Steve Heighway has revealed that Rafael Benitez's arrival at Liverpool prompted the end of the academy that he had created.

The Spaniard took over the Merseyside club in 2004 and immediately set up a different academy to what Heighway was operating at Melwood in a bid to sign highly-rated teenagers from abroad.

Heighway, who won four First Division titles and two UEFA Cups during his time as a player, admitted that he and current Newcastle United boss Benitez never spoke in the coming months after the change of manager and it ultimately led to a downfall in local youth players progressing through his academy.

“I never wanted to be piggy-in-the-middle of an intellectual debate. I saw youth development in a different way so it was time to exit stage left," he told The Telegraph.

“Rafa Benitez set up a mini-academy at Melwood. The children from here were not going to get the first look-in. There was no conflict. We just didn't communicate.

“A manager must have what he wants. If the manager wants one thing and someone else wants something else, why would the board not support the manager? That would make no sense.

“But I didn't leave with any sense of bitterness. I needed a rest. I was tired. It was hard running this place.

“We'd come from a youth department in 1989 working out of Melwood with a couple of coaches to this huge facility.

“I was put in charge when we built this in 1999 but I had no management skills. I was not trained to do it – it was on the hoof. By 2007 I was ready for a break."