Why intelligent football clubs don’t have youth academies
Brentford have been talked about a lot in recent years for their analytical approach. They’ve had reasonable success in the Championship. They currently sit in 11th and finished 9th and 10th respectively in the past two seasons. They were a great set piece team who employed Gianni Vio, a set piece coach, who is now at Leeds. They had strong recruitment and thought about how to manage and run a football club in a different way.
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During May 2016 Brentford announced they were shutting down their youth academy. Premier League Huddersfield are following suit. At first glance I thought it was due to financial troubles or greediness from the owners.
But, it makes a lot of sense and is something I would encourage.
The thinking behind it is that youth academies don’t produce enough top players to benefit the club. Especially for clubs higher up the footballing pyramid. Brentford’s academy produced almost no first team players despite heavy investment.
Top clubs can benefit. See Phil Foden at Manchester City, Southampton’s famous academy and Chelsea’s youth hoarding strategy. Arsenal have also included a lot of academy graduates in squads this season.
However, Brentford face huge competition in London with many Premier League clubs nearby, as well as giants such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs. It is a lot of work and investment for a small return.
Brentford restructured their development wing to focus on quality, not quantity. They have a strong development side of players aged 17–23. Brentford B has been successful and created a lot of profit and first team players for Brentford.
They specialise in finding ways to outsmart opponents. With a tiny percentage of Premier League academy players making it to the first teams there are hundreds of released players each year. There is huge potential value in these players that may not have been realised by other clubs. Players may not be coached the right way or showed a certain coach what he could do. Clubs without youth academies can scour these players for value.
These players are young, talented and free. There is little to no risk involved for a club to sign them. If they don’t develop then they can be released and find their place in the footballing pyramid. If they do develop they are a free first team player or can be sold for massive resale value. A huge return on investment.
Having a squad of players aged 17–23 allows for better focus and specialisation. There is strong integration into the first team and a clear route of development. With less money being spent on younger age groups they can receive more attention and better coaching.
I also believe that football clubs have a responsibility to do community work with their local area. Football academies are often a big part of this. They can also better connect younger fans with the club.
But, clubs can still do this. They can reinvest the money that would have been spent in the academy on local training facilities, funding coaching and teams. Community coaching and development teams supported but not directly linked with the club. Not having an academy doesn’t stop clubs from interacting and caring about their community.
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