U23's friendly v Man Utd today

[boatshed bill]

i read recently that the success rate from Under 9s, through academy to actually going on to have any sort of professional career is 0.01%. So to get one first-teamer in the PL would be some kind of miracle.

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Haven’t got a clue about any of our age group players but look at how much Liverpool have earned from Ibe, Solanke, Wilson, Brewster, etc., all world beaters that have turned out to be Championship standard, currently.
I would suggest it will be very difficult for any player coming through our academy to make the grade. Now some of the guys we have picked up from other clubs, like Dwight, have a better chance, purely because them clubs get the cream of the crop. These players might be going through a sticky patch but could come good again. Even the likes of Phillips, Dunne, Thomas will have a value to us, either as a player or as a transfer.
Nobody would be happier to see one of our youngsters come through to be a star.

[Paul Waine]

i read recently that the success rate from Under 9s, through academy to actually going on to have any sort of professional career is 0.01%. So to get one first-teamer in the PL would be some kind of miracle.

Hi boatshed, I wonder if you have your decimal point in the wrong place? I've heard it said a few times that 1% of academy footballers make it through to a professional contract.

Jon Walters has announced his campaign to succeed Gordon Taylor at PFA. He's mention doing a lot more for academy footballers, including preparing them for their life beyond football. Maybe JW has some up to date stats?

UTC

[boatshed bill]

Hi boatshed, I wonder if you have your decimal point in the wrong place? I've heard it said a few times that 1% of academy footballers make it through to a professional contract.

Jon Walters has announced his campaign to succeed Gordon Taylor at PFA. He's mention doing a lot more for academy footballers, including preparing them for their life beyond football. Maybe JW has some up to date stats?

UTC

I think it's .1% of scholars, not 8 year olds, Paul

[Paul Waine]

I think it's .1% of scholars, not 8 year olds, Paul

OK. Do they still call them scholars? what age is that, 16?

I know I wouldn't have got anywhere near a football pitch as an 8 year old.

UTC

[boatshed bill]

OK. Do they still call them scholars? what age is that, 16?

I know I wouldn't have got anywhere near a football pitch as an 8 year old.

UTC

They'll be hanging round creches looking for the next Messi before too long.
i agree, I didn't play an organised game of football until I was 10

[claptrappers_union]

I can't find the details of the team anywhere for this match

[Leisure]

I can't find the details of the team anywhere for this match

No, I haven't found it either but I know that Richardson, Thompson and Unwin were in it! And Mumbongo and Nartey if the photo I've seen is actually from the game.

[ecc]

BFC (but that's no surprise) can't be bothered to provide us with our line-up which I find shameful.

As for MUPLC the match didn't happen.

[TheClaret]

Maybe he does know a lot about them? That's why I was asking him for the basis of his assertion that most of them would only make L1 and 2. Relating back to what were the levels of the U23's a few years ago isn't really relevant to the present day. I'm not saying that any of them will make the PL grade but surely it's far too early and disrespectful to be just writing them off on the viewings of a few games on Youtube etc..

He’s not being disrespectful. He’s just airing his opinion, of which I share. I’ve only missed two u23 games this season. My opinion at this moment in time is they won’t be a single player who plays regularly in the premier league. This could and hopefully will change.

[boatshed bill]

No, I haven't found it either but I know that Richardson, Thompson and Unwin were in it! And Mumbongo and Nartey if the photo I've seen is actually from the game.

I think they show the same picture for all reports.

[ClaretTony]

No, I haven't found it either but I know that Richardson, Thompson and Unwin were in it! And Mumbongo and Nartey if the photo I've seen is actually from the game.

The photo you refer to was taken at the LFA - this game was played at Carrington

[Leisure]

The photo you refer to was taken at the LFA - this game was played at Carrington

So on the club's website, no details of the team and a photo that's from a different game!

[ClaretTony]

So on the club's website, no details of the team and a photo that's from a different game!

I think that sums it up adequately - but the picture is very definitely taken at Leyland and the game was confirmed as Carrington.

[ecc]

'This statistic was released a year and a half ago by former FA Head of Talent Identification, Richard Allen. He stated “only 0.5% of those signed by a professional club aged Under 9 will go all the way through to play in the club’s first-team.”'


"Out of all the boys who enter an academy at the age of 9, less than half of 1% make it. Or a make a living from the game either. The most damning statistic of all is only 180 of the 1.5 million players who are playing organised youth football in England at any one time will make it as a Premier League pro.29 juin 2017"


"According to Liverpool coach Mike Yates, 98 per cent of players who are taken in by the English academy system fall through it by the time they are 18."


It seems, sadly, quite logical that the percentage of 9 year-olds who "make it" is so low. I personally disagree with lads of that age being involved with professional clubs but that's not the subject here.

When you think of the percentage of 17 year olds who are "highly rated" but who drop down the leagues is it any surprise that the figures are so low for under tens?

There was talk of Woodburn at Liverpool the other day. He made his PL debut at 17 (and one month).In November 2017 he scored the winner for Wales against Austria in a WC Qualifier.

The hype took off and has most definitely not helped him.

[boatshed bill]

I saw this:
Academies of their very essence are a good idea. Get the best players, give them the best coaches in the best potential environment.

The problem is that the ills of senior football – greed, opportunism, the stockpiling of talent unnecessarily for commercial gain – are seeping down into junior football.

That's what's happening in the academies of the major clubs where boys are going in, they're sucked into the system. They're taken over by the dream.

But, realistically, all they would do is sit there and wait for a chance that will never come.

The statistics are really sobering. Out of all the boys who enter an academy at the age of 9, less than half of 1% make it. Or a make a living from the game either.

The most damning statistic of all is only 180 of the 1.5 million players who are playing organised youth football in England at any one time will make it as a Premier League pro.

That's a success rate of 0.012%.

[superdimitri]

And that's exactly why Baldwin said the clubs vision, at least for now is to give the youngsters the best chance of making a career in professional football. It's no easy feet for a lad to make it to league two so if we can best the poor english statistics we're on the way up.

When parents are looking for their kid to sign a scholarship they aren't looking at the chance they have to play for our first team, but the best chance they have at making a good living as a pro footballer.

We may get one or two through that make it in our first team every few years but we're still a long way off getting a steady stream of talent like Chelsea.

The more youngsters we have that make it at pro levels after they leave us the better we'll get at attracting better players.
If we can get to the point where we're able to loan young lads out to the championship when they're under 20 then there's reason to get more excited about potentially seeing those players get into our first team. Until then we still have to get to the point where a lot of our rejects are even good enough to play week in week out in league one or two, and after that the championship. If our academy improves this should hopefully all start to happen bit by bit before we have the pulling power to attract better talent and some real talents pushing for first team places.

The problem I see with the modern system as a whole is that some lads will have the ability to step up their game but never getting the chance. With the way things used to be teams would field a lot of youngsters and soon find out which ones raised their games and which didn't. Crikey, McNeil probably wouldn't have been playing now if it wasn't for injuries forcing our hand. Sometimes you have to just give players a go but the risk is just too high compared to the money lost nowadays so you rarely see it. Just a few games a season for some of our young lads would soon tell you for sure if they are good enough. Not every player should have to prove their worth from the bottom up, and as harsh as it may be if a player isn't good enough at 20-23 they are likely not going to be good enough.

Not to mention there's a lot of luck in football. Richardson's injury may just mean he'll always be injury prone in the future. Sometimes you can field a youngster in the first team that happens to be the right place at the right time and therefore gets the confidence to push further.

The divide between youth and senior football being so large, and the finances meaning so much it's no surprise it's tough for local kids to make it.