark Nisbet of his decision to take up a role with the Championship side late last week and admits that while he is excited at the opportunity, it was difficult to make his decision.

“I am looking forward to getting my teeth into a new challenge. It’s been a really tough decision to leave Farmington, but it was too good an opportunity to turn down.”

“I’m friends with one of the youth scouts at Dundee United and in a recent meeting, he put forward my name to Brian Grant, the senior academy manager at the club, with regards to potentially providing analysis to the youth teams. This is something that is likely being considered by many clubs around the country with the new performance at the SFA, Malky Mackay, outlining his vision to raise the quality of club academies in the country as part of Project Brave.”

Middleton thanked the club for allowing him the opportunity and praised everyone he has dealt with in the two years spent at Station Park.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at the club immensely. I’ve gained a lot more from the role than I could have possibly wished for. I’ve been able to experience a mixture of highs and lows, from the unbeaten run in 2015 that avoided relegation, to unfortunately being unable to pull off the same feat in the 2016 season.”

He continued: “The practical experience gained has been invaluable and working in the women’s game has opened doors to other opportunities, such as working with the SFA, that would not have been possible had the club not taken me on board. I can’t speak highly enough of the players and staff I’ve worked with over the past two years, and I’m forever in the club’s debt for the opportunity they’ve provided me with.”

Middleton was also thankful to Mark Nisbet for being so understanding when he told the head coach of the opportunity he was presented with.

He explained: “Mark was happy for me to have been offered the opportunity to progress on my own career path into professional sport. While the timing is not ideal, with SWPL season just beginning, these opportunities have to be grasped with both hands, and I think Mark understood my reasons for moving on and he wished me the best of luck.”

With Farmington looking to bounce back to SWPL1 at the first attempt this season, Middleton reckons they have a great chance and feels the Performance Squad set up can only work wonders for the players.

“I think they have a great chance of returning to SWPL1 at the first attempt. The core of last year’s squad has been kept together, and with the restructuring of the team to become a larger performance squad, the younger players at the club are only going to improve by being able to train and play alongside experienced players who have been at the top level of the women’s game in Scotland for many years.”

“Despite Farmington being run entirely by volunteers, I think that you’d struggle to find a more professional setup in SWPL1 or SWPL2. Everything is in place for the players to develop and perform to their best level, week-in, week-out.”