CP Gull wrote:
Fair point, I look forward to hearing that a whole host of local lads are being taken on as Youth trainees next season then! I don't know enough about the current crop of U16s to comment but I take your point that that there may be some potential in there, but correct me if I'm wrong but when we set up the Academy we didn't just recruit at under8s level (the age Osborne would have been when the scheme was reintroduced) presumably we also recruited 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s, 13s, 14s and 16s too didn't we? None of whom seem to have made it through to the u18s and into the first team though.
Even those that have, have by and large been recruited not from within the Academy age groups but instead have been picked up at 16 having been released elsewhere - Spear, MacKenzie, Thompson, Hutchings, Chaney, Sullivan - all as far as I am aware only joined the club (mostly from well outside the area) at 16 as first year trainees as far as I am aware. Even the current crop of youth trainees seem to be drawn largely from outside the area with a number of lads from Northern Ireland, Cyrprus, the London area etc .. admittedly there are one or two exceptions ... Jonny Buckle and Dan Lavercombe are certainly local lads and Liam Prynn is from Cornwall ... time will tell as to how many of them get offered pro deals in the summer, I guess.
It just irks me somewhat when I still hear of local lads turning out for the academies of Exeter and Plymouth when I think they should be with us. Not only that, but I read in the Herald a little while back of a couple of promising kids who play their club football for Marldon getting trials with Premiership clubs including the likes of Chelsea - which is great for them and nothing wrong with progressing their career through their local club - it's just a shame that their local professional club hasn't picked them up though!
Great opening post Chris. You are absolutely right to question are youth set up, yes PlainmoorRoar does make a good point also. I've questioned the youth set a number of times and been shouted down and accused of holding a grudge, that really isn't the case.
Last seasons U16's had been with the academy since they were 9 years old, all the local players were released, every single one of them, in some cases no doubt the decision was correct, but I can tell you one player Paington based lad who'd been with the club since 9, at 16 is already a first team squad player at Buckland and getting paid, he and another Torquay based already been looked at by Plymouth, although Argyle haven't as yet perused any interest in either , know the lad personally, another is at Liverton United at 16 playing peninsula league football, know this lad as well.
I can tell you about another local lad (don't know this one personally, know about him)released from last years U16 who was offered a youth team place at Cheltenham, but turned it down to join the Chelsea foundation academy/education course.
Why are Exeter so successful. I'll tell everyone why, they have a very proactive scouting network, we don't, the old youth set used to have it with John James and Paul Compton, Paul Compton once said in an interview 'it's my job to know where all the best young footballers in this area are' We don't have that now, Exeter City do, sadly.
As many will know I've been a local youth development coach for quite a few years now. Chris CP you may well remember me when I was working in the youth section at Denbury Athletic, we had current Exeter first team squad player Matt Jay at Denbury, and his younger brother ( since released) who was also picked up by City along with others from our club.
I currently work for W.B.B YFC until the end of the season when my U18's go off into the big wide world and after nearly 10 years I'm stepping down for good and getting my life back, the point to this, our mini-soccer teams entered a number of tournaments last summer, Exeter City picked up one of our U10's from that.
Chris the players you refer to, that were in the Herald. One of those lads was Jack Ottway, know his dad well Mick Ottway he's on the pioneer league committee, his lad actually went to Spurs along with another. Mick has been taken on as part Chelsea's south west scouting team.
Point to all the above TUFC youth academy, it doesn't hurt to look further afield for good young players, but stop dismissing local talent, put together a scouting team and go and look, there are loads of talented local lads out there, being snapped by other clubs.
Whilst I'm pleased for the lad he got offered something, disappointed from our clubs point of view, that we've let another young local lad go only for him to get picked up elsewhere.