[Albion] Just Got Back From the Academy.

[Not Andy Naylor]

Any one of them going by what I saw!

A pedant writes: the academy isn't a place. You went to the training ground, aka the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre. And there you saw some teams who represent the academy, which occupies the east side of the main buildings. But I suppose we all know what you mean, so ...

 

[American Seagle]

Just think, in about ten to fifteen years we could be writing any number of them off as not up to it after they make their debut in the last 5 mins of a game

 

[BNthree]

Was Mwepu there training the youngsters, isn’t he our U9s coach?

No he’s not.

 

[BNthree]

Jack Hinshelwood came all the way up through the age groups of the Academy, shows the foundations laid by building the facilities at Lancing are starting to pay off.

 

[Skaville]

Daughter is captain for her year, she played in a game about a month ago beating arch rivals Stringer, scoring two and was watched by someone from the academy, they have invited her to join the girl’s academy and starts on Wednesday after an injury. She has played there twice before against the academy girls, it is mighty impressive all the teams throughout the age groups are encouraged to play the same way.
Her PE teacher told her she has the best natural ability he’s seen at the school in a long while since a certain Lewis Dunk, her teacher Mr S Tuck, well there’s a blast from the past eh.
proud as punch, hope she enjoys her time there, they have their work cut out, she’s fast, powerful, and delivers a wicked cross and corner, but her spacial awareness leaves a lot to be desired.

High praise. Tucky tells it how it is.

 

[Garyoldfan]

I get the chance every 2 weeks to go to the training ground as my lad is in the aitc training (or whatever it’s called now). The whole things amazing and makes me very proud when I watch the other games but I do worry that probably only 1% at best will make it out of these academies. False hope for the kids and parents or a great opportunity for the kids even if they don’t make it ?

 

[Bry Nylon]

I get the chance every 2 weeks to go to the training ground as my lad is in the aitc training (or whatever it’s called now). The whole things amazing and makes me very proud when I watch the other games but I do worry that probably only 1% at best will make it out of these academies. False hope for the kids and parents or a great opportunity for the kids even if they don’t make it ?

Channel 4 broadcast a really fascinating 4 part documentary about the Palace academy a couple of years ago, following different age groups.

A small sample size, admittedly, but the kids that got released seemed relatively pragmatic about it. After all, at that age kids think they are going to live forever and just see a world full of possibilities. It was the parents who seemed to have the biggest problem accepting that their kid might not make the cut or was being released.

 

[Horses Arse]

Oh Enock please look at what happened to the other poor lad recently - Dhawema(or similar). By all means have your Faith but balance it with some common sense too!

Hmmm. The belief in religion, a God in human form etc requires a suspension of, or at least an obscured common sense. Those that swallow it whole and give themselves up to it have none.

Sadly Enoch seemed to be a 100% believer in this religious nonsense rather than just embracing the good philosophical aspects. I'd love to know his theory for this god of his giving him a life threatening condition, the mind boggles

 

[Horses Arse]

I get the chance every 2 weeks to go to the training ground as my lad is in the aitc training (or whatever it’s called now). The whole things amazing and makes me very proud when I watch the other games but I do worry that probably only 1% at best will make it out of these academies. False hope for the kids and parents or a great opportunity for the kids even if they don’t make it ?

Yep, it's a brutal industry but I do believe that albion will be better than most. Soul destroying for kids though.

 

[Horses Arse]

Channel 4 broadcast a really fascinating 4 part documentary about the Palace academy a couple of years ago, following different age groups.

A small sample size, admittedly, but the kids that got released seemed relatively pragmatic about it. After all, at that age kids think they are going to live forever and just see a world full of possibilities. It was the parents who seemed to have the biggest problem accepting that their kid might not make the cut or was being released.

Probably relieved to escape the rat infested kitchen, or have they got new portakabins now?

 

[BNthree]

Yep, it's a brutal industry but I do believe that albion will be better than most. Soul destroying for kids though.

Albion are just as brutal as all the others unfortunately. End of the season the parents get an email saying “you’re released” or “you’re retained”. If released that’s it, off they pop.

 

[dazzer6666]

I get the chance every 2 weeks to go to the training ground as my lad is in the aitc training (or whatever it’s called now). The whole things amazing and makes me very proud when I watch the other games but I do worry that probably only 1% at best will make it out of these academies. False hope for the kids and parents or a great opportunity for the kids even if they don’t make it ?

Although most won’t make PL football with us obviously, they work extremely hard to find a pathway in football for those ‘rejected’, even if it’s at a lower level. All academies get financial incentives from the FA for producing players for professional clubs at all levels (based on number of appearances etc)

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[BNthree]

Probably relieved to escape the rat infested kitchen, or have they got new portakabins now?

Lovely brand new facilities at Palace academy now, almost as good as ours.

 

[Milano]

I seriously hope that the Albion’s elite academy treats youngsters better than Sussex CCC’s ‘pathway’, which is purely a mechanism to make money. Hopefully it will improve now that that joker Rob Andrew has f***ed off.

 

[Farehamseagull]

Yep. The coaching these days has improved so much, the kids at that age are now frighteningly good. Did we have any mini Haaland’s on show last night as that is what all the scouts are looking for these days - they all want to know how tall the mum’s are as apparently this is a good measure of how tall the kid will end up!

From my experience of academies these days - which admittedly is mainly limited to the South Coast clubs and just odd games against academies from other parts of the country - ours is a really impressive set up and way ahead of Southampton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth. It’s made me laugh for years when all you would hear in the media was how great Southampton’s academy was when for years it’s been struggling and certainly behind us. I took my kid out of there as the coaching was so poor - Bournemouth much better.

Brighton youth scouts are everywhere too. I see them at so many under 7 - under 10 tournaments and games. We do well in Hampshire at finding the best kids. We’ve got an excellent reputation amongst coaches, scouts and parents.

The biggest rival for us getting the best young talent in the whole of the south to be honest is scummy Chelsea - they are everywhere and hoover up kids from every corner. They have training centres all over the place. A lot of really talented kids at that age will train with two or three clubs and Chelsea are always one of them.

Played against the Man City under 9’s in the summer though - all I can say is wow! Another level again!

 

[Bry Nylon]

Probably relieved to escape the rat infested kitchen, or have they got new portakabins now?

To be fair, the Palace academy looked brilliant and I believe (although I may be mistaken) that is was largely funded using the proceeds of the £50m Wan Bissake transfer in 2019. Credit to Palace for making this investment in an area where many of the most talented kids are hoovered up by the likes of the Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs academies. (Partly the reason why Brentford for example just don't even bother with anything beyond a Cat 4 academy).

 

[schmunk]

Lovely brand new facilities at Palace academy now, almost as good as ours.

Albeit the Palace academy is on a site which is leased (75 years) from the local council, whereas the Albion site is club-owned.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Albeit the Palace academy is on a site which is leased (75 years) from the local council, whereas the Albion site is club-owned.

...and yet Roy Hodgson will probably still be there when the lease expires.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

I seriously hope that the Albion’s elite academy treats youngsters better than Sussex CCC’s ‘pathway’, which is purely a mechanism to make money.

Ain't that the truth, my daughter joined a few years ago, I soon got the picture and we left, sometimes there would be 30 kids to one coach, and fees after speaking to other parents from different areas, were way more. If you questioned them, they were rude and arrogant. Some parents want success more than their children and will grasp any chance with the lure of a bright future.
All I want for my daughter is play and be happy exercise for children is so important, I do not care what level she plays at, as long as she enjoys it, job done.

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

Complete outsider here, so can only ask this question from an uninformed point of view. But looking at the way the first teams are built, surely the pathway to the first team looks longer, more treacherous and less well-defined at Chelsea than anywhere else? In fact, having centres dotted all over the place picking off the best talent from well outside London actually makes that worse, given the increased numbers you'd be competing against? If you were a parent of a kid that Chelsea were looking at, you might get high-quality coaching but do you really think there's a realistic chance of your boy or girl getting to their first teams at some point?

Friends in Coulsdon have a son at Palace's academy and speak highly of it. Putting my feelings for his choice of club to one side for a moment and assuming he has the talent and attitude to become a pro, he surely has a better chance of seeing a path to the first team there, than at one of bloody loads of Chelsea's?