During the time that I have been involved in the Academy system, one thing that stands out above all else is the lack of information and advice, particularly when it comes to signing contracts. As they say, football can be a murky world when it comes to contract negotiations!

For the inexperienced, gullible and over eager parent that often only sees their son living the dream and running out at Wembley in the future, the temptation to let their son sign on the dotted line is extremely strong.

What many parents don’t consider when they get the call to go to the office is what their sons are actually committing themselves to. Like most things in life, when things are going great who gives a monkey, however when things don’t go the way you hoped, what options do you have?

When a player is registered by an Academy or Centre of Excellence the registration of that player is recorded at the Football League, who administer player registrations for all clubs in England and Wales.

Basically, there are three very important documents that are used to both register and cancel a player’s registration and all players and parents should be aware of and understand what the documents mean. Here’ a brief explanation of them.

Form YD4

This form is used to register a player with the Football League. A YD4 form is the application form that a player and club signs upon registration at a professional Academy or Centre of Excellence.

If the player is in the Under 9 age group, he must be registered before the third Saturday in April immediately preceding his Under 9 year.

Player Release Forms

There are two types of release forms that are used to cancel a player’s registration at an Academy or Centre of Excellence. They both serve the same purpose in terms of cancelling the player’s registration on a mutual basis; however one is very different to the other.

Form YD 10 Release Form with Compensation

Form YD10 is used to terminate a player’s registration by mutual agreement with an Academy or Centre of Excellence and should be sent to the Football League. What this form actually does is cancel a player’s registration at the Football League but with compensation rights still in place.

Clubs often try and cancel a player’s registration using Form YD10 when the player wishes to leave the club against the wishes of the club itself. Clubs will use this form if they think the player has some potential.

Effectively, terminating a player’s registration using a YD10 allows him to play for a non-professional club, such as a Sunday League Club, but does NOT allow him to play for another Academy or Centre of Excellence without the permission of the club he has left. Confusing? Even though the player’s registration has been cancelled, the club still holds all compensation rights up to the player completing his full time education. Yes, I did say that!

As an example, let’s say that your son has fallen out with the coach at XYZ Academy and no longer wishes to go there anymore. He puts a few feelers out and another local Academy comes in for him.

As soon as his registration at his new club is submitted to the League, it will be stopped due to the fact that the club he has just left have rights of compensation. In reality, it would never actually get that far as the new club would have already found out about any compensation clauses and, in most cases, done an about turn and withdrawn their offer due to the fact that most clubs will not pay compensation for young players.

Compensation amounts can vary and are clearly set out in the Youth Development Rules. For example, players that are in the Under 9 to Under 11 age groups there is an annual fee of £3000 for every year that a player attends the Academy that held his registration. On top of that clubs can charge appearance fees if the player progresses to the first team in the coming years.

99% of players that are released on a YD10 will not be able to move to another Academy if the club they are leaving refuses to let the player leave without any compensation.

Form YD 7 Release Form without Compensation

If your son is ever released from an Academy, make sure that it is Form YD7 that is submitted to the League.

If a player is released at the end of the season, it usually means that the club cannot envisage the player making it through the system; therefore they would usually release the player using Form YD7, without any compensation rights.

If a player is released on a Form YD7 they can join another professional club without any rights of compensation been payable to the club that released them and are completely free to sign for any club they wish, be it another Academy or Centre of Excellence or any non-professional club.

Clubs invest time and money in training players and have a right to charge other clubs for the development costs of players that move on; however it is very rare that parents are made aware of the consequences of signing for a club and the potential issues that can arise when things go wrong and they want to leave.

In a nutshell, once your son signs a YD4 he’s committing to that club for a very long time unless he is released or you are prepared for a potentially long battle with the club if decides to move on.

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding the whole process of training with a club and then going on to sign a contract. So I thought I’d set out the basic process that players should go through once they have been scouted. This article generally relates to players in the younger age groups.

Club Scouts come in many forms

The first stage in getting an official trial at a professional club is to get scouted, as they say. This can be from an official club scout or from a recommendation from a coach already in the system.

Clubs are now looking for players from a very young age, as young as five in some cases, as this gives them an opportunity to snare all the best talent before someone else does.

Professional clubs have scouting networks all over the place nowadays.

Scouts regularly attend Sunday League matches, albeit they should have the clubs permission to do so. This is where most kids are picked up nowadays.

Clubs also set up regional development centres where they organise weekly training sessions that are open to anyone. The top clubs will have several regional development centres that cover their whole region. Most of the kids that attend these will be the very young ones from age 5 to Under 7.

Soccer Schools and Football Camps are also a good way to get scouted as many are run by coaches that have affiliations with local clubs.

Development Centres

Many professional clubs are now setting up Development Centres that provide training and a games programme that runs alongside their own Academy programme. This can be a great way to enter a professional club, without committing to signing a contract after just a few weeks. Development Centres will generally have teams from the under 9 to under 16 age groups and train twice a week and play a game on the Saturday.

A player will sign up to a Development Centre for a full season, although there is a cost to this of around £150 to cover the cost of the coaching and training kit.

The other major plus with joining a Development Centre is the fact that you can still play for your local team.

What happens once you’ve been scouted?

Once you have been scouted by a club an invite to train at the Academy will follow. Training sessions are usually on a Saturday morning for the young players that are not yet eligible to be signed. For the older kids they may be invited to train during the week, dependent on which group of players that are put with at first. In some cases, the club may offer an official six week trial straight away if they feel that the player is good enough, but generally this would only be for the older boys.

Will I be training with the Academy squad?

Many parents think that their son will be training with the “Academy” once they get scouted; however this is not always the case.

Many Academies have more than one group of players in each age group. For example, they may have the main Academy squad consisting of the players that are all under contract. They will all train together and participate in the official games programme against other professional clubs.

They may also have a Shadow/Development squad that trains alongside the main group with a different set of coaches. They do not participate in the official games programme but often arrange matches with other development centres and local Sunday League teams. Players are then plucked from the squad and sent up to the main Academy team to train. They then either stay there or get dropped back down if they are not up to the required standard.

Running Shadow/Development squads is a good way for clubs to snare local talent and keep them if they are not quite good enough to make the Academy squad, whilst providing coaching and the opportunity to play in a few games.

The Six Week Trial

Before a player can be signed at an Academy he must complete an official six week trial first. Part of the trial involves the player participating in a minimum of two matches. There are instances where players have been offered a contract without having completed a trial; however these are very rare for younger players, and go against the Football League rules.

The Football League Youth Development Rules state that a “Trialist” is a player playing in age groups Under 9 to Under 21 who is attending an Academy on trial under the provisions of Rule 213.

Rule 213 states that a “Trialist” may attend an Academy for up to six consecutive weeks in any one season without being registered. The club must give at least seven days written notice to any junior club the “Trialist” is a member and also inform the Secretary of the Football League by completing Form YD8, prior to the commencement of the trial.

A player cannot trial for an Academy whilst on trial at another Academy. Nor can a player trial at an Academy if he is registered to another professional club without the written permission of that club.

What happens after the trial period is over?

Once a player has completed his six week trial there are really only three outcomes in reality. If successful, he will be offered a contract.  If not, the player will be invited to continue training with the club or let go completely. The important thing to remember is the fact that an official trial is the only stepping stone to an Academy contract.

Announcing his decision to retire as Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson said: “The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time.”

“It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one.”

“Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world.”

Regarding his role at the club after retirement, Sir Alex will be taking up the roles of both Director and Ambassador of the club he has managed for the past 26 years.

Sir Alex has won 38 trophies since taking over from Ron Atkinson on the 6^th November 1986. His trophies include two Champions League wins, five FA Cups, four League Cups and 13 Premier League Titles. All this has led to Sir Alex been the most successful club manager in the game.

David Gill revealed Ferguson had been planning to make his succession easier by putting in place a young squad and a state of the art training facility at Carrington.

The current top candidate to take over at Old Trafford is David Moyes, who is out of contract at Everton in the summer, however many people will be looking for a much bigger name to land the job once Sir Alex vacates the manager’s role at the end of the season.

The announcement was made at 9:15am this morning on the Manchester United official website.

The only question we should be asking is will the drive to achieve a third Champions League winner’s medal eventually persuade Fergie change his mind as he did the last time he announced his retirement?

Most clubs will have already done their final assessments resulting in most players finally discovering their fate. After all those training sessions, matches, and journeys up and down the motorway, its decision time for all the players across every academy and every age group.

For the under 9’s,10’s and 11 age groups the players that have been retained will be there for another season at least. For the 12’s and above its two year contracts as a minimum!

Every club has an axe wielding hard man that usually takes the under 12’s. Clubs will be offering two year contracts so the grim reaper usually makes his presence known at that age and any mediocre players are usually released, unless of course there are not enough players to make up a squad for the next season.

Does your Academy have a Grim Reaper?

The usual merry go round starts about this time as players that have been released look for another club. Chief Scouts make the phone calls informing other clubs that they have released players and new players start to appear for trials. The whole thing is like one big circus with players and coaches moving around the clubs within their local areas. Some get a place at another academy; others end up playing local football again, which is sometimes no bad thing as they look to regain the confidence that has been hammered out of them by the academy system.

For the players that re-sign, some are there to simply make up the numbers in order that the top two or three players in the squad have team mates to train with and play matches alongside. Why do clubs pick out two or three players at under 12 and almost ignore the others? God knows not every player that made it through the system were not the stand out players at a young age.

The Dinosaurs are alive and well and lurking amongst our Football Academies.

Why do I keep hearing stories of young players in the 9 to 12 age groups getting side lined by Academy Coaches and Managers due to their size and lack of physical development?

I thought that the new Elite Player Performance Plan had been developed to increase the number of home grown players by improving their touch, ability on the ball, and general skill levels. Football Academies have been given a lot more dosh in return for improving their facilities, to recruit more full time coaches, and devote more time to coaching players from a young age.

So, how come young players that may be small in size but have good technical ability often get over looked in favour of their bigger, often less technically proficient team mates?

How can you tell if a player will have the necessary physical attributes at under-21 when he is only eleven! Personally, I don’t think you can so why do coaches make judgements on young players based on physical size alone? Do they think that players need to be bigger than their opponents in order to win games? Do you think that speed and size is the most important attribute at a young age?

Of course, not all coaches choose size over ability and there are many small young players in the academy system today.

A friend of mine recently told me a story about a Category 2 Academy in my local area where a couple of players in the under-13 age group had been given notice that they would be released at the end of the season. Two players were brought into the side from a development centre and both were much taller than the average player in that age group. After a few minutes watching them train it was obvious that both players did not have the required technical ability, balance and ball control required to progress up the ranks. Despite this, they were both retained because the Lead Development Coach favours tall players.

Go and watch the average League One game and you will see players that look more at home on a basket-ball field. The last game I went to see I got a stiff neck following the ball as it spent most of the time in the air!

Contract that style of football with that of Spain, Portugal and Germany and the difference in styles and player profiles is staggering.

We all know that the Spanish League is one of the best leagues in the World. Of course there are players in that league who are physical and far taller than the average player; however there are also many players that are less than six foot tall. What they all have in common though is extraordinary technical ability, balance and skill.

Our own Premiership has changed dramatically in recent years in terms of the type of players that we see week in and week out. Carlos Tevez, Aguero, Nasri and David Silva are all five foot something and that’s just in one team!

English football still has a very long way to go if we are ever going to match the footballing prowess of Spain, Germany and other European Clubs. Academy Managers must now wake up to the fact that size isn’t everything as they say and stop judging young players on this attribute only.

You can download a copy here.

The document is over 300 pages long and covers everything from leadership and management of an academy, performance management of staff and players, education, sports science, facilities, finance, player compensation and many other rules and policies.

For those of you that would like to know if your academy is playing by the rules, we’ve analysed the document and extracted what we think are the most relevant clauses. Check out your academy and see if they are playing by the book.

The Football League breaks down the age groups into three categories, as follows:

1. Foundation Phase covers the under 9 to under 11 age groups.

2. Youth Development Phase covers the under 12 to under 16 age groups.

3. Professional Development Phase covers the under 17 to under 21 age groups.

Here are the most salient points of the new rule book that we feel are of the most interest to both players and parents alike:

Performance Clock

Each club that operates as an Academy must maintain a Performance Clock for each of its Academy Players and ensure that it is available to Academy Players, their parents and the Football League.

The Performance Clock should record the player’s progress throughout his development. The Performance Clock should provide a breakdown of the following:

1. Time spent in individual and team technical and practical development
2. Time spent playing matches (always an interesting one to see if your son is getting a fair amount of match time)
3. Sports science and medicine plus educational progression (subject to age of player)
4. The Clock should record the progression in all areas from the coaches and players perspective.
5. The Performance Clock should evidence the players Performance Reviews. How many players and parents have seen this document?

Performance Reviews

Every Academy player should receive a Performance Review as follows:

1. Every 12 weeks for under 9 to under 11 age groups
2. Every 6 weeks for under 12 to under 18 age groups
3. The Academy takes appropriate action to develop the player by setting mutually agreed performance targets and/or individual coaching as may be necessary.
4. Each Performance Review should be recorded on the player’s Performance Clock.
5. The Academy should meet with the Parent of each player under the age of 18 at least twice a year and provide a detailed review of all aspects of the Academy Player’s performance and development based on his most recent performance reviews. A written record must be given to the Parent and noted on the Player’s Performance Clock.
6. The Academy should provide a written report to the Parent of each Academy Player under the age of 18 between the 1 May and 30 June each year. The report should cover all aspects of the player’s performance and development.

Coaches

Each club that operates an Academy should provide a minimum number of Full Time coaches for each development Phase.

See below chart.

Each club should develop a Coaching Programme that is based on the Club’s Football philosophy and the Club’s Academy Performance Plan.

Coaching Hours

Academies must provide a minimum amount of coaching hours each week to each Academy Player as follows:

1. Each club must ensure that each Academy Player has access to individual coaching tailored to his specific needs and all coaching must be recorded on the Players Performance Clock.
2. Each club shall ensure that a coach to Academy Players ratio of 1:10 is maintained for all coaching sessions. (Category 1 Academies using the Full Training Model should be 1:8).
3. Each club shall ensure that each Academy Player in age groups Under 9 and older participates at least once a year in a Festival or Tournament which lasts for at least two days.

Goalkeeping Coaches

Each club should employ specialist Goalkeeping Coaches as is deemed necessary to ensure that each Goalkeeper receives the required amount of coaching. Each Goalkeeping Coach must:

1. Attend at least five hours of in-service training provided by the FA each year;
2. Attend the first aid training for Academy coaches at least once every three years;
3. Undertake continued personal development and hold an up to date UEFA B Licence and an FA Youth Award.

Games Programme

The Academy must record in the Academy Player’s Performance Clock details of every game played and the match time for each player.

Each club must have technical facilities to undertake performance analysis of training activity and games played. Category 1 clubs must also undertake GPS evaluation in the Professional Development Phase.

Under 9 to Under 11 (Foundation Phase) Games Programme
The Premier League will organise a games programme for players in the Under 9 to Under 11 age groups for clubs operating Category 1 and 2 Academies. Both Categories can play matches against each other.

1. Each club should participate in one or more Football Festivals on a local, regional or national basis.
2. Matches shall be played outdoors except for Category 1 and 2 clubs where games played in the second half of December and the whole of January and February must be played indoors.
3. Category 3 clubs may play games indoors from the second half of December to the end of February.
4. An Academy Player in Foundation Phase may still play for his school team or school representing county side.

Under 12 to Under 16 (Youth Development Phase) Games Programme

1. The Premier League will arrange the games programme for clubs in Category 1 and 2 and the Football League will arrange the game programme for Category 3 clubs.
2. Matches should be organised on a regional basis with no team having to travel more than two hours to a game. Category 3 games should be played on a local basis with travelling time to each match no more than one hour.
3. Category 1 and 2 clubs must participate in one or more Festivals or Tournaments. This is optional for Category 3 clubs.
4. Matches shall be played outdoors except for Category 1 and 2 clubs where games played in the second half of December and the whole of January and February must be played indoors. (Now you know why most clubs have such an extensive Christmas break)!
5. Category 3 clubs may play games indoors from the second half of December to the end of February.
6. All games should be played in the 11v11 format although under 12 matches can be 9v9 if both teams agree.

Under 17 to Under 21 (Professional Development Phase) Games Programme

1. The Premier League will organise two games programme, one for clubs in Category 1 and one for Category 2 Academies. The Football League will arrange the games programme for clubs in Categories 3 and 4.
2. Category 1 clubs will play in a national league, with some international matches.
3. Category 2 clubs will play in two leagues based on geographical location.
4. Category 3 & 4 Academies will play in two or more leagues again based on location of the clubs.

Time and Distance Rules

Academy Players must reside within the following travel times from the club they are registered with:

	Permitted Recruitment time/distance
	Foundation Phase	Youth Development Phase	Professional Development Phase
Category 1	1 hours	Seasons 2012/13 and 2013/14: 1. Under 15 & Under 16: no limit for Academy Players engaged in the Full Time Training Model; 2. 1 1/2 hours for all other Academy Players in the Youth Development Phase.	No limit
		Season 2014/2015 onwards: 1. No limit for Academy Players engaged in the Full Time Training Model; 2. 1 1/2 hours for all other Academy Players in the Youth Development Phase.
Category 2	1 hour	1 1/2 hours	No limit
Category 3	1 hour	1 1/2 hours	No limit
Category 4	N/A	N/A	No limit

End of Season Procedure

Under 9 to Under 11 age groups – on or before the third Saturday in May each year a club must give or send to each of its player’s notification in writing whether it intends to retain or terminate his registration from the above date.

Under 12 to Under 14 age groups – on or before the third Saturday in May each year a club must give or send to each of its player’s Form 30 notifying him if the club intends to retain his registration for the next two seasons or to terminate it with effect from the third Saturday in May.

An Academy player that receives notification that his contract is to be terminated as above can then apply to join another Academy. (Note: see section on Compensation as this only applies if he has been released)

An Academy Player that receives notification of his Club’s intention to retain his registration shall likewise be at liberty after the date of the last match in the Games Programme to seek registration at another Academy or any other Club. He must however give written notice to the Club and the Football League Secretary by the date of the last match and receive written acknowledgement from the League. (Note: this does not waiver a Club’s rights to claim compensation)

Termination of Registration

A player’s registration at an Academy will be terminated in the following instances:

1. The Academy Players completes his full time education
2. The Football League Secretary receives form YD7 or Form YD10 signed by the Club and Academy Player/Parent.
3. Notification in writing from either the Club of Academy Player as per the End of Season Procedure above.
4. The expiry, surrender, suspension or revocation of a Club’s Academy Licence.
5. Scholarships
6.  A Club may offer a Scholarship on or after the 1 January in the year in which a player reaches the age of 14 years and in any event on or before the 1 March in his Under 16 year.
7. If a Club fails to honour a Scholarship offer they will be liable to disciplinary action by the Football League.
8. Any Player receiving a Scholarship offer must respond within 28 days using Form 34. An Academy Player who does not accept the offer may seek registration at another club after the second Saturday in May.

Academy Player Compensation

Probably the most misunderstood rule in the current Academy system and one that most parents have very little understanding of, player compensation rules have changed since the new EPPP rules came into effect.

The registration of an Academy Player gives the club that holds his registration the right to charge another club compensation for the training and development of that player. The only way a player can leave a club without any compensation rights is by obtaining a release form YD7. A YD10 form does not waiver a clubs rights to claim compensation when the payer leaves or in the future.

1. Compensation is due in respect of any Academy Player who is in any age group between Under 9 and Under 16 at the time when he first registered with the applicant club.
2. Compensation is based on an initial fee payable to the most recent training club and, if the player is in the Under 12 age groups or older, contingent compensation is payable to all the clubs who trained the Academy Player from the age group Under 12 and above.
3. Fees are based on an annual fixed fee multiplied by the number of years training.

The annual fixed fees by age group are as follows:

Appearance Fees are also payable for player’s that make it through the Academy as follows:

Facilities

As you’d expect, Category 1 Academies offer the best facilities and many are attached to Premier League Clubs who all have excellent outdoor and indoor training facilities. Academies should have a minimum number of pitches as well as Astro Turf and Floodlit training facilities as shown below:

If you would like to learn more about the world of Football Academies, read our Academy FAQ.

We see it every weekend on Sky Sports. Players high in confidence seem to always do the right thing. Conversely, how many times do we hear the commentator say that a player is low in confidence after a glaring miss?

Most kids that end up at an academy have done so by getting spotted by a club scout. The reason why a player gets spotted in the first place is usually down to the fact that they stood out over all the other kids that day. One of the reasons they stand out is the fact that they do thing’s other kids either can’t or are afraid to do, such as a mesmerising dribble, a shot from way outside the box, an over- head kick or some fancy skill.

Watch any under 7 Sunday League game and you will see kids playing without any fear of losing the ball or making a mistake. At that age Kids have no fear and have not yet been subjected to the constant touchline instructions from coaches yelling at them to pass the ball or clear it!

It’s not about winning it’s all about player development?

Most academy coaches will tell you that the most important objective for any young player is personal development and winning matches is not important to them. Whilst I am sure this may be the philosophy of most clubs, it find it hard to believe having witnessed numerous academy games where the coaches have been no less vocal than the average Sunday League coach when things aren’t going their way.

One interesting fact is that many young players get spotted whilst playing for their club sides in their regular position. Once they join an academy some end up playing in a completely different position to the one that they excelled in at club level. I’m not saying this is wrong as I do believe that young players should be able to adapt to other positions therefore developing their skills and awareness even further. Nonetheless, it is an interesting fact!

Is your academy coach a teacher?

Coaching anything, be it football, golf, rugby or any other sport is actually teaching someone to develop. The most important priority of any teacher is the progress of the student and not the wins or losses associated with matches.

This is a very simple concept that should be embraced by all coaches in the academy system. When the coach treats a player as a student, the players and the team show dramatic improvements.

Messi – a player with supreme confidence!

The lengthy team talk before the game and the even longer grilling after a poor match result may have little bearing on the match result where young players are concerned. The harsh reality is that players do the same things in games as they do in practice. How many practice games does your club play in training every week?

A great teacher should be more like a salesmen in order to make sure a player believes that what he is doing is the right thing for him.

At academy level, some players don’t actually understand why they are doing a certain drill and therefore lose motivation. They don’t actually believe that the drill is going to help them. The role of the academy coach is almost as important as that of the players school teacher as most academy players spend nearly as much time at their academy as they do at school.

A player’s confidence should be safeguarded at all costs?

The ultimate aim for any young player is to improve their skills and this can only come through coaching, practice and confidence.

Let’s take an example of two players that have played for their junior clubs as forwards. One is a natural goal scorer and has the technical ability, skill and awareness that other players may not have in the squad. The other is not as technically proficient or as skill full but is physically more developed and has more pace. Which one would your academy coach go with on match day if he wanted to win the game at all costs?

As the EPPP is all about player development, we would like to know what you think of the changes (if any) that you have seen at your club and if you feel that they are positive in terms of player development.

Early feedback from a number of sources suggests that some academies have actually lowered their standards with regards to the signing of new players. Clubs now have to maintain minimum player numbers in order to meet certain requirements and many seem to be signing players that may not yet be ready for academy level football.

There appears to be a constant merry go round of players that are on trial coming in every six weeks or so. Many believe that this is actually lowering the standards as they are mixed in with the group and hampering the development of the top players within an age group. Surely, any academy worth its salt should run a development centre to cater for players that are on trial and drip feed them into the main group. Trailists that show potential can then be released into the academy group and only then should they be allowed to play in games and train with the main group.

Some clubs seem to have this system in place, however there are a number of clubs that haven’t grasped the fact that constantly bringing in players on trial and mixing them all with the main group merely frustrates the group of players that have signed contracts, reduces match time for each player, and hampers individual development in training.

If you have a group of fifteen players, instead of casting a large blanket across them all in training, why not split the group up and work on them as separate groups in training for periods of time. This would ensure that the top players in the group work together. Most schools follow this system by splitting pupils up into sets depending on their academic levels at any one time. Pupils that are advancing then get to move up a set.

What’s the point of taking your son to an academy?

Apart from the obvious fact that being a professional footballer is the main draw, surely it is all about player development?

With many kids now spending even more time at their clubs each week, mainly due to the Elite Player Performance Plan, the big question is are they making the most of their time there in terms of development. Some academies are doing a great job no doubt, however the feedback we receive from players, parents and coaches suggest that many are still working in the dark ages and have yet to make any positive changes that will actually increase the level of first team players that are produced with the football academy system!

As ever, please post your comments below!

Clubs have now been given their categories under the new rules that are supposed to herald a new culture within our academy system that will eventually produce the England stars of the future. New coaching regimes, more touches on the ball through small sided games, better qualified coaches, fitness programmes, core stability regimes, diet plans and so on!

Sounds great doesn’t it but what exactly has changed at your football academy?

From personal experience, and from feedback we have received from players, parents and coaches, it is difficult to see if there have been any positive changes as a result of the new EPPP rules so far!

Players under the age of 12 are still playing 11 a side matches on large pitches and under- 12 goal keepers are trying to keep net in goals that are far too big for them.

There appears to be an increase in the amount of paperwork that academy coaches and managers have to do!

Tell us what’s changed at your academy or centre of excellence?

Most, if not all academies, have increased the amount of coaching hours each week. Many have added an extra day and now require players to attend the academy after school on certain days and for older players, they have to miss school completely for a day each week.

There are now more full time coaches and some clubs have recruited additional coaching staff in order to meet the audit requirements for category one and two clubs.

Clubs are now producing schedules detailing the specific training routines that take place each day, such as fitness training, gym work, core training, and ball skills and so on!

Logs are now been kept detailing the game time that every player gets, players should also receive regular feedback on how they are performing and clubs must implement a system of effective measurement and quality assurance for all players.

So what has changed at your club and have you seen a positive change as a result of the new EPPP rules? Please let us know by adding your comments below!

New rules, new categories, new training kits to fork out for (unless your son is in one of the Cat 1 clubs of course), new tyres on the car for all those long journeys, a new job to pay for all the fuel, and new expectation and excitement about the prospects of watching your kid play football again after a long summer off!

New academy categories!

So far as my own son’s academy is concerned, who are striving for Category Two status, there have been quite a few notable changes.

We now have several full time coaches and the whole place seems a bit more business-like and serious. Training has been extended and my son’s age group now train three times a week totalling over 12 hours of actual training, excluding the game on Sunday. God knows if he’ll still be able to play for his school!

Normal family life, since the start of the season, has certainly changed as most of the time is spent driving to and from the academy and watching training! At least the club is ‘parent friendly’ and is happy to let you sit and watch at close quarters, unlike some of the academies out there that believe that they have a god given right to keep you as far away as possible so that they can mould your son in to some kind of robot! They forget that the parents make it all happen in the first place by giving up their normal lives!

Nothing much has changed yet in terms of the teams we will be playing against, except for the fact that two Premier League clubs we usually play against are no longer on the fixtures list. I guess they will have moved up to Category 1!

9 a-side or 11 a-side?

At my son’s age group (under 12) I was under the impression that one of the changes with the new EPPP rules was for 9 a side games to be the norm at that age! So far, we have played three games and two of the away fixtures have been 11 a-side matches on large pitches. Not sure how this helps the players to get more touches on the ball as it still encourages players to hit long balls in an attempt to hit the front players!

One noticeable fact this season is the reduction in the number of players in each age group that were at the academy last season, which means that there are several players on trial in most of the age groups. They are easy to spot as they still have the freedom of choosing whatever football kit they like and usually stand out like sore thumbs in their brightly coloured boots amongst the standard uniform of black boots and academy training tops that all the regular players wear. This also seems to be the case at many other academies also!

Like all previous seasons, we start with the greatest of optimism and excitement at the thought of watching our kids play football, however some take it a little too far at this time of year as the parents of kids that are on trial spend the first few weeks telling all the other parents how their son was the star of his Sunday League team and how many goals he scored every Sunday. They soon come down to reality after their first competitive game when they realise the size of the gap between Sunday League football and academy football. Never mind, it’s all part of the experience I guess!

League One club, Crewe Alexandra, has just submitted their application to become a Category Two club under the new EPPP academy classifications. Local newspaper Crew Chronicle has published the following article on the the new EPPP application.

Charmain John Bowler is confident Crewe Alex will still be able to produce world class players after the club submitted its application under the new national youth system.

Crewe have long enjoyed a reputation for producing high quality footballers – the most recent success story being Nick Powell’s mega-money move to Manchester United.

They have also been responsible for the careers of international talent such as Dean Ashton, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson, Neil Lennon, Robbie Savage and Rob Jones, and raked in multi-million pound fees for Nicky Maynard and Luke Varney.

Bowler has confirmed that the Alex has applied for ‘Category Two’ status – which if successful would put them on a similar footing to many of the top Premier League and Championship clubs.

He believes it is essential Crewe attain certification for that level which would keep them among the best academies in the country.

He said: “We’ve now submitted our application and all the data to the Football League, which is currently examining the documentation and we hope they agree with us that we should become a Category Two.

“In that category there’s going to be some big, big names. I don’t think there will be another Category Two club of our size, so that says something for what Dario (Gradi) has done over the years and what James (Collins) and Critch (Neil Critchley, assistant academy managers) are now doing.

“That’s the kind of standing we feel we deserve and we have a right to be in that group.

“We want to be because we want to be associated with those types of clubs.

“If for no other reason, it’s important to us for our games programme. We want to be playing against other quality academy sides.”

Bowler is confident that, irrespective of the new system, Crewe will continue to attract quality youngsters – and that the big clubs will always take an interest in their prized assets.

He said: “I think we’ve always got to be sensible that if there is an exceptional, outstanding player he’s going to attract interest early on.

“I’m pretty sure the new academy arrangements aren’t going to turn that on its head.

“After all, it’s still up to us to persuade these young players that this is the right place to be, because this is where you can develop your career – that’s what we’re all about.”

You can read the full article here.

Good luck to Crewe and hopefully they will meet the required standards in the coming months!