Rego Returns

...helping his former club plan for the future.

Dave now works for the Football League as an advisor to clubs preparing for an independent audit of their Elite Player Performance Plan.

He spent the day with academy head Kevin Hodges, who was a former team-mate when Dave was at Home Park between 1991-92.

A big striker and late starter in the professional game, like current Pilgrim Marvin Morgan, Dave scored seven goals in 34 appearances after joining the club for £200,000 from Notts County.

"I've been giving some guidance to Kevin Hodges and the academy staff in terms of getting prepared for their audit in a month or so," said Dave, now 49.

"I've been working for the Football League for about nine months. Prior to that, I was auditing clubs for the EPPP, working with a Belgium company.

"I am enjoying it very much. It gets me up and down the country. It's nice to see players that you played with and against still being involved in the game.

"I'm trying to help take football academies to the next level so that they can get players into the first team and hopefully keep them until they are worth £1m or so!

"Yes, you are going to lose some, but I firmly believe that if young players can see a pathway into the first team, they will want to stay.

"If they become, in effect, too good for the club and the club gets a good offer, you help them to move on and bring the next ones through.

"Part of that process is giving them the best coaching programme you have and giving the players individual attention."

While he was here, Dave, who has kept a weather eye on the Pilgrims' recent fortunes, was given the lowdown on the Higher Home Park development.

"As a club vision, it is fantastic," he said. "From where the club was 18 months or so ago...I always look at where clubs that I played for are and it didn't make good reading.

"It looks as though the academy has been a key thing that has helped the club get out of the doldrums."