Chester FC Youth are ‘excited’ for the new North West Youth Alliance season, which begins on Sunday with the visit of Skelmersdale United to the Cheshire County Sports Club (2.30pm).
A challenging pre-season included games against Stoke City and Crewe Alexandra, fixtures against senior sides Cefn Druids and Conwy Borough, and success at the Warrior International Keele Cup.
McIntyre said: “It was a great experience for the lads to play at a venue like Stoke. To be invited into places like that and Crewe as well shows we are earning respect in the right circles for the work that we have been doing.
"Playing adults teams is a big part of pre-season too. It’s something we’re trying to do more and more as it again helps them prepare for that step to first team. The game is quicker, more physical and games like that help our lads adjust."
Compared to the past few campaigns, the squad assembled for 2014-15 contains more 16-year-olds, who can spend two seasons together.
McIntyre and his new-look squad are out to retain the Premier Division title but the manager has stressed that trophies are secondary to development.
He said: "It’s great for this year’s youth lads to see Tom Peers and Liam Blake who have come through the Youth ranks at the club and are now on first team contracts.
"There are some immensely talented players in this squad and I’m really optimistic that this season we can add the bits that they need in their development so that they are knocking on the first team door ready for next season.
"There’s real potential in all the lads and we are determined as coaches to do everything we can to bring them up to the level required for our first team.
"The academy exists to develop players for the first team and producing players is more important than any trophy. We of course want to compete, but the real trophy is having players get into that first team squad."
One target for the new season is to build on last season's run in the FA Youth Cup, where full-time outfit Chesterfield needed penalties to defeat the Blues in front of 400 fans at the Swansway Chester Stadium.
Chester have a home tie in the preliminary round against Prescot Cables in the second week of September.
McIntyre said: "We’ve reached the first round proper for the past two seasons but have been undone by Football League sides on both occasions.
"The FA Youth Cup gives you a real assessment as to where you are, coming up against full-time Football League sides who are receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding.
"We got a fantastic crowd in for the home tie against Chesterfield last season and I’ve never celebrated a goal the way I did Tom Peers’ equaliser that night.
"All in all it’s going to be another busy season, we’ve assembled another squad full of potential and we have high hopes for the players in the squad."
