Troy Deeney hails life-changing Mick Halsall as West Brom chief wins award
Troy Deeney has called Mick Halsall a “legend” after the West Brom academy coach received a Premier League award for his commitment to youth development.
Halsall picked up the Personal Development Award at a recent PGDip Elite Coach Development graduation event for his continuous desire to improve the standards of youth football at The Hawthorns (West Brom official website, 15 December).
Halsall has previously worked at Walsall and former Saddlers striker Deeney has praised Halsall’s impact on his career.
“The man that changed my life, what a legend this fella is,” said Deeney (via Twitter, 15 December).
In good hands
Despite the poor start to the 2022/23 season, one big positive for West Brom is the talent, which has, and is currently coming through the academy, and a lot of that is down to Halsall’s impact.
Josh Griffiths is currently out on loan at League One side Portsmouth, having already experienced two EFL loans before turning 21. Caleb Taylor is with Cheltenham Town and Quévin Castro has been impressive for National League leaders Notts County.
The future is certainly bright for the Baggies, and getting first-team minutes into these youngsters will only benefit the club in the long term. It’s a credit to Halsall for providing the platform for the likes of Griffiths, Taylor and Castro to be comfortable during their loan spells away from The Hawthorns.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Alex Palmer are the most recent first-team examples of academy products making an impact in the Championship and Halsall will be hoping for more success stories in the coming years.
In other West Brom news, Nigel Quashie piles praise on Daryl Dike for his performance against Sunderland