Albion academy in Surrey

[VHA on NSC]

Gaining Cat 1 status isn't as straightforward as throwing money at the training centre and academy either - our friends up the A23 tried and failed about 18 months ago. So a significant feather in the cap of the much maligned David Burke.

Palace's was category 2 because its constituent parts were not under one roof, and other minor infrastructure issues.

Brighton's, bought and paid for and custom built to comply with category one criteria, seems to have been a simple case of throwing money at it, and very little to do with the feathers in Barber's cap. It also has a great deal to do with the act of continuing to throw money at it, to the tune of double a category 2 academy per year (another stipulation).....

 

[Brovion]

They are welcome. They'll pick up the best youngsters, pay to train them up, then give them back to us for free at the age of 18, when their progression is blocked by 382 African imports.

That is 100% true. I know of at least one player in our current Dev squad (his dad's a mate) where that was exactly the case. And not just imports in the first team. We go 'woo hoo' when we open a branch of our Academy is Surrey - Chelsea scout kids from all over the world. My mate's son turned up for training at Chelsea one day to find they'd just signed about a dozen new French lads.

 

[sebtucknott]

Category 1 clubs...

Wiki

First League Stage[edit]
North Division[edit]
Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Stoke City U18s 2 2 0 0 9 1 +8 6 Group A
2 Manchester City U18s 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5 6
3 Everton U18s 2 2 0 0 7 3 +4 6
4 Bolton Wanderers U18s 2 1 1 0 5 1 +4 4
5 Manchester United U18s 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4 Group B
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
7 Sunderland U18s 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
8 Derby County U18s 2 0 1 1 3 4 −1 1
9 Liverpool U18s 2 0 1 1 3 9 −6 1 Group C
10 Newcastle United U18s 2 0 0 2 3 5 −2 0
11 Middlesbrough U18s 2 0 0 2 3 8 −5 0
12 Blackburn Rovers U18s 2 0 0 2 2 9 −7 0

South Division[edit]

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Arsenal U18s 2 2 0 0 9 1 +8 6 Group A
2 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s 3 2 0 1 3 4 −1 6
3 Tottenham Hotspur U18s 2 1 1 0 5 3 +2 4
4 West Ham United U18s 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 4
5 West Bromwich Albion U18s 2 1 0 1 7 3 +4 3 Group B
6 Chelsea U18s 2 1 0 1 5 8 −3 3
7 Norwich City U18s 3 1 0 2 5 8 −3 3
8 Leicester City U18s 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
9 Southampton U18s 2 0 1 1 4 5 −1 1 Group C
10 Reading U18s 2 0 1 1 3 4 −1 1
11 Aston Villa U18s 2 0 1 1 1 7 −6 1
12 Fulham U18s 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0

 

[The Birdman]

We could produce plenty of talent in the Sussex area however we need to develop our coaches improve our facilities and I mean more 3G/4gG pitches also encourage new referees many of our youngsters are playing on sub standard pitches also with our weather many pitches are unplayable for weeks in the winter. Brighton could run coaching course in the evenings at the new training ground also it would build relationships with junior clubs and influence the style of the way the club want them to play, this is a long term objective it will also help to develop the fan base. I am sure the coaches/clubs would also pay for the courses. I also believe it would fit in with what the FA want to achieve.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Not sure i approve,more local players please. Pretty narked when charlton open up soccer coaching in sussex tbh.

 

[BigGully]

BHA has been recruiting nearly exclusively outside of Sussex for generations, its only in recent history ( The Withdean Years ) that partly due to circumstance and those coaches within that system at the time that we started to recruit mainly within Sussex.

It seems that we are going back to what was done previously, with players recruited from outside the area, we seem to have recruitment managers all through the Academy and what those people do is ermmmm ..... recruit.

This isnt a comment on us, but a more broader view on professional football.

Owners spend millions on the academy, they then put in a structure that should improve the chances of bringing players through, employing recruitment staff that cannot help themselves but to recruit outside of the area, they need to justify their worth and the local process is likely to already be embedded so their role has to be seen to recruit outside of this.

The reality remains that outside of a very thin tier of uber talented maestros, all clubs pluck their players from a similar talent pool, whether that is from Crawley, Cork or Reykjavik that player will have some attributes and some weaknesses but each apart perhaps for physicality maturity share a similar overall talent.

It is worth remembering that in 2006 BHA youth team reached the quarters of the FA youth cup under Wilkins, coached within a supposedly inadequate training environment with youngsters exclusively from Sussex, yet competed on the national stage against some of the most 'progressive' youth academy's, something I doubt will ever be replicated.

I suspect coming through from under 12'sh and being coached and developed by John Byrne, Ian Chapman, Russell Bromage and then onto Wilkins etc, was the key element, not where those players came from.

 

[Uter]

Are there any Premier League clubs that don't have a cat 1 academy?

Can't see this answered directly so:

There are 5 at present. Palace, Swansea and QPR who have category 2 status. Hull and Burnley have only achieved category 3 level.

In addition there are 9 clubs in the Championship with category 1 academies: Us, Blackburn, Bolton, Wolves, Norwich, Reading, Fulham, Boro and Derby.

 

[Mackenzie]

Palace's was category 2 because its constituent parts were not under one roof, and other minor infrastructure issues.

Brighton's, bought and paid for and custom built to comply with category one criteria, seems to have been a simple case of throwing money at it, and very little to do with the feathers in Barber's cap. It also has a great deal to do with the act of continuing to throw money at it, to the tune of double a category 2 academy per year (another stipulation).....

That should be very simple to put right then. Great news for you guys.

Well done.

 

[Giraffe]

This is a great development, I think we have largely claimed back Sussex now from the likes of Chelsea, Charlton and Palace who took advantage of our weak position to try and nick our fanbase and talent, now is exactly the right time to fight back. Would like to see the same move in to Kent as well. Hampshire may be harder with the dominance of Southampton and Portsmouth.

 

[Rogero]

My Albion loving grandson has just started at a Fulham Academy in Guildford. He would love to be with the Albion.

 

[Dougie]

. Would like to see the same move in to Kent as well. Hampshire may be harder with the dominance of Southampton and Portsmouth.

Blimey you need to learn how to walk before you run .

 

[nwgull]

Blimey you need to learn how to walk before you run .

Worried about losing your best youngsters?

 

[Dougie]

Worried about losing your best youngsters?

Not to you lot no . We've got a established academy which has taken years to build so the new kids on the block won't effect us too much .

 

[nwgull]

I

Not to you lot no . We've got a established academy which has taken years to build so the new kids on the block won't effect us too much .

Apart from the fact that it's far easier for a Cat 1 Academy to poach the best players from a Cat 2, you've got nothing to worry about a club only 40 miles away having one of the best in the region.

 

[AZ Gull]

I

Apart from the fact that it's far easier for a Cat 1 Academy to poach the best players from a Cat 2, you've got nothing to worry about a club only 40 miles away having the highest-ranked in the country.

Corrected for you.

 

[Dougie]

I

Apart from the fact that it's far easier for a Cat 1 Academy to poach the best players from a Cat 2, you've got nothing to worry about a club only 40 miles away having one of the best in the region.

As I said I'm not worried . If you get good uns who's stoping the bigger cat 1 clubs poaching yours .

 

[BensGrandad]

My Albion loving grandson has just started at a Fulham Academy in Guildford. He would love to be with the Albion.

What is the problem if somebody is prepared to drive him there for training etc.

 

[Mackenzie]

Not to you lot no . We've got a established academy which has taken years to build so the new kids on the block won't effect us too much .

Absolutely. The youngsters will go where they believe that they have the best chance of progressing their careers. The new facilities TB has invested in help, but it only goes so far.

What we need to do is start to produce players through the system who go on to play first team football, this will take time, but I do believe that we'll get there in the end. Once young players see that there is a progression to the first team it makes us a better prospect. That said of last weeks team Walton, Dunk, Forster-Caskey and Ince are former DS players (granted Ince and Walton had youth careers elsewhere).

 

[Dougie]

Absolutely. The youngsters will go where they believe that they have the best chance of progressing their careers. The new facilities TB has invested in help, but it only goes so far.

What we need to do is start to produce players through the system who go on to play first team football, this will take time, but I do believe that we'll get there in the end. That said of last weeks first team Walton, Dunk, Forster-Caskey and Ince are former DS players (granted Ince and Walton had youth careers elsewhere).

I agree . The players you've mentioned are a start but that's all it is a start !

 

[Mackenzie]

I agree . The players you've mentioned are a start but that's all it is a start !

You've got to start somewhere.