The academy black hole

Every summer, there is a host of talent purchased by Premier League clubs, and further down, for varying sums of money, both from within these shores are abroad. This is always going to have one inevitable outcome - many academy players won't make it, and some will drop further and further down the ladder until they drop out of the game completely. But what happens to these youngsters when their dreams are permanently dashed, and what prospects do they have after football?
One option for young, released academy players is to team up with a former England international and national team manager in Spain, at the Glenn Hoddle Academy. Glenn Hoddle's business venture preaches big ideas, how it gives players a 'top flight future.' It is certainly a good idea in theory, given those players who were deemed not good enough for whatever reason to make the grade a second chance, to hone their talents under the watchful eye of a superb player while hoping to get picked up by another league club. As his website says, 'Glenn is fully committed to establishing the GHA. He is convinced that the academy will develop a reasonable proportion of its trainees into professionals within two years.' Hoddle is certainly taking a hands-on approach to the scheme - he has invested his own personal time and money into the venture, and he has selected the coaching staff himself. So the enthusiasm is there, it just remains to be seen if anything tangible comes from his efforts. When the first player from the academy makes the breakthrough at a league club, all the hard work will be worth it. The pre-requisite for getting into the academy is to be over 18, and have been released or about to be released from a league club. It remains to be seen how successful Glenn Hoddle and his team will be, but at least they are giving hope to young players who's dreams have been dashed.
It is much easier for clubs lower down the football spectrum to put more effort (while not necessarily more money) into their youth team set-ups. The stakes are lower so there are more opportunities to give youth a chance. Take the example of Crewe Alexandra. For a long time, this tiny club sustained themselves in the then Division One (now the Championship). And much of this was due to the work of Dario Gradi - now back in charge at Gresty Road, with Alex now in League Two - and their youth set-up in nurturing and bringing through young talent. Just look at the roll call of players who have past through their doors in the last 20 years or so - Dean Ashton, Rob Jones, David Platt, Seth Johnson, Robbie Savage, Geoff Thomas, Danny Murphy and Neil Lennon. All of these players went on to play international football, Platt played in a World Cup semi-final and Murphy won a cup treble with Liverpool. Not bad with for a sleepy town in Cheshire.
But their story is more the exception rather than the rule, especially if you look at the top of the Premier League table. The last player to make a significant breakthrough at Liverpool was Steven Gerrard (unless you include Stephen Warnock, who played a handful of first team games before playing for Blackburn Rovers and now Aston Villa), and it is a similar story at Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchetser United. Now, teams at the highest level look for more a quick fix solution - either buying in English talent rather than producing it (look at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City for good examples of that) or buying young foreign talent from foreign academies, such as Chelsea signing Gael Kakuta, in controversial fashion, last season. Maybe the change in Premier League squad rules will make a difference, but time will be the litmus test of that. Neither of those methods particularly help young academy players, but if clubs know they need to have a certain amount of homegrown players in their match day squads, then surely there will be a greater onus on producing such talent?
Going back to the Crewe example, the last player to make the breakthrough to the big-time was Ashton at the start of the last decade. His retirement last season at the tragically young age of 26 shows how the fickle fortunes of football can change - from an England hopeful to the football scrapheap. Many players will have less rarefied, less publicised falls from the game they love, but the situation is nonetheless the same across the board. And it is these players who football has a responsibility to support after they fall out of the game. There prospects are few and far between, when many of them have put so much into trying to realise their dreams, at the expense of their education or a back-up plan. However, all is not lost for these desolate youngsters - this is where the Professional Footballers Association comes in to play.
In the words of former Newcastle United, Arsenal and England striker Malcolm McDonald: 'you give your life to football, and then it sometimes forgets you. That's where the PFA are so wonderful, because they don't forget.' Football is anyone young boy's dream job - so when that dream is taken away from someone, there is bound to be a certain amount of despondency, but it is the responsibility of the PFA to try and show those individuals that they have a future. Let's look at the statistics - the PFA is the most 'implanted trade union in the United Kingdom.' That means that there is 100% representation among professional footballers at league clubs, and each club has at least one representative, or spokesman. The PFA has a number of roles it fulfills - including offering general counselling for those suffering problems such as drug, alcohol and gambling dependency, and trying to settle contract disputes between players and clubs. But one of their most crucial tasks is phrased as 'reconversion' - life after football. Footballers, especially at the highest level, can have an incredibly lucrative life. But it can also be a short and unfortunate career - one bad tackle or landing can end a career. Just ask David Buust, the victim of a Peter Schmeichel and Dennis Irwin sandwich at Old Trafford in April 1997. Completely innocuous, but a career ending injury which was so horrific that the Danish keeper was sick on the pitch. Equally appreciative of the work done by the PFA is former Spurs player Danny Thomas. Busst was forced out of the game at the age of 29, Thomas at 26. The PFA approached both (rather than vice-versa) after their enforced retirements to help guide them, and finance them, towards their next step in life. Firstly, Busst - the former Coventry City defender took a sports therapy course at Solihull College, and had all of his UEFA coaching badges funded by the PFA. Thomas, on the other hand, opted for a degree in physiotherapy, and now owns his own practice. Another example, that of Richard Sadlier, the former Millwall striker, is another case in point which the likes of Ashton and academy rejects should take on board. The promising Irish striker was forced to retire from professional football at the age of 25 after recurring knee injuries. But, with the help of the PFA, Sadlier has forged a successful media career, with a column in the Sunday Independent in Ireland, as well as punditry work for Setenta and Irish television channel RTE.
So there are options for players who drop out of football, for whatever reason. But what about youngsters, who don't have the reputation or experience of professional football behind them. In the words of Busst, 'player status is of little relevance.' He explains that two of his players at minor non-league side Solihull Borough (the team he now manages) needed serious operations after retiring from the game. Although it's not directly in their remit, the PFA stepped in to pay for the operations, and helped them rebuild their lives. Former Preston North End youth team player Ronnie Wright helps prove this point. Despite being a promising player at youth level, he was released by Preston when he was 20, and he couldn't find a new club. With the support of the PFA, he took his GSCE and A-levels, and then studied for a diploma in genetics at the University of Manchester, where the PFA paid for his fees and his accommodation.
I think many footballers will be surprised at the range of skills they pick up through their involvement with the game - be it coaching skills, in the realm of sports science or on the treatment table, or in dealings with the media, and these skills can be put into practice when players leave the game, be it in their 30s, or if they have the misfortune of exiting the game earlier. Increasingly, the PFA are trying to encourage players to think about a future after football. For example, Accrington Stanley captain Andrew Proctor is studying for a degree in physiotherapy at the University of Salford on a part-time basis. It is this kind of foresight that can help players get over their initial disappointment. This summer, as with every passing year, there were hundreds, probably thousands of academy prospects who didn't make the grade. Some will find a new club, many won't. But they have options, and without the help and support of the PFA, both emotionally, physically and financially, the situation could look a lot bleaker. Maybe though, with a little more confidence and faith from their clubs, the number of players falling out of the game would be far decreased in the first place.