The Football Academy at this Football Club is considered paramount to the club’s success and integral part of our football philosophy. Youth development is represented at board level through to our Academy Football Director.
Our Football Mission
We have adopted a strategy to develop and coach the whole person to be world class. This approach is adopted throughout the club, youth to senior first team, staff to player. This is with the aim to develop not just the footballer/athlete but a rounded positive person in the community.
Our Football Academy will never consider itself finished or fully developed but consider its purpose to continually strive to set the standard of player support, and development (football, education and personal).
Football Vision
The academy vision is to produce players for the first team, year on year, with the technical ability on the field to compete at the highest level domestically, and internationally.
The club will always hold the community close to its heart and therefore the off the field behaviour will set an exemplary standard in the community and nationwide.
The club will play a type of football that is considered ‘attractive’ and technical based whilst demonstrating the club’s 7 Pillars.
The academy will not be orientated on results but players will be expected to demonstrate the competitive behaviours and positive/growth mentality it takes to deal with the demands of professional football and life.
NB: The Club understands that although the desired goal is to create world-class footballers, this goal may not be achieved by all in the system – fulfilling potential is the goal.
A guide to the Elite Player Performance Plan
What is the EPPP?
The Elite Player Performance Plan is an ambitious long-term vision with the aim of giving English football the ability to create the best Academy system in the world, allowing clubs to produce more and better quality home grown players.
It has been developed after consultations with Academy Managers, Premier League clubs, the Football League, the Football Association, and other key stakeholders within the game.
Football Academies were audited by an external company Double pass, judged against the EPPP’s classification system, and put into one of four categories – the highest of which will give clubs more opportunity to extend its elite environment and make more strategic decisions.
The new classification replaced the old two-tier model of Academies and Centre of Excellence systems, and has seen a major change in the way that youth football is delivered in this country.
Classification
Category One - Regular graduation of players into the Premier League and wider professional game with up to 8,500 coaching hours
Category Two - Graduation of players into the Premier League and Championship from time to time and regular graduates into the wider game with up to 6,600 coaching hours
Category Three - Graduation of players regularly into the professional game predominantly in Leagues one and two and players potentially capable of progression into Cat One and Cat Two Academies with up to 3,600 coaching hours
Category Four - Graduation of players into the professional game League two and semi-professional level with up to 3,200 coaching hours
The Premier League, The Football League and the Football Association invest an increased amount of central income into Youth Development nationwide, so the higher the classification given to the club in the EPPP following the independent audit, the more funding is made available to the club, alongside signification financial commitments from the clubs at each category.
Key Principals
There are six fundamental principles that have been highlighted as key to the success of the EPPP, and will be achieved by focusing on coaching, classification, compensation, and education.
1. Increase the number and quality of home grown players gaining professional contracts in the clubs and playing first team football at the highest level.
2. Create more time for players to play and be coached.
3. Improve coaching provision.
4. Implement a system of effective measurement and quality assurance.
5. Positively influence strategic investment into the Academy System demonstrating value for money.
6. Seek to implement significant gains in every aspect of player development.
A focus of the EPPP is to allow players more time to practice with their coaches, as well as fostering links with local schools to not only aid players in their development as a footballer, but also to help nurture young players from an academic point of view.
