Dennis Brown, one of the island’s most respected coaches, will take charge of Robin Hood’s newly established youth programme next season.

As part of Hood’s long-term plan to “build from the top down”, the Premier Division side will be entering teams in the Bermuda Football Association’s Player Development League, as well as sides in the Appleby Under-14 and Under-16 divisions.

Brown, who has left Somerset Trojans as technical director, will coach the under-14 and under-16 teams while Casey Butterfield, the first team’s assistant coach, will lead the PDL team.

Joel Duffy, the Hood president, said attracting a coach of Brown’s calibre resembled a huge coup for the club.

“Expanding the Hood and making us more of a community club has always been our long-term goal,” said Duffy, who played under Brown at Somerset Trojans several years ago.

“Bringing Dennis on board has allowed us to do that a lot sooner. He’s a friend of Paul Scope [a former Hood president] and approached him about being part of the Hood from a youth aspect. I think there were a few things Dennis wasn’t happy about at Somerset.

“Having someone of his character being part of the Hood is a no-brainer. We’re trying to get the best coaches available and give them all the tools they need to do the job to the best of their abilities.”

Duffy, who succeeded Derek Stapley as club president this season, said he was delighted with the coaching team Hood had assembled over the past few years.

“Initially we wanted to start a PDL team last season, but we looked at it and didn’t think we had the numbers and didn’t want it to reflect badly on the club,” Duffy said.

“It made sense with Dennis joining the club and Casey looking forward to coaching the PDL team to add an under-14 and under-16 team all in one go.

“It’s always been our long-term goal to build the club from the top down and when the circumstances presented themselves it was too good an opportunity to turn down.

“It’s great for us to have guys like Dennis, Casey and Kyle [Lightbourne] involved.”

Lightbourne, the first-team coach, said Brown’s experience will be a valuable asset to the club.

“Having Dennis at the club is something we’ve been talking about for quite a few months,” Lightbourne said.

“It’s another sign of Robin Hood growing as a club and it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to have someone like Dennis involved.”

Lightbourne said the PDL team will also allow Hood to give more experience to their younger players who are on the fringes of the first team.

“We’ve had a few players who haven’t had a lot of game time this year and the PDL will definitely give us an opportunity to have a look at certain guys in different positions.

“We’ve averaged more than 20 players at our training sessions, which is very encouraging. Maybe we’ve lost a few players because they haven’t been playing, so the PDL will definitely help us keep them.”

As part of the club’s expansion, Hood have affiliated themselves with Warwick Academy, who have a pee-wee programme and under-12 youth team.

Hood, along with newly promoted Flanagan’s Onions, only became full BFA members in 2009, when the Commercial League was scrapped in favour of an over-30 Masters League.

The fallout from that decision by the BFA signalled the birth of the independently run Corona League, which Hood and Onions also play in.

Hood were first promoted to the Premier Division under former coach Andrew Bascome in the 2010-11 season, but struggled the next campaign and were relegated with Lightbourne at the helm.

Lightbourne led the team to promotion at the first time of asking in the 2013-14 season, and won the Friendship Trophy last term — the club’s first piece of major silverware.

Dandy Town won the final at the National Stadium 4-3 only to be stripped of the title because Kevin Hurdle, a late substitute, was not listed on the teamsheet.

Hood secured their highest league finish this season, coming second behind Town.