England’s Burnley Football Club has announced a formal partnership with Cary’s U23 PDL team and Next Level Academy.

The American PDL (Premier Development League) franchise, formerly known as Cary RailHawks U23s, will be rebranded as the Cary Clarets as part of an initial two-year deal aimed at developing academy-based and first team players for Burnley FC.

In return, Burnley FC has pledged to provide full backing to the Cary Clarets in terms of aiding youth development, sharing training methods and helping to establish the Cary brand.

The partnership follows a successful tour to the United States this past summer, when Burnley played Cary in North Carolina in a preseason friendly.

“We are delighted to welcome Cary as a club partner,” Burnley FC Operational Director Brendan Flood said. “The seeds of this burgeoning relationship were sown last summer and there is no doubt that Cary has an exceptional college set-up in the United States that we can hopefully tap into.”

“The standard of players their academy produces is high and we hope that working with Cary we can help both organizations to prosper.”

Burnley FC Manager Owen Coyle added, “We thoroughly enjoyed spending time in North Carolina last summer and the facilities and friendship were second to none."

“Cary has an exceptionally high standard of college players, as we discovered when we played the PDL team in a challenge match. I now look forward to working with the academy to hopefully nurture future players capable of tasking the next step in their careers.”

The announcement comes hot on the heels of the appointment in October of Martin Dobson as Burnley FC Director of Youth Development.

“I welcome this special partnership between Burnley Football Club and the soon-to-be-named Cary Clarets,” Dobson said. “I met Cary Director Damon Nahas recently and was impressed by his enthusiasm for this exciting project. It not only offers a healthy relationship where each party can benefit, but also it provides an opportunity to increase the stature and image of both organizations in North American soccer.”

Nahas added that he was hopeful that the new relationship would help both clubs, and he wants to initially identify American players that have potential to play in the English game.

“At Cary we feel we have a proud tradition of developing young talent, as was seen when Cary hosted Burnley in a preseason game in July 2008,” Nahas said.

“Since then the two organizations have been in constant dialogue as we have similar philosophies and interests to look towards developing young players.”

Nahas, owner of the Next Level Academy in North Carolina, took charge of Cary’s PDL team in 2005.

“Hopefully, the tie-in will prove to be a fruitful one and both Burnley and the Cary Clarets can enjoy a long and prosperous working relationship,” he said.

The U23 team continues to provide a vision of opportunity for young players.

The Cary Clarets, like all other PDL teams, will allow collegiate players, including youngsters from across the globe enrolled in the American College system, to play organized soccer during the summer without losing their college eligibility.