Football Academies – Any experience?

A friend’s 11yr old son has been at Fulham’s academy for 3-4 years. He’s good, but IMO no better than I was (or some of my mates) when we were his age. His dad keeps him grounded and always reminds him to just have fun and not get caught up with the competitive side and whether or not he progresses on the path to becoming a pro. Re education, he is not an academic child but has been granted a scholarship (through Fulham) to a posh local school. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.

Another friend’s son is the same age and going through the same experience at Chelsea. Unsure about next steps for schooling though.

I think, as somebody said above, some of these academies take kids on rather than ‘risk’ team going to their rivals in the hope they can develop them.

I used to work for a Premier League academy as a coach and sadly the world of big business (which football is) and children’s (and parents, sadly) dreams don’t mix.
There are good and bad academies and good and bad coaching schools but they all play on the promise of stardom and riches. Some, like the first one I worked for, around 15 years ago, are more responsible but it has to be remembered that it is a business. There are some very good guys in the academy system, who have the children’s best interests at heart and the overall FA system is fairly well thought out.
However there are still a lot of people who are in it for themselves. Either because they are pursuing their own coaching careers, or because the (irresponsible) club is putting pressure on them.
Two examples. The first was a boy who I had scouted and then coached, who was signed by a Premier League club, at the age of 11. The signing process was done by an ex pro, who ran the academy and was a genuinely nice guy. The family liason/welfare officer, again a nice guy, was very hands on, knew all the parents names and constantly made sure they knew he was available for any problems. The lad was released after two years but it was done with care and concern and his parents told me at no point did he feel like he had failed.
The other side was a case where a lad, who had been at a different club, (who I would never work for) and was released after 4 years, at age 16. I used to coach him before he went to this club and one day ran into his father, who told me that he had been released with no real explanation. The father had spoken with the lad’s coach later and was told that it had been a choice between 2 players, as to who had to be released. Whilst his son was the better player, the other boy had a grandfather who offered to sponsor the club by paying for the cost of tracksuits for the team.
I stopped coaching at that level a few years back, as I couldn’t rationalise the hopes and dreams of a child with the business of pro football. Whilst my job sounds glamorous, I was paid a pittance and often had to chase payment for my expenses. My coaching kit was usually either secondhand or ‘liberated’ from a different section of the club before they stole it to sell to fans. I was lucky enough to achieve my dream of coaching, at a good level, at a pro club. I left totally disillusioned with that dream.
The only way to survive the experience of an academy is for the parents to understand their child, to keep their child grounded and fully aware that they probably won’t make it. To accept that they (the parent) cannot live their dream through the child (or just to brag about it down the pub, which I experienced myself). That they should just enjoy the experience and see it as just another part of their life. Gain from the coaching, the new friends, the whole fairground but not see it as another route to fame and fortune.
The football club, or these days so called private academies are, for the most part, only interested in money. How much they can sell your child for, or how much you are willing to pay them to coach your child. True story. A local lad was scouted playing in a local boys league, he was signed, went on to play for the first team, then transferred for millions, played for England and later became a manager in the Premier League. The original club earned millions, in original and sell on fees. The guy who scouted him received £150 after he played for the first team.

The only way to survive the experience of an academy is for the parents to understand their child, to keep their child grounded and fully aware that they probably won’t make it. To accept that they (the parent) cannot live their dream through the child (or just to brag about it down the pub, which I experienced myself). That they should just enjoy the experience and see it as just another part of their life. Gain from the coaching, the new friends, the whole fairground but not see it as another route to fame and fortune.

This is great advice. From the little I have seen the pushy parents are a large part of the problem.

The parent I heard bragging in the pub was the father of a lad that I had coached and had showed real promise. His father came to speak to me one evening and told me that a lower league club had approached him as they wanted to sign him. I explained that whilst his son wasn’t ready to move up to the full academy, if he was patient, I was sure this would happen. I also explained that should his son sign for the lower league club it would be unlikely that any club higher in the league would be interested in him, should he be released. Obviously if he went higher to start with, the lower league club would be very interested should he be released however.
The following coaching session the father sent me a message to say he had signed with the other club. I was also told that the father was a huge fan of this club. A few months later I was at an event and purely by chance bumped into the father. Despite (or maybe because) me standing there he delighted in telling all around that his son played for X club, how much they loved him and how one day he was going to play for the first team. The lad was 8 or 9, as I recall.
It can be very hard to talk to coaches at academies, some are too busy, some too full of themselves. But I would thoroughly recommend trying to get a feel for what is going on at any visit. Maybe try to talk to other parents, although they can be very ‘cliquey’ or not want your child taking their child’s place. Try to notice if the coaches seem friendly towards the children, or do they walk off the coaching area on their own.
Above all else though, remember it’s a business, there’s money to be earned. To some, your child is a commodity.

From the little I have seen the pushy parents are a large part of the problem.

I’ve not seen that at any place I’ve been involved. My son has come to be at end of sessions and said the coach was saying ‘if you want that Ferrari you need to keep practicing’, or ‘keep trying and you will be able to thank your parents by buying them a house’

All I have found is parents going to extreme lengths to support their childs dream ie changing jobs, working less hours, driving 100’s of miles etc.

Some parents were a bit stand off as they think your kid is going to taker their kids place, but Ive never seen a pushy parent.

Ive never seen a pushy parent.

Glad to hear it, and don’t get me wrong, 99% of the parents I see are exactly what you’ve experienced, but the pushy ones are definitely out there. One lad at our club looks round at his dad every time he touches the ball, his dads body language is rarely positive so he is constantly looking for reassurance that he hasn’t messed up. Unfortunately this is completely counter productive as the poor kid is so nervous that he makes mistakes and then worries even more. Personally I don’t think he’s playing at the right level but his dad thinks he just needs to work harder. I’m pretty sure the coaching team will step in soon, they appear to have been trying to bring him along but with very limited success.

Just a bit of an update and nearly a year in. Its a shame that in some ways I don’t feel like I can talk openly about his journey, I have learnt over the last year that football is a very very odd world, not based purely on developing talent for some of the reasons others have talked about above. You also have to be very careful what you say and don’t say as a parent.

Trials have been had at more than 1 academy, and to be honest he was not ready for that level having only first touched a football 3 years previously. However the trials have certainly opened ours/his eyes to what academy football is and in many ways we are glad he is not in it right now. I think aged 14+ he will be able to make more of his own informed decisions on what opportunity academy football will offer him, and what it will take away from him.

What had always intrigued me was the comments about academy teams are there to nurture 2-3 key players. I can now totally see that, but then without sounding harsh, is that any great surprise. The kids with talent do stand out, and you can see the ones that have the talent, so yes they do need a team around them, and you can see whos in which role.

Our son’s journey is still upward at the moment, and various things have happened in the last 6 months that allude to that. At least now he knows what the next step will be and can prep for it, and is aware of the sacrifices that will bring in his personal life, but  an academy could take it away at any time even if he signs a 2 year contract.

For me it means my life has changed massively over the last year. My weekends are gone and I just ferry him from training session to match to training session, but I have no problem doing that, its great to see his journey, and actually see all the talented kids around him too.

Just a further brief update.

Things still going well, in some ways exceptionally well. He’s still not signed for an academy but we are happy with that, again I don’t want to go in to too much detail but some of that is where we live and rules on travel distances for our sons age. He’s had more than 1 offer, but we are not prepared to travel silly distances (which actually would be against the rules)

He is playing county football and national level football, against some of the best teams in the country and teams from other countries , he was recently being watched by England coaches.

Through the processes that have happened we are beginning to understand that our lad does have some talent. we are being advised for now not to worry too much, and that academies will come in time

Again though we take nothing for granted, school is the priority, and we still talk about life after football regularly, it’s just becoming clearly to us he has some talent that is worth supporting him develop as much as possible!

Bit of a further update.

A tough couple of months at the end of last season. He stopped playing where he was (a local EFL development team) and their academy team offered him a trial. It all went very well and looked promising. However at the end of a 3 month trial ,out of the blue the answer was no. This left our son club less at the end of a season. Luckily we knew a couple of local none EFL clubs would take him straight in (thankfully) and this kept him going, although it was a big knock back.

Again in the off season he was selected to play for at national level, but this again was hard for him with team mates as he is the only ‘unsigned’ player, and pretty much the rest of the squad is made up of Cat 1 (premier league) players. However good news came from this selection camp, as I was approached by a Premier League football club who are interested in him. He also has another match coming up soon against a premier league club that we have been told are interested in him.

We now take everything with a pinch of salt, it would be great if he gets an offer from 1 or both, if both we wouldnt have a clue which to choose. Weirdly it would appear that having a connection with the lower league EFL club has hindered him progressing in the academy system.

If he does get in to a Cat 1 academy, this is could be a turning point from an Education perspective. So far he plays football 3 x evenings a week and a match or 2 at the weekend. Cat 1’s expect day release too, which I am uncomfortable with when he is just starting GCSEs. We know his education will suffer as a result. In the past we have already had conversations that if football takes over, and then he is ultimately unsuccessful in it, we will support him however we can to regain his education.