Overall, a system that aims to improve standards, coaching, facilities and players global competitive capability has to be a good thing. That is the main purpose of EPPP. However, these are people not products. Would anyone disagree that it would great if:
- We give the most talented young footballers the absolute best learning platform?
- For all (the majority won’t make it to the top) we have created a safe, fair, happy and enjoyable environment that creates fantastic memories. These young people will never be children again?
- The potential opportunities for their futures in and out of football remain and we have not badly hindered other career paths?
- Open and fair opportunities for all?
I certainly would sign up to commit to them key cornerstones and furthermore, maybe address the areas that we could improve to help this happen in real life, not just spoken about and said in presentations on PowerPoint.
Some key areas that I believe need addressing are…
1. Grassroots to Elite Level Academy Level
a) No contracts for any players under 12 years old. Just a free registration. I don’t believe any child of primary school age should be contracted anywhere. This means, if the child is unhappy, they can leave and try somewhere else. They can then be dual registered at the grassroots club. To lock a player in at this age, an age where the children ae discussing what to hope for from Santa Claus seems very wrong to me. Clubs would be entitled to compensation for players moving in this phase. So, if contracts at foundation phase are removed then clubs lose protection for the investment they put in. It can cost £2-4k per year to coach one player in an academy, but clubs already provide session for toddlers, just make your club a brilliant environment and enjoyable. 99.9% parents want their children to be happy, so, there is a good chance they will choose your club anyway. No restrictions on where they play and what sport they participate in. With a 1:200 chance at a club it's a moral crime to deny a child wider sporting memory’s and to lock them in to anything contractually.
b) Too many players in ‘elite’ football which waters the level down. By that I mean structured development centres mean that for every age group there could be 3-5 teams leading to the academy team. If clubs want these as a recruitment tool, they should be funded by the club, not by parents. With development centres taking talented players into very controlled environments, its trawler fishing and in some cases incredibly young people and their parents are led to believe they are now on the pathway to the jackpot winning life, then they are released and feel their world has fallen apart. Some grass roots clubs then feel like they provide the psychological repair network to help young people fall back in love with football. The majority of these players should be kept in that grass roots environment for as long as possible and trust the great work the majority of grass roots volunteers do more. It worries me that we see a trend that is leading too many players into some over robotic system of footballer creation factory.
c) Define why you play. For fun, not to be a footballer. Whilst it is great to dream, across the game we (and parents) need to adopt a different mindset that the players can then understand. We make players and parents believe that football development is like a factory for Aston Martins. Imagine a car factory that threw away 99 out 100 cars? They don’t, that’s because they have a process that works. The football ‘process’ therefore doesn’t work! Actually, all we do know is that there is no proven process. I get young talented players need to be in an elite environment, most have a better chance here, of course. Its better facilities and better coaching, but it’s just a platform for them and it’s proven to fail most. While equally, players get released and come back into the game to be premier league players, and some have never been in the system and come into the game as adults via non-league. So as this is the only proven thing we know, why can’t we make this process fun and memorable? At 16 or 18 when they get released, as most will, wouldn’t it be great for them to be able to look back and say, “yes but it was awesome”! create great memories!
d) Address the pay to play culture. Talent is lost due to money; it has to be! I worked in over 200 schools and coached some incredibly talented boys and girls. Occasionally they would stand out so much I would ask them if they were in an academy. On occasion (and in particular I can think of one that inspired me to start a free play football team) some would say “no”. Having worked in academies so long I remember feeling shocked. One lad was absolutely terrific and would have ticked every one of the cornerstones of recruitment that I learned in a level one academy. I asked if he had been asked to go to a football club and he said “yes, I was going but my mum couldn’t afford to keep taking me” Sadly, this was not the only time I heard this. Some can’t afford to travel to academies or even the subs for a grass roots team. One lad was in this situation and couldn’t play grass roots football. I wonder if regional FA controlled centres could be created. Elite centres that are fully funded. Schools can then send unattached selected players for free. Surely, we can fund this?
These great new 3/4G pitches put on council estates to increase football opportunities, but what if some can’t afford the fees? Let alone the grass roots subs (which I totally accept clubs need, to be able to survive). If that player gets recruited by a talent scout they might go to a development centre, this can be more hundreds of pounds. They are paying for their talent. What if a single parent who is struggling to find meals, they then get signed by the academy, they could be driving to the training ground 4 times a week. (If they drive) I remember a young lad used to get the bus to training because his mum didn’t drive. She couldn’t afford to come with him. He travelled for 2 hours each way, on his own, in school uniform. In fuel alone parents can spend circa £500 per month driving to academies and weekend games. This pay to play culture then means we must missing out on talent.
e) Change and enforce restrictions on scouting bonus systems. Short term bonus schemes for scouts cannot work for the good of the player and the club, If all the incentive is on new players, some existing talent could get squeezed out. I believe a system like that is too easy to abuse for short term financial gain and manipulation. I think If I was in charge of a club, I would put a much healthier bonus in place for players reaching the 1st team. Prior to that, pay the scouts well with no short-term gain. I believe it creates too much opportunity for rotating players that don’t need to be, and this has such a big impact on those people’s lives. I also would have no bonuses for early signing of scholars and 1st year pros.
f) Clubs should have a sign and release committee. I was asked once, what I thought of a player. I replied I don’t know, I had seen him for half a session and the floodlights failed. For me, I tried to resist judging any player for around 2 weeks, just so they could get over their nerves, settle in, get to know the players and structure, seeing first team players knocking about and famous people. However, that player was signed and It long lingered with me why. I seen that his parents were ecstatic and that bothers me, these poor people were celebrating, telling everyone they know. His school time will be reduced, but surely we cannot have done all the evaluation needed in order to be confident we haven’t got it wrong? If a player is on a 6 week trial, they need to complete the trial, no signing before. I would increase it also to minimum 8 weeks and the player has to play weekly in the main academy games program. I would like to see more people involved in a decision. A voted committee. This will be the biggest decision in that young players life that has such huge implications. It could be life changing, in a great way, equally it could change the path of their life forever, what if they have an incredible other skill or opportunity? We cannot play god, or control sliding doors, we have to take more care. Equally it must be sanctioned by a committee. Doing this will prevent players getting released on a whim, someone’s ego, vendetta or an ulterior motive? Then I would feel much more comfortable seeing those parents’ tears of elation.
2. EPPP Environment
a) Reduced controlled contact. The children are too tired. Players are turning up hungry or eating rushed meals, siblings negatively affected. I used to see cars with brothers and sisters in cars eating dinner, doing homework and sleeping, this is such a dilemma for parents. Parents risking work issues meeting time requirement, escalating fuel and travel costs, players falling asleep in class. We need to review the contact hours relevant to age. We need to consider more the whole family impact.
b) Education Impact Fund. U12 is 1 hour travel, U13s is 1 and half hours from the training ground, 3 hours in an evening in a car? When do they do their homework? When do they do ‘normal’ free play? Then we take them out of school during the day. 20-40% loss of education contact hours on a 1:200 chance. That is 100% career changing and morally outrageous. If you are a level 1 academy and want to take a player from a small club under EPPP rules, then as part of the agreement you have to put money into an education trust fund. Clubs pay each other compensation. I believe compensation should be applied to the education and career you changed. The longer a player is taken away from school then there needs to be an Education Impact Fund to help them recover. Proper access to higher education to obtain a degree and clubs and the system should pay for it. NCAA (24 sports) 8/10 student athletes will earn a bachelor’s degree. 35% will earn post graduate degree. Estimated 50% NFL professionals are degree level educated. How does that compare to our elite footballers? This EIF would also slow down the decision process with more care taken. If you’re a level 1 academy with high level education and results. That’s great, but the fund applies. A player released at scholar age, if in the system since U14 with day release and having been a scholar for 2 years, qualifies for £3k per year EIF That covers circa half of their university costs to encourage them back to university. If a player is released with 2 years of the first pro contract. They are entitled to £30k EIF they can claim, if they go to university.
c) Better Protection for Coaches Pay Levels. Quality has reduced due to some walking away due to pressures of low income and hours required to record data on computer systems that are unreliable and pointless. Full time pay Is mostly unsustainable for supporting a family as a career. Part-time hours put pressure on your main job. The career prospects just do not equate when you consider the time and financial investment required for high level qualifications. As an industry it has to be one of the worst pound for pound Return on Investment and as UEFA they need more consistency on the standards of the qualifications which ranges across countries. The systems can create jobs and someone will do it on low pay, because it’s a football badge on your uniform. However, considering the potential value surely you would want higher quality. At the very least, I would expect a pay structure, job security and career opportunities that mirrors the existing state education system.
d) End pointless Player Reports. Endless repetitive player reports on players that few consider in final decisions and sometimes serve to add huge pressure to the players. Players actually said to me they feel like they are going to school. Coaches are copy pasting content on reports for speed, yet a player is reading it word for word and it can have huge detrimental effect on them. Collating huge amounts of subjective information that will have little effect on development that is not ultimately used in recruitment decisions. I always wonder, why do professional dog trainers focus on positive behaviour and ignore what’s not needed, yet some football coaches think highlighting mistakes and weaknesses, better still, writing it down on a sheet of paper for a youngster to pin on their wall is a way for them to get better. I always thought, wouldn’t it be amazing if you could address weakness or something that needs improving, manage to do it and not even tell the player. We look at holistic development but confidence and self-belief is underrated. Without that, suddenly all other elements like technical & tactical performance can be a result of it. I fail to see how these reports help at all.
e) Keep our smaller regional clubs Academies. For all the reasons highlighted above, mainly time and well-being of young people, we need all our academies to keep going. We can only assure that if we keep them viable for owners. Why do we need Level 2, 3,4 academies?
- Local recruitment for talent ID is vital to ultimately feed the top level of England is unique. 5 leagues of full-time professional football. Huge clubs playing in the national league and football league with huge reputation and history.
- There are 40-50 level 1/2 academies, they cannot host all of England’s young elite players.
- Elite talent needs to be able to travel to an academy that’s affordable to attend for local parents and guardians.
- We know that there is no proven player production pathway. Therefore, to just have all elite talent in level 1/2 academies will mean we will lose potential players where that platform simply was not for them
I have always felt that some clubs and people in football get paranoid and defensive when you talk about improvements. This is not for all, some clubs maybe cover all of these points, but I don’t think enough do, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Maybe I’m wrong on some aspects or maybe some are unachievable. Elite sport is a great platform that is needed. Not all tennis players will win Wimbledon. Many don’t make it, I accept that. I think most parents can accept that as well. But too many players and young people are suffering and surely we all agree that it is not acceptable. Surely, we can make it better?
Tony McCool
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