Our Academy

[Stu_Blade]

The below currently have Category One Academy Status. Some surprising names in there such as Blackburn and Derby, we are currently Category two status as we dont meet the current infrastructure, investment and resources criteria. I know there was talk of infrastructure investment but getting to Category One Status should be a high prioirty once the high court battle has been sorted.

 

[DaveBassettsgoneonholiday]

If FLDC's academy is at their Moor Farm training ground it should be downgraded from Cat 1 unless they replaced the ping pong ball I trod on when I went there.

 

[Scooter_mcgavin]

I've a feeling this is what Wilder was referring to when he spoke of investment in the academy.

Lucky us, even more games as we can enter the Paint Pot trophy.

 

[8lade]

What advantages does a grade 1 academy have over a grade 2?

 

[s4-blade]

If FLDC's academy is at their Moor Farm training ground it should be downgraded from Cat 1 unless they replaced the ping pong ball I trod on when I went there.

It is at moor farm but it’s been developed and it’s absolutely outstanding, I was there recently

 

[s4-blade]

What advantages does a grade 1 academy have over a grade 2?

A category one academy can buy players from a category 2 for a nominal fee without the category 2 club having any say in the matter.
On the flip side category one operating costs are much higher

 

[Westran]

I've a feeling this is what Wilder was referring to when he spoke of investment in the academy.

Lucky us, even more games as we can enter the Paint Pot trophy.

That sounds right to me. One of the first things Wilder mentioned when asked about additional revenue after promotion was investment in the acadamy. Forgive me if I'm wrong but maybe this indicates the Acadamy has taken a back seat over the last 6 years since the prince came in. I cant remember any mention of it in the court case so far in terms of funding pressure

 

[s4-blade]

That sounds right to me. One of the first things Wilder mentioned when asked about additional revenue after promotion was investment in the acadamy. Forgive me if I'm wrong but maybe this indicates the Acadamy has taken a back seat over the last 6 years since the prince came in. I cant remember any mention of it in the court case so far in terms of funding pressure

Put is this way, the academy owes me money

 

[Rodley]

If we get Cat 1 we can nick the best of Wendy (ha ha) and Leeds players, along with the other clubs. Worth thinking about.

 

[Barney]

Talent is talent, whether you play on a regular pitch or a brand spanking desso.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

Wilder just said it was looking tired. I wouldn’t take that as it’s being upgraded to cat 1. Although now we’re in the Premier it’s something we should be doing.

 

[Topplayersleave]

We are 5th in the "produced academy players who played the most minutes in the Premier League list"

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

I get the opportunity to watch a fair few Academy & Futures games every season. I'm intrigued as to what we'd spend any investment in the Academy on. Brand spanking new, state of the art signs & car parks are all well and good for persuading parents that little Johnny should chuck his lot in at Shirecliffe rather than Thorp Arch. But, isn't it going to be recruitment (get the right players in) & coaching (develop them) that really make the difference. I have to say - finding a local 12 year old, getting him into the system, coaching and developing him, sending him out on loan and then sticking him in a Premier League team when he's ready seems a very very very tall ask. Obviously, it can be done - there are 20 Premier League teams and some English lads amongst them. But, it is a very tall ask - simple maths. It was much easier for us to develop youngsters for the first team when we were League One. I'll stand to be corrected. I don't think Kean Bryan cost us anything & he's effectively a first team squad member, not an Academy prospect. And, maybe Ben Heneghan was recruited initially as an Academy prospect, before going out on loan. But, I can't recall us recently paying any sort of serious money for someone to sit in our Academy system. For eg, we haven't/wouldn't shell out £1m for an Aaron Ramsdale or a DCL. That seems a big step, we've mainly recruited & paid for fully grown first teamers (Egan) or crucial squad members (Stearman). Paying (say £1m) for a prospect would send this forum into meltdown wouldn't it? My narrow mind just thinks that the only things worth investing in are Players, Players & Players. I'm a thinker, but I find it difficult to get my head around how best to spend any extra Academy Investment.

 

[madeinsheffield]

I thought he meant the facilities for the first team, that building is a bit tired and needs more space

 

[nopigfansintown]

I asked Kevin McCabe this very question in May 2016.He said it would be looked at when we regained premier league status. Travis Binnion and Kevin McCabe both agreed with the prevailing assumption that the new EPPP legislation was set up to aid the richer clubs and hinder clubs like ours (at the time,a third tier club with a successful system).
Since EPPP United have deliberately targeted older out of contract teens dropped by other academies, and offered professional contracts to kids as soon as they turn sixteen. This seems to be due to the importance of getting players on pro terms to protect them from the cat one vultures. They have to give United proper money for a kid on a pro contract. I note that Norwich have prioritised their academy as a place to prioritise premier league money. For a club with a big backer it's a no brainer: academy money is exempt from FFP legislation, so if you want regular premier league football this is one of the only permissable forms of financial doping. The academy can be seen as somewhat of a test of an owners long term financial commitment to a club imo (Wendy, I'm looking at you).

 

[Fulwood Blade]

This situation isn't rocket science.

Get established in the premier league and THEN start bringing in players like DCL/Ramsdale etc to an updated academy.

Use of SKY TV money is down to how you use it - not just buying Maupays.

We've already captured the "Sheffield" kids market from the pigs with our existing facilities - we can add to it over the next few years so that ANY parent (red or blue or even the whole of South Yorkshire) would be bonkers not to send them to Shirecliffe.

The future is very bright for SUFC, if we can stay in the Prem.

Some of you need to go and read the manhattonowl summary of what we can achieve with continued Premier League status - seriously, it isn't rocket science, just good management. There's plenty we can do and achieve - just time and money and using it sensibly.

UTB

 

[Wards]

Last I heard we weren’t that interested in applying for Cat 1 status due to the increase in costs of running it all potentially outweighing the benefits (by some margin) - albeit this was two or three years ago now.

 

[Treeton Blade]

I get the opportunity to watch a fair few Academy & Futures games every season. I'm intrigued as to what we'd spend any investment in the Academy on. Brand spanking new, state of the art signs & car parks are all well and good for persuading parents that little Johnny should chuck his lot in at Shirecliffe rather than Thorp Arch. But, isn't it going to be recruitment (get the right players in) & coaching (develop them) that really make the difference. I have to say - finding a local 12 year old, getting him into the system, coaching and developing him, sending him out on loan and then sticking him in a Premier League team when he's ready seems a very very very tall ask. Obviously, it can be done - there are 20 Premier League teams and some English lads amongst them. But, it is a very tall ask - simple maths. It was much easier for us to develop youngsters for the first team when we were League One. I'll stand to be corrected. I don't think Kean Bryan cost us anything & he's effectively a first team squad member, not an Academy prospect. And, maybe Ben Heneghan was recruited initially as an Academy prospect, before going out on loan. But, I can't recall us recently paying any sort of serious money for someone to sit in our Academy system. For eg, we haven't/wouldn't shell out £1m for an Aaron Ramsdale or a DCL. That seems a big step, we've mainly recruited & paid for fully grown first teamers (Egan) or crucial squad members (Stearman). Paying (say £1m) for a prospect would send this forum into meltdown wouldn't it? My narrow mind just thinks that the only things worth investing in are Players, Players & Players. I'm a thinker, but I find it difficult to get my head around how best to spend any extra Academy Investment.

Do you think our U23s will be competing in the Premier reserve division next season Phil?
We did last time, as I recall.

 

[Hamburg Blade]

My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I thought we used to be a Cat 1 and then deliberately down graded to Cat 2 because of the extremely high costs, without a corresponding return. Is that true or just nonsense?

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

Do you think our U23s will be competing in the Premier reserve division next season Phil?
We did last time, as I recall.

No. Premier League 2 is for Cat 1 Academies. We'll be Professional Development League. Same as recent years

 

[I should coco]

My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I thought we used to be a Cat 1 and then deliberately down graded to Cat 2 because of the extremely high costs, without a corresponding return. Is that true or just nonsense?

I thought cost was part of it, but you could only be Cat 1 in the top 2 divsions, so six years in the wilderness made sure of Cat 2 status,

 

[Grecian2000]

Some surprising names in there

Not half. Sunderland Athletic!

 

[Balham]

I asked Kevin McCabe this very question in May 2016.He said it would be looked at when we regained premier league status. Travis Binnion and Kevin McCabe both agreed with the prevailing assumption that the new EPPP legislation was set up to aid the richer clubs and hinder clubs like ours (at the time,a third tier club with a successful system).
Since EPPP United have deliberately targeted older out of contract teens dropped by other academies, and offered professional contracts to kids as soon as they turn sixteen. This seems to be due to the importance of getting players on pro terms to protect them from the cat one vultures. They have to give United proper money for a kid on a pro contract. I note that Norwich have prioritised their academy as a place to prioritise premier league money. For a club with a big backer it's a no brainer: academy money is exempt from FFP legislation, so if you want regular premier league football this is one of the only permissable forms of financial doping. The academy can be seen as somewhat of a test of an owners long term financial commitment to a club imo (Wendy, I'm looking at you).

Norwich's case is aided by the fact that the only other Cat1 academies within the best part of 100 miles are in London so they can cover pretty much all of East Anglia across into Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and northern Essex with perhaps one other side to compete with. We've got both Manchester sides within 45 minutes to the west and Derby and Leicester even closer to the south: competition for top level prospects is way more fierce. I can only presume that Blackburn hold onto Cat 1 as the first port of call for players who don't make the grade at City, Newton Heath, Liverpool or Everton.

 

[tyke1889]

My narrow mind just thinks that the only things worth investing in are Players, Players & Players. I'm a thinker, but I find it difficult to get my head around how best to spend any extra Academy Investment.

When I heard the interview with Chris and Bettis I think Chris said something along the lines of we need a more up to date 1st team building to help attract the better players who are used to the better facilities.

 

[Argentinemanager]

I was talking to chris Morgan about could he see us getting cat 1 status , in his opinion we wouldn't as there isn't the space up at shirecliffe for the number of pitches required ( I didn't know there was a required number ) , he is up there regularly as he has some players in the agency he works for.

 

[BushBlade]

Norwich's case is aided by the fact that the only other Cat1 academies within the best part of 100 miles are in London so they can cover pretty much all of East Anglia across into Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and northern Essex with perhaps one other side to compete with. We've got both Manchester sides within 45 minutes to the west and Derby and Leicester even closer to the south: competition for top level prospects is way more fierce. I can only presume that Blackburn hold onto Cat 1 as the first port of call for players who don't make the grade at City, Newton Heath, Liverpool or Everton.

45 minutes to Manchester and less than that to Leicester? By helicopter?

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Depends if Wilder wants to play them. If he isn’t going to take the risk and wants more experienced pros then there is no point, even though I’d love us to bring through and retain our own.

 

[Balham]

45 minutes to Manchester and less than that to Leicester? By helicopter?

Badly worded. I grew up in S10 so Manchester is 45 mins from Sheffield, as is Derby. Leicester isn't much more than an hour.

 

[BushBlade]

Badly worded. I grew up in S10 so Manchester is 45 mins from Sheffield, as is Derby. Leicester isn't much more than an hour.

I’ve just google mapped from the junction of Sandygate And Manchester Roads to the Etihad and it’s telling me 1 hour, at this time of the evening. I suspect if I’d done it at 5.00 it would have been more like an hour and a half.

I drive between the Leicester junction and Sheffield regularly and it’s a good hour, even if the traffic is OK, which is often isn’t. (Cameras don’t help, I’m sure fifteen years ago I could do it a lot quicker).

 

[1066blade]

What advantages does a grade 1 academy have over a grade 2?

You get to sell your promising starlets for £2m instead of £1m.