Sheffield United boss Bryan Robson has revealed how Jonathan Woodgate inspired him to launch Middlesbrough's world-renowned academy when he was in charge of the club.

"Helping set up that youth structure at Middlesbrough is one of the best things I've ever done," Robson told the Guardian. On Teesside his youth development vision was born out of annoyance. "I discovered Jonathan Woodgate had gone to Leeds even though he was a Middlesbrough fan," he recalled. "I thought 'how on earth have we lost out on this kid?'"

He decided to stop it happening again.

"It was when Newcastle [under Kevin Keegan] did away with their youth set-up and we took advantage by saturating the north-east with scouts and making sure all the best players in the area came to Middlesbrough. It was our idea but great credit should go to Dave Parnaby [Boro's academy manager] and the others up there who have made our original structure work. They've stuck with the plan, given it time and it's doing really well."