BURY’S new progressive youth policy was brought into sharp focus this week with the emergence of two of their Under-18s championship-winning team.

While 17-year-old defender Matty Foulds was making his debut in the Capital One Cup, 18-year-old goalkeeper Jack Ruddy looked to be heading for a Premier League move without having played a game for the senior side.

The two players are a different side of the same coin – and both should one day help the loss-making club operate as a viable business.

For the fans, Foulds represents the more acceptable face of the new strategy – a promising young player who has come through the ranks and stands on the verge of a place in the first team.

The more players U18s coach Ryan Kidd can produce like that, the less first-team manager David Flitcroft will have to spend on expensive imports.

That is the focal part of the plan, with Flitcroft himself taking charge of the U13s in the somewhat optimistic but very worthy hope that he will be able to guide them all through, a la the class of 92.

Ruddy, meanwhile, is set to provide a more short-term gain. The young Glaswegian was signed only 14 months ago, apparently from under the noses of Liverpool, and since then has been constantly talked up in the national press.

The teenager is now reportedly on the verge of a £300,000 move to either Aston Villa or Man City, and Bury stand to make a tidy profit.

“It is part of the vision me and the chairman set – to build up the football club by trying to develop assets,” said Flitcroft.

“I was really passionate about trying to go down that route.

“When I took over (two years ago), the Community Trust still had the youth set-up in their system.

“Now we have got control of it and brought Ryan Kidd in and it has moved on a million miles from where it was.

“We have got a fantastic facility (Carrington) to do our work from and good coaches.

“If we can get the raw talent and the raw ingredient then we have to start producing players.

“It was part of the plan two years ago and is still part of the plan.”

Two years into the project and the club and its fans are starting to see the fruits of Flitcroft's labour.

Moving into Manchester City’s training base at Carrington was seen as a major step in the academy’s development, while behind the scenes Chris Brass, the head of football operations, and Ian Kendall, director in charge of youth, are working on moving Bury up the national EPP ladder.

But while generating wealth is a cornerstone of the policy, it is clear by the way Flitcroft talked about Foulds’ debut against Leicester on Tuesday night that he is dreaming of the day when he can manage a homegrown Bury side.

“I am delighted that he (Foulds) is one of our own and he’s come through the ranks,” said the Shakers boss.

“I really loved how the stadium and the fans got behind him and made him feel a million dollars.

“If we get it right with this boy we are certainly sat on a very good asset for the football club.”