NUFC Academy has the potential to be the best

[Tooj 17]

http://www.journalli...61634-30379079/

 

NUFC Academy has the potential to be the best

 

by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Feb 22 2012

 

Mike Ashley is about to plunge an extra £1million into Newcastle’s Academy. MARK DOUGLAS took a tour of their Benton base to see how United turn potential into pedigree performers.

 

AT the entrance of Newcastle United’s Academy, a giant signed poster of a beaming Pele looks down at the young men who pass through the entrance.

 

“Howay the lads” he has scrawled alongside a message imploring the club the best of luck in their future endeavours.

 

It is a striking image and its strategic placing is significant. Newcastle United are no longer happy to settle for second best when it comes to youth development.

 

United’s centre of excellence has produced international players of the calibre of Tim Krul and Steven Taylor in recent years – and Britain’s most expensive footballer made his first steps in the game at their plush Benton base, just a big goal kick from their first team headquarters.

 

Yet still the feeling persists within the United hierarchy it has under-performed over the last decade – if you look beneath those gleaming examples there has not been quite the breadth of talent there should be for an area as steeped in football tradition as Newcastle.

 

That is not an attempt to denigrate the fine graduates who might not have been quite up to the incredibly high standard required to play Premier League football.

 

However, at a recent board meeting the subject of why there was not one young pro ready to step in at centre-back during recent injury crises was raised – the fact there was no answer only deepened the resolve to improve.

 

The long-term solution is investment – with an extra £1million to be ploughed into the Academy to haul the club up to Category One status under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan proposals.

 

That will be lavished on improving facilities and staffing levels but significant funds will also be set aside to recruit talented youngsters from every corner of the globe.

 

The EPPP also means United can now safely scout players under the age of 16 who are outside their catchment area – a significant bonus given the significant handicap of only being able to recruit within a 60-minute car ride of their current base.

 

To the west, that catchment area is mostly in the North Sea – and it would take some scout to discover the next Alan Shearer there.

 

United feel their philosophy places them ahead of their rivals.

 

What was once seen as Mike Ashley’s parsimony in the transfer market is slowly becoming recognised as an attempt to secure long-term success and sustainability.

 

On a revealing morning spent touring the Academy’s base, The Journal was given unprecedented access to every nook and cranny of their Coach Lane campus. As you walk past a corridor that includes pictures of every graduate to make it into the first team – plus cheeky portraits of youth coaches Kevin Richardson and Dave Watson stuck up by the kids – the first thing which strikes you is the similarity to the first-team’s training base.

 

They are headquarters which include a gym, a physiotherapy suite which is every bit as high- tech as that used by the first team and a kit room stocked to the roof with Puma gear.

 

We sat in on a classroom being taught by the Show Racism the Red Card initiative under the watchful eye of Olivier Bernard – proof young minds are being tended to along with the intensive training of young scholars.

 

There was even an exclusive airing of the recruitment video used to try and convince youngsters to sign for United.

 

It was a three-minute compilation of footage of the city, the stadium, the supporters and the list of players given first-team opportunities, put together by Peter Beardsley’s son Drew – who works as a video analyst for the club. “I do not need to say anything once they have seen that. It is an easy sell,” said Academy director Joe Joyce.

 

Once accepted into the fray, they must accept United’s philosophy and there are reminders of it everywhere the young pros step.

 

Individuality is encouraged – even if consistency remains the key for underage players.

 

The last of ten “winning habits” which adorns one of several posters plastered to the wall of the canteen makes the point that “consistency not novelty gets results.”

 

It is a point which extends to that blasted trend for rainbow-coloured boots, something Newcastle – unlike some of their top-flight rivals – have decided not to ban.

 

Joyce added: “The schoolboys will wear black boots, but the scholars can wear multi-coloured ones.

 

“I like individuals. I like individuals to express themselves – within the realms of sensibility.

 

“Who is to say I can tell a player which boot he is comfortable in? But if you are going to wear coloured boots you better be a good player!”

 

Newcastle are quietly confident at the younger end of the scale they have those in abundance.

 

Twenty seven are currently on the books of the Academy and although there will be a significant cull of young professionals – only three or four are being kept on while the rest look for new clubs – the hope is the under-14 and under-15 squads will reap more rewards.

 

It helps that they have a first-team manager who believes in youth.

 

Joyce said: “Our relationship with the first team is the best its every been.

 

“The manager of the first team’s job is a huge task but he loves to be kept informed about players.

 

“We had a group who won a tournament at the end of last year – he made sure that group of players went across, watched the first team play, had lunch with the first team... he is so supportive of what we do so in terms of relationship, it is very good.”

 

YOUTH FOCUS IS RIGHT, SAYS JOYCE

 

MIKE Ashley’s critics might see it as further evidence of penny-pinching, but Joe Joyce thinks a change in Newcastle United’s culture was “essential.”

 

The club believe they are leading the way in a new approach which turns its back on relying solely on big-money signings – and Academy director Joyce knows that makes his job more important than ever.

 

With beefed up scouting and recruitment networks, United will also be looking to bring in national and international talent under the age of 16.

 

Joyce said: “Clubs have realised the transfer market as I used to know it has gone completely.

 

“You either have huge transfer fees or you have no transfer fees at all. The production of your own homegrown talent has become a greater part of what English football is trying to do.

 

“That is not just in the Premier League, it is in the Football League too.

 

“It is not to say their will not be investment at a younger age group. What we have to make sure is we have North East talent, national talent and if needs be international talent – because that is the market of the Premier League.”

 

United are approaching the Academy with a greater degree of ruthlessness, a wholesale cut of young professionals seen as a way to open up a pathway to the first team for younger players coming into the club.

 

Joyce added: “It was a big decision.

 

“The lads that will move on, there is no pathway for them at the moment.

 

“However, the ones we have kept, the club still feels they have the potential to play in the first team.

 

“That does become the bottom line. Does he have the potential to play in the Premier League for Newcastle United?

 

“It is a huge ask – every Premier League player is an international player and players are coming from around the world to play in the Premier League.

 

“Bringing in players from all over the country and globally raises the standard for our Adam Campbells and our Remi Streetes.”

Edited February 23, 2012 by Jonny2J

[Tooj 17]

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2012/02/22/newcastle-united-to-invest-1m-more-in-academy-61634-30379078/

 

Newcastle United to invest £1m more in Academy

 

by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Feb 22 2012

 

NEWCASTLE United are prepared to invest up to an extra £1million a year in their Academy as they bid to create a regular conveyor belt of Andy Carrolls – and turn their backs on the era of £30million signings.

 

United owner Mike Ashley – who has already increased the Academy spend by £800,000 a year since taking over – intends to bump up the investment in an attempt to make them more self sustainable in an era of more financial accountability.

 

The Journal understands United are prepared to spend up to £2.8m a year on the Academy – a huge rise on the £1.8million spent. March is a crucial month for those attempts, with Premier League auditors set to decide whether they will be granted ‘Category One’ Academy status under the new Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) from the game’s governing body.

 

A United insider described attaining that status as “imperative” for Ashley’s future vision – with a nightmare scenario of their top-flight rivals stealing the North East’s best talent if they miss out on ‘Category One.’

 

The EPPP will scrap the current rule which means top-flight clubs can only recruit players under the age of 16 who live no more than 60 minutes’ travelling time from their city.

 

That has been a hindrance for Newcastle, for whom that catchment area includes the North Sea while rivals in London, Manchester and Birmingham have a huge urban sprawl to trawl.

 

Producing young players like Tim Krul, Andy Carroll (pictured left) and Steven Taylor is seen as crucial to

 

United’s future survival, with a great deal of unrest in the boardroom surrounding the lack of a suitable young centre-back to plug the gap during United’s recent defensive injury crisis.

 

Although investment will continue in the first-team squad, the club believe the days of mega-money signings are coming to an end with the latest plans aspiring to follow the Barcelona model.

 

Academy director Joe Joyce said: “Football generally, at some point, has to take a reality check.

 

“You cannot go on paying £34million for a player.

 

“Barcelona have shown they have a system for producing their own homegrown talent.

 

“That is not to say that will not come from another country but if you have a system and programme which can identify the player to start with and then produce the player to go on and play for your first team you are doing something right.

 

“It takes huge investment and that is what the owner has geared up his plan to do.

 

“He wants to bring in the best young players to produce for the first team is what the club needs to do.”

 

Joyce added: “We have predominantly recruited from the North East.

 

“With this opening of the recruitment network we now will operate on a much bigger scale.

 

“We need to make sure as a club we have our local area tied up – that we do not lose players.

 

“That the attraction of Newcastle to a boy from the North East is the biggest attraction.

 

“At the same time if there is a boy in another part of the country who we believe, who we have identified as a potential first-team player, we have enough to attract him to the North East.”

 

The extra £1m investment – the increase will be staggered over a number of years – will be spent on staffing levels, boosting facilities like playing pitches and scouting.

 

Transfer fees will also be set aside to bring in the best young players.

 

United want to make sure every age group is of sufficient quality to challenge for the first team.

 

Joyce said: “There is a ratio around the country which says we should be aiming for one player in the first team every year,.

 

“I think its very difficult to make those ratios. I would say in the time I have been here we seem to have worked in a two year cycle.

 

“We have had a really, really good group one year and then not as good next year.

 

“If I take Sammy Ameobi group, ten of those players went on to get professional contracts.

 

“That was a particularly good group – last year we probably did not have the same amount of quality.”

[Tooj 17]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/02/22/newcastle-united-fooball-club-youth-blueprint-72703-30379502/

 

Newcastle United Fooball Club youth blueprint

 

Evening Chronicle

Feb 22 2012

 

NEWCASTLE United are investing heavily in their youth system and have their sights set on developing up and coming young players, to give them the best chance of furthering their footballing careers. Here is their blueprint.

 

:: To produce technically excellent players who can go on to represent the first-team with credit

 

:: To formulate and deliver a Long Term Player Development Programme which is in line with the vision and values of Newcastle United Football Club

 

:: To develop a safe, friendly learning environment where both players and staff are encouraged to maximise their potential

 

:: To recruit and train the best coaches possible, with appropriate qualifications, who can enthuse, inspire and develop players

 

:: To identify, select and recruit the best local, national and international talent possible through a structured, meticulous and wide-ranging recruitment programme

 

:: To deliver an age-appropriate, individual-specific coaching programme where players learn both positional and team roles

 

:: To provide an age-specific fitness, conditioning and injury prevention programme across all phases of development

 

:: To provide a structure that allows every player the opportunity to develop and progress at the appropriate time, regardless of age

 

:: To ensure that the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injured players takes place in a timely and professional manner

 

:: To provide a support network capable of assisting and monitoring the continued academic progression of all players within the Academy

 

:: To provide high-quality facilities and playing surfaces

 

:: To ensure the Academy’s Financial Plan is integrated in the Club’s overall financial plan

What is the EPPP?

 

THE Premier League has published the following list of principles upon which the EPPP has been designed.

 

:: Increase the number and quality of Home Grown Players gaining professional contracts in the clubs and playing first-team football at the highest level;

 

:: Create more time for players to play and be coached;

 

:: Improve coaching provision;

 

:: Implement a system of effective measurement and quality assurance;

 

:: Positively influence strategic investment into the Academy System, demonstrating value for money;

 

:: Seek to implement significant gains in every aspect of player development.

[Tooj 17]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/02/22/nufc-academy-aims-to-be-among-the-very-best-72703-30379504/

 

NUFC academy aims to be among the very best

 

by Lee Ryder, Evening Chronicle

 

WIDENING the search nationally and globally, tightening the net locally.

 

Ensuring stars like Tim Krul, Shane Ferguson and Haris Vuckic continue to come through the Academy system – but also ensuring Newcastle United do not have to pay record-breaking fees like they did to bring one of their own back to Tyneside like Alan Shearer.

 

Young Geordies like Adam Campbell and Dennis Knight are among those who have dreams of pulling on a black and white shirt on the first-team stage.

 

Those are just some of the key aims and some of the dreams which are part of the project United’s youth system staff have on their list of objectives as they bid to be one of the best breeding grounds for talent in Europe.

 

After an extended tour of the club’s youth facilities, the Chronicle witnessed at first-hand the progress being made at youth level.

 

All of it is part of Mike Ashley’s vision for the future at Newcastle with the Toon tycoon pumping £1.8m a year into the Academy in order to make it work.

 

The ultimate dream would be to emulate Barcelona’s La Masia, a training camp which accommodates 300 youngsters and has produced aces like Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Carles Puyol to name but a few, farfetched for any club at this stage of course.

 

Perhaps a more realistic goal in a grand five-year plan is to offer a scheme like Manchester City’s residential Academy, only Newcastle will not be snuffing out young talent with an abundance of big-name signings or, as their own blueprint describes them: “trophy signings.”

 

Next month United hope to be awarded Category One status in the Elite Player Performance Plan, a proposal from the Premier League which came in the light of England’s horrendous World Cup campaign two years ago.

 

The EPPP is a youth development system which frees up the movement of younger players.

 

It establishes a hierarchy of football academies, with four tiers available, in the UK and fixes the transfer fees between academies.

 

The EPPP is set to come into play for the start of the 2012/13 season.

 

It has been met with fierce opposition from lower-league clubs, Watford icon Graham Taylor feels it is unfair on clubs who already have excellent Academies such as the Hornets and Middlesbrough.

 

New tariffs will replace the current tribunal system and result in selling clubs being paid £3,000-per-year for players aged nine to 11.

 

From ages 12 to 16 it will depend on the selling club’s academy status – but ranges between £12,500 and £40,000 per year.

 

That would see deals like the one which took MK Dons’ 14-year-old Oluwaseyi Ojo to Chelsea for £2million a thing of the past, leaving MK Dons boss Karl Robinson to comment: “If we lose our youth players for nominal fees how are we going to survive?” while Peterborough’s Barry Fry chips in: “What frightens me is a lot of clubs will pull out of having a youth system altogether.

 

“Lower-league clubs will look at how much it costs to run their academy or school of excellence and think that, if the Premier League can nick their best players for a low price, what is the point of investing in it?”

 

Yet it could benefit Newcastle greatly.

 

United have to abide by Academy rules which do not allow them to sign under-18 players who have to reside for more than 90 minutes to the youth facility.

 

It means Newcastle’s geographic position, like Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull, works against them, with other more centrally-based clubs having a much wider catchment area.

 

Yet this could be about to change.

 

Academy director Joe Joyce told the Chronicle: “One of the main points is it would allow us to recruit players not just from the North East, but category one status would open up the whole country for recruitment.

 

“If there was a player from Swindon, for example, Newcastle could bring that player in from Swindon from the age of 12.

 

“At the moment you can only recruit from within 90 minutes of your training ground.

 

“That is a huge decision for the boy and his parents, and it is not something we would force.

 

“For the first year, that would only take us down to the age of 14, but within two years it would then be players from the age of 12.

 

“We have to make sure when the market opens up we have a professional and appropriate recruitment mechanism so we can identify and select these young players.

 

“What we also have to do is make sure what we have in the North East is the best the area can offer and any young player who is born and bred in the North East and wants to play for Newcastle United, we can guarantee him and his family the programme is going give him every opportunity to become that next No9, if that is the case.”

 

Life at Newcastle’s Academy base is a huge, huge operation, and these are exciting times for Academy director Joyce and youth coaches Dave Watson and Kevin Richardson.

 

The trio have helped lead Newcastle to the last eight of the FA Youth Cup this year – a tournament in which victory in the final would be a huge feather in United’s cap.

 

Ever since Ashley took control of the Magpies in 2007, the intentions have always been to provide a conveyor belt of talent to the first-team stage which means relying on huge fees to bring in players is a thing of the past.

 

Ashley almost doubled the amount of investment into the club’s youth system since taking over from Freddy Shepherd in 2007.

 

The Chronicle learned he will look to put another £1million in to bring the club up to Category One status.

 

Ashley’s dream is to see the class of Europe’s young talent found and developed on Tyneside, but the Toon owner is also equally keen to see Geordies continue to come through the system.

 

Some may argue what is the point if they will be sold on, but club insiders claim that the sale of Andy Carroll was an “exception” and that £35m was too good to turn down, a sale softened by Carroll’s poor form and the goals of Demba Ba, plus the arrival of Papiss Cisse. Amid the trials and tribulations of the Ashley era, it is hard to argue there has not been progress - and no matter what your thoughts on how the Buckinghamshire tycoon does his business there is a vision.

 

Since the club were relegated and then promoted again two years ago, youngsters like Vuckic, Sammy Ameobi, Shane Ferguson and James Tavernier have all been elevated to the first-team stage, and there are high hopes for more.

 

United’s policy of finding untapped continental talent, polishing them up and introducing them to first team life is also an integral part of the club so far.

 

Mehdi Abeid is another who fits into the category, while other finds more locally include Michael Richardson, Remie Streete, Dennis Knight and Adam Campbell.

 

It all fits in with the long black and white tapestry which has resulted in Geordie stars down the years graduating through the system from Paul Gascoigne to Lee Clark, Steve Watson, Robbie Elliott and Steve Howey right up to the likes of Steven Taylor, Andy Carroll and the Ameobi brothers.

 

Since the Football Association’s ‘Charter for Quality’ came into effect in 1998, Newcastle have produced 25 players that have graduated to the first team stage.

 

The history has always been there, United won the FA Youth Cup in 1962 when a young Bob Moncur raised the trophy seven years before lifting the last major honour of a club that has always had a helter-skelter history.

 

Then there is the class of ’85 and Gazza and the boys, a team which is still spoken about highly to this day, with the former England star the pick of a side which also included future skipper Kevin Scott, Gary Kelly, Ian Bogie, Paul Stephenson, Joe Allon and Brian Tinnion.

 

Enough of the past, the future is a huge part of Ashley’s blueprint.

 

Joyce says: “Mike has been down to see the Academy and speak of his vision for the future.

 

“It is something he cannot be involved with on a daily basis, but he is constantly given information about who is progressing and he takes an interest in the structure and the running, financing and productivity of the Academy.

 

“Ultimately, that is what we are here to do – produce players.

 

“It is very difficult to produce players for a Premier League club.

 

“They have to be international players.

 

“With the opportunity this club is prepared to provide, we have seen Tim Krul this season make a big mark on the big stage.

 

“Sammy Ameobi has had first-team football, as has Haris Vuckic.

 

“There are one or two players in the Academy who can compete at that level.

 

“We have to make sure if we do get an Andy Carroll into the team and he moves on, we get the next player into his boots – that is the long-term vision.”

[Tooj 17]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/02/22/streete-prime-example-of-newcastle-youth-policy-72703-30379505/

 

Streete prime example of Newcastle youth policy

 

by Lee Ryder, Evening Chronicle

Feb 22 2012

 

REMIE STREETE is a prime example of the type of player Newcastle United are trying to find in a bid to save them millions in the transfer market.

 

The 17-year-old is already skipper of the Academy side and is hoping to get his hands of the FA Youth Cup this season.

 

However, his journey through the black and white ranks has included both a footballing education and – like all players – a safety net for life outside or after football.

 

United have two classrooms at their Academy and have 27 full-time staff.

 

They also have Jimmy Nelson, Head of Education and Welfare, still on their books at Little Benton – the man who led Gazza and Co to glory in 1985 to lift the coveted youth trophy.

 

Unlike the class of 85, players do not have the duty of cleaning first- teamers’ boots or looking after first-team facilities.

 

However, they are responsible for looking after their own boots and keeping the Academy changing rooms in good shape.

 

All around the building there is an air of pride and respect as players go about their day-to-day lives, one day hoping to live the dream.

 

Within the Academy canteen players respectfully clear their tables before getting ready for the afternoon session.

 

Promising young gun Streete (below) is a young uncompromising but tidy defender from South Shields.

 

With the buzz of next week’s FA Youth Cup quarter-final tie against Blackburn coming up, it is clear the players are in excellent mood.

 

Streete said: “It is a good set-up. I have been here three years.

 

“It has been good coming in to train with good players and in good facilities. We do a lot of college work too.

 

“We have some of the best teachers as well as the best coaches. Everyone is here to help us.

 

“We just have to keep working hard and let everyone help us.”

Newcastle’s gain in finding Streete could well end up being Sunderland’s loss.

 

He picks up the story: “I was at Boldon and I played for Harton as well.

 

“I was at Sunderland when I was nine for two or three months but I did not really enjoy it.

 

“I just wanted to play with my mates when I was younger.

 

“I went back to my boys’ club, and got picked up by Newcastle when I was 13.

 

“I think I was playing football in a park with my mates.

 

“I was told I was going to France with them the day after. I had not been abroad to play football before, and it was a great opportunity, especially with Newcastle.”

 

United already have high hopes for the teenager.

 

He said: “I have trained with the first-team quite a bit recently and that can only improve me.

 

“I just listen to what the likes of Steven Taylor and Coloccini have to say to me. I take it on board and hopefully learn from them.

 

“There are quite a lot of players who have come from the Academy like Shola and Steven Taylor.

 

“They know where I am coming from – they know what it is like coming from the Academy.”

[Happy Face 29]

Great lyrics

[Tooj 17]

All really positive stuff. As we certainly haven't been anything spectacular when it comes to developing young talent through the ranks in the past decade.

[Happy Face 29]

United’s centre of excellence has produced international players of the calibre of Tim Krul and Steven Taylor in recent years.

 

I missed Taylor getting a full international?

[Monkeys Fist 42075]

To the west, that catchment area is mostly in the North Sea – and it would take some scout to discover the next Alan Shearer there.

 

[Happy Face 29]

Never read owt about EPPP, hope we get the category 1. Good to see it being invested in.

 

Graham Taylor isn't keen like.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/15660859

[PaddockLad 17087]

Didn't know the North Sea was to the west of the city. That Journal is a brilliant newspaper.

 

Wasn't Beardsleys lad at the academy for a while? Difficult to step up with a famous and brilliant old man. Always going to be compared to the father.

[Monroe Transfer 0]

Local press certainly making the most of it eh?

[Happy Face 29]

Newcastle’s gain in finding Streete could well end up being Sunderland’s loss.

 

He picks up the story: “I was at Boldon and I played for Harton as well.

 

“I was at Sunderland when I was nine for two or three months but I did not really enjoy it.

 

“I went back to my boys’ club for 4 years instead

 

Edited February 23, 2012 by Happy Face

[LoveTheBobby 1]

Local press certainly making the most of it eh?

 

Hey man THIS is the main front page story of tonights physical Chronical (sic) ffs !

 

A break in. In Argentina.

 

http://www.chronicle...72703-30390929/

Edited February 23, 2012 by LoveTheBobby

[Monroe Transfer 0]

To make it worse, the journo called her "mum".

[McFaul 35]

To the west, that catchment area is mostly in the North Sea – and it would take some scout to discover the next Alan Shearer there.

 

I was about to quote that too. The thick baald tool. Load of pish tbh, the problem with the North East is the same as the problem with most of the rest of the country, kids are lazy cunts. Fat kids everywhere. I played football every day from the age of 4 to maybe 23 even, at a weekend when the toon were away I played for a Saturday team, I played in the Alphabet League on a Sunday morning, and in the TSL on a Sunday afternoon. Kids these days they're too wrapped up in their X Boxes and tellies. I'd be amazed if we EVER produce a Gazza or Peter again. Even Man Utd haven't produced anyone amazing for about 10 years.

[Monkeys Fist 42075]

Local press certainly making the most of it eh?

 

Hey man THIS is the main front page story of tonights physical Chronical (sic) ffs !

 

A break in. In Argentina.

 

http://www.chronicle...72703-30390929/

Gets his looks from Pa Gutierrez then...........

[McFaul 35]

Local press certainly making the most of it eh?

 

Hey man THIS is the main front page story of tonights physical Chronical (sic) ffs !

 

A break in. In Argentina.

 

http://www.chronicle...72703-30390929/

Gets his looks from Pa Gutierrez then...........

It's Chris Tarrant isn't it? She's even gesticulating "phone a friend"?

[Monroe Transfer 0]

That's Vertonghen on the left there isn't it?

 

Not a chance of him coming here.

[Monkeys Fist 42075]

 

We best be careful here Stevie, we don't want a "Bent's mam" situation developing.

For the record,Ma Gutierrez looks like a wonderful woman... erm, can I ask the audience?

[LoveTheBobby 1]

"Tarrant"

 

Edited February 23, 2012 by LoveTheBobby

[Christmas Tree 4697]

Or maybe not.....

 

Didnt get Cat 1

One of only four prem clubs to miss it.

Means we cant recruit young talent nationwide (only within 90 mile radius)

[Christmas Tree 4697]

Under the funding mechanism for the new system – called the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) – each Category One club is projected to receive a minimum £775,000-a-year in Premier League funding from the youth development pot. Category Two clubs will receive a minimum £480,000, Category Three clubs £210,000 and Category Four clubs £100,000.

 

Each club is graded according to criteria such as facilities, productivity rates, coaching staff and funding, with a fixed tariff paid for players under 18 according to how much time has been invested in them.

 

The Premier League insist that the initial grade is only a ‘provisional categorisation’ and that clubs will be re-assessed on an ‘ongoing basis’ to ensure that meet the requirements of EPPP.

 

Nevertheless, the clubs have already started receiving funds from the League and, if they are re-categorised, the funding will not be back-dated.

[Happy Face 29]

Is this that thing where we were totally fucked with being so close to the coast? Half our catchment area consists of cod.

 

EDIT: Is indeed. Right there in the OP.

[The Fish 10750]

Is this that thing where we were totally fucked with being so close to the coast? Half our catchment area consists of cod.

 

EDIT: Is indeed. Right there in the OP.

You'd think they'd take that into account for clubs like Southampton, Sunderland and ourselves.