Changes to Youth Development

Plans drawn up by the Premier League are in place to restructure youth coaching in this country, which could result in those aged 10-18 getting three times as long on the training pitch.

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Under current regulations young players at Premier League Academies, all over the UK, can only receive one and a half hours coaching each week, compared with academies in countries such as Holland and Spain, where clubs can coach every hour of the day if they want.  This continual commitment to youth development is the key to the technical attributes we associate with great players such as Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Xavi and Iniesta, who are all graduates of the Ajax and La Masia Academy programmes. 

            

The Premier League plans, backed by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United’s Academy Director Brian McClair, could see those aged players aged 10-18 getting three times as long on the training pitch.

“It’s a fantastic philosophy and we hope that, in years to come, we have more time with young players, to teach them the basics, the technical ability and to have the confidence to take the ball all the time. We’re good at that, but we’re not as good as Barcelona at this moment in time. It’s a wonderful challenge and we can always accept a challenge.”

- Sir Alex Ferguson speaking after the 3-1 defeat to        Barcelona in the Champions League Final.

Current Academy regulations state that young players can receive no more than 3,760 ‘contact time’ hours on the training pitch up to the age of 21.

Young players at the Ajax academy in Holland and Barcelona’s La Masia facility can expect to receive 7,000-8,000 hours of coaching between the ages of 10-18.

  

Another restriction to player development in the UK is that both Premier League and Football League clubs with academy licences, can only source players aged between 14-16 from within a 90-minute radius of their home ground, however that is reduced to 60 minutes for those under 14. In contrast, Spanish clubs can recruit from the whole country.  This ruling is set to be reviewed but it is highly doubtful that the Spanish rule will be mirrored but any change can only bring about positive influences in youth coaching philosophies. 

The move to increase ‘deliberate practice time’, as called for by Ferguson, is viewed as a key aspect of Youth Development and one that will enable leading clubs to produce a new generation of leading players.

By hosting Barcelona in the Champions League Final at Wembley it seems both the FA, and Premier League have sat up and taken notice of other philosophies and are striving to implement them into our youth coaching practices.