Until October 2003 Adrian Boothroyd was Assistant Academy Director and coach of the Under-19 team. During the Lyngby Cup tournament in Denmark Ady took time out to sit down and talk with foncy.co.uk.

Hi Adrian, can you tell us how you got into youth football coaching? As a 19 year old at Huddersfield a good friend of mine, and a much better player than me, had to give up the game through injury. That made me realise that I needed a back up to my career as a professional footballer. So at the age of 19 I started starting coaching courses and by the time I was 23 I had fully qualified as a coach. After that I continued my education during my professional career before moving into coaching full-time. What attracted you to join the Norwich set-up from Peterborough two and a half years ago? It's a fantastic set-up here at Norwich. I was part of a good team at Peterborough but I saw Norwich as a club where I could improve myself. I am lucky to work with a great team here too, which allows me to do that.

Adrian Boothroyd

Adrian Boothroyd with a group of players at Colney

Who do you look up to as a football coach? I believe you can learn from everyone but I don't have a role model as such. I don't necessarily believe in everything that other coaches do but I do believe you can learn something from every one of them. I also look at other sports coaches to learn and business to learn about leadership. I think Clive Woodward has done great work for English Rugby and the Australian Ric Charlesworth from the world of hockey is an interesting coach.

Last season was a great one for the Academy with four youngsters breaking into the first team. Was it your best year yet? I've been lucky in that I've worked with good people and players over the years. At Peterborough we brought sixteen players through to the first team in four years and I was part of the team that did that. So last year was extremely good but we also had success at Peterborough. How much importance do you place on success in the Academy and Youth Cup competitions and tournaments like this? My philosophy is to be performance based with a winning mentality. A lot of coaches work only on performance. Players have to learn to win. My goal is to get players into the first team. Success in doing that shows that the team is also pushing to perform well and win.

How much contact do you have with the first team coaches and on what subjects? There is a lot of interaction. We are lucky in that Nigel Worthington is very interested in the players coming through. Nigel also gets a weekly report from me on progress in my areas of responsibility.

Adrian Boothroyd watches Josh Clarke from afar

And how much do you get involved with the rest of the Academy below Under-19 level? I work very closely with Ricky Martin (Academy Assistant Director for Under 16 and below). In September last year I wrote the technical programme for the Academy which Ricky has now been organising. We also do some position specific coaching across the academy and I take a group of Under-13's to Under-15's once a week. What are your hopes and aims for this season? To push more players towards the first team and with that hopefully increase the competition for places in the first team. What is the best and worst part of your job? The best? Hopefully empowering players to know they have the responsibility for what they want to be in their own life. The worst? Seeing some talented individuals wasting what they have through lack of work ethic - but luckily this doesn't happen often. How important are tournaments like this at youth team level? They are very important - particularly for building team spirit. We have a mixed bunch here from 16 year-olds to 3rd year scholars, so the youngsters also get a chance to see what is expected of them. How much do you get to hear about FONCY? I speak to John Landamore practically every week. I came from a club where we had nothing and I tried to raise money myself for the youth set-up. To come here and meet such dedicated, honest and genuine people who want to see players coming through makes me humble and I am very grateful for the support. Thanks very much for taking the time to do the interview Adrian - all the best to you and the lads for a successful season! (Paul Standley interviewed Adrian)