Michael Gault believes the future looks bright for Linfield after the club launched its full-time academy last year.
The academy forms part of the Irish Premiership champions' five-year Strategic Plan, with players benefitting from training, coaching, strength and conditioning, nutrition and sports psychology alongside earning qualifications.
The two-year course aims to provide scholars with a pathway into Linfield’s first team squad or to secure a move to a higher level in England or Scotland.
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The added benefit will be they will walk away with BTEC Level 3 Extended National Diploma in Sport, the equivalent of three A-Levels or up to 168 UCAS points.
It is a template mirrored by clubs across the water, and teams in the Irish League who now deliver football and education to young players progressing through the ranks.
Academy lead and former Linfield captain Gault told Belfast Live: "This is the first year we have been running the full-time academy at Linfield and it has been great so far. We currently have 12 players on it, and they are getting a full-time education alongside their football.
"It is a BTEC Level 3 qualification which gives UCAS points for anyone who wants to go to university after the two-year course.
"We give them a good education, and there is the player development side of things as well. They train like full-time footballers, aligned with our first-team.
"Sometimes they will get to train with David Healy's squad, and it is all about developing them as players and preparing them for the first-team when called upon.
"And if they're good enough, they might be snapped up by a club across the water."
Gault enjoyed a glittering Irish League career, with his final two years at Linfield spent in a full-time environment.
The 39-year-old combined his football with studying for a teaching degree at Jordanstown, and worked in the Bangor and Lisburn SERC doing BTEC sports, delivering PE modules and units.
He believes it is imperative for any footballer to prepare for life outside the game.
"Speaking from my own experience as a player, I was lucky enough to be a full-time footballer with Linfield for a couple of years and also study at Jordanstown and got a PGCE," he said.
"Again, football is not the be all and end all. I know it's every kid's dream to be a professional footballer, but only a small minority will make it in the game.
"But there is no reason why young players can't aspire to be full-time footballers over here. We have a very good league and it is financially rewarding.
"So we want to give them the best opportunity to achieve that, and if they get a full-time career then brilliant. But we are preparing them for life outside of football as well. Whether it be as a physio, PE teacher or something similar.
"A career in sports is something they can follow."
One former Linfield player to have completed the same course with NIFL's Football Management Company is Trai Hume, while current Blues stars David Walsh and Chris McKee have also completed the modules.
"Trai fully embraced the course, and getting another Trai Hume coming through our course would be brilliant for that player, and for Linfield," Gault said.
"David Walsh is another example who is on our full-time books, Josh Archer came through our course. So there are examples there.
"It is very exciting, and the more I chat about the course the more I realise it is a no brainer for anyone who enrols.
"We have the players' welfare at heart as well. We don't want them coming out of school and concentrating solely on football.
"We want to offer them something to fall back on. I know how important education was for me when I was playing. These kids need something to fall back on, and we want to give them opportunities.
"And this also improves their social skills, things they can take into their future life."
Gault added: "The current batch of students started in September. So it is like Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth for them, a two-year A-Level course.
"It is open to everyone. First and foremost we have a really good crop of Linfield players here, so we are selective on who we bring in.
"But if a player crops up who is an outstanding player and has a desire to come to Linfield, and they have the right character, then we will certainly be interested.
"But it is quality over quantity at Linfield. We want 10-12 of the best footballers about."
Current Linfield captain Jamie Mulgrew is only too aware of the talent coming through the ranks at Windsor.
He is also manager of the Under 18s and regularly works with young players at the academy's Midgley Park base.
"There is a lot of exciting young talent coming through, and there are a lot of opportunities for players these days," Mulgrew said.
"For people like myself, Michael Gault, Chris Kingsberry and even Glenn Ferguson, it would be great if we had these opportunities when we were young players.
"But younger players have a lot of things at their disposal these days, but it's up to them if they want to grasp the opportunities and work hard at it.
"Certainly on the course, if you work hard on the education and football side of it, you will do well out of it.
"It is important for these young players to have something to fall back on. They have all the tools to improve and get better, with education and football.
"It is like life in general, if you work hard then you will reap rewards.
"Do I wish I was 20 years younger? Possibly. There are so many opportunities now.
"But you have to want it enough as well."
Linfield's new General Manager David Graham believes the club's full-time academy is helping young players become "the best version of themselves".
He said: "We have our own full-time academy which encapsulates the football side of things, and education. What we're trying to do is create a situation where every player who arrives here can be the best version of themselves.
"Some of those boys will hopefully go on trial with teams in England, Scotland and other places, and hopefully do well.
"And hopefully they earn moves which increase the revenue of Linfield Football Club. Some of them will do well enough to get into our own first-team squad.
"Trai Hume is the perfect example. He came here and we nurtured him, he made first-team appearances and now he is playing in the English Championship and representing Northern Ireland.
"Not everyone will achieve that for different reasons. But it is about creating an environment where everyone can better themselves.
"Whether that is playing for Linfield's first team, or playing as high a level as possible. There was always this idea in the past of if you didn't 'make it' by the age of 16, then where do you go?
"We are educating the boys now, and this is a school environment where they also play football. They have a timetable as if they were at school.
"They have an added incentive of training with the first team, getting strength and conditioning, getting nutrition advice and ultimately becoming a more rounded human being.
"So if football doesn't become their full-time career, they have something to fall back on. There are too many players who finish the game in their 20s or 30s and have nowhere to go.
"And they don't have the finances to retire. So we are giving them a leg up.
"David Walsh is a good example. He is in the first-team now, but he also has his qualifications if and when he needs him. Chris McKee is another example.
"So we want to make sure these players have the best chance to progress and improve themselves."
The two-year course is open to any young footballer to apply for, with the next students set to begin the programme this autumn.
And while there will be plenty of interest, Graham insists Linfield always adopt a 'quality over quantity' approach when enrolling players.
"You need your five GCSEs to qualify, as a starting point. We don't just let anyone waltz in the door if they don't have anything from an education perspective," he said.
"From a recruitment point of view, we could have a far higher number than we do. But it comes down to the decision from the football side, is this player good enough to be here?
"And secondly, are they going to act like a professional footballer? That's a judgement call for Glenn (Ferguson, Academy Manager) and Michael."
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