The Academy Experience

Joining an Academy

Academy Registration

Everyone must complete a registration form and also provide a photo, along with a document to confirm your child’s home address and date of birth. Your child remains registered with the Club for a period that depends on their age, and they will join an age group determined by the age they will be on 31st August. The length of their registration will depend on the time of year when the Club asks them to register.

Once your child has signed the form, the Premier League will process their registration. If you and your child choose to cancel the agreement, you must contact the Premier League within seven days. Your child may be coached by and play for the Club during this initial seven day period. This is a very important time period when independent advice is important for Academy Players and their parent/carer.

Academy Induction

The induction is a meeting or series of meetings when your child’s Academy will tell you about the provision of their coaching, education and support as well as what they can expect following registration. You will find out about their education and games programmes, and how their education programme will be managed. Induction is an important chance to get to know people at the Academy, and for them to get to know your child. Make the most of the opportunity to ask questions and get to know the staff.

Player Recognition System (PRS)

Every Every Academy Player is issued with a personalised photo ID card as part of their registration. The League will send two copies of the card to your child’s Club once the registration forms have been submitted and approved. The Club may pass one card on to your child, or they may choose to hold onto both. The card is valid for three years. The card is designed to make sure that we check who is playing, that they are in the correct age group and to record attendance at Academy fixtures. This helps to maintain a safe environment for Academy Players and staff. Your child (or their coach) will need to have their card with them and available for inspection at all Academy fixtures and events. Cards could be inspected before, during or after their matches.

Key People

Use your child’s induction to get to know key members of staff at their Club, and to get answers to you or your child’s questions. Make a note of contact details so you can get in touch easily when you need to:

• Academy Manager.
• Academy Coach.
• Club Doctor.
• Physio.
• Head of Sports Science and Medicine.
• Head of Education.
• Head of Academy Coaching.
• Academy Safeguarding officer.
• Club Head of Safeguarding.
• Head of Player Care.
• Premier League Academy Support Manager.

Player Pathway

Academy Performance Plan

Each Academy has a performance plan which follows the Club’s principles, values, playing style and their tactical approach. This plan tells you about the games and education programmes, the sport science and medicine services support as well as coaching on the pitch. Your child’s Academy has a team of specialist medical and sport science staff to provide a high level of medical care during training sessions and games. Your child’s Academy Manager will introduce your child to these specialist staff at the induction.

Games Programme

The Games Programme aims to embed a holistic approach to player development, ensuring all players gain experiences that will enhance their love for football whilst developing life skills. . The Foundation Phase & Youth Development Phase delivers a diverse range of experiences including best v best and opportunities for players to extend and consolidate their learning.

Coaching Curriculum

The age group your child is in will affect the coaching contact they will receive. The number of coaching sessions should increase as they progress along the Performance Pathway. 

Note: These coaching contact times are a guide and your child’s coach will adjust their weekly curriculum according to their specific needs and the individual programme that they are on.

Player journey (FIP)

Your child is entitled to regular feedback on their development at the Club. Their Academy will use the Player Journey to record, measure and monitor all aspects of their progress. It is your child’s record of achievement and of the time spent not only at the current Club, but also throughout their football career. The Player Journey stores information which is input using a system called the Football Intelligence Platform (FIP). This information can include the number of games played and the data from those games, the coaching received, educational progress, the sport science data that has been collected (i.e. fitness data) as well as medical data, such as injuries sustained and the rehabilitation undertaken

A lot of the information that goes into the Player Journey will come from the multidisciplinary reviews that happen four times per season as well as each training session or game that a player is involved in. These reviews cover each of the areas (or disciplines) worked on during each player’s time at the Club e.g. games, coaching, education and sport science & medicine. Your child’s Player Journey is made available to them by each Club. If your child moves to another Club, they take it with them.

Duty of Care

There are three pillars which underpin and unite our safeguarding, player care, and education provision. They are Prepare, Empower and Protect.

Education (inc. all models)

Your child’s Education Programme is a core component of their football development and will help them achieve a productive and fulfilling life, both on and off the field. You and your child should receive regular feedback on their progress. If you have any questions, concerns or queries about your child’s education, contact your Club’s Head of Education.

There are three education models that your child may follow whilst at the Club. These are called Training Models and the education on each of them is delivered differently. Which model your child follows will depend on the phase they are in on the Performance Pathway and what is right for both their academic development and their football development. The three training models are:

Part-time Training Model

On the PTTM your child attends the Academy in the evenings, at weekends and during holidays. The Academy will keep in regular contact with the school and provide reports to them about their progress. The Club will monitor your child’s progress to ensure the football programme is not having a negative effect on their progress at school.

Hybrid Training Model

On the HTM your child is released from school to attend the Academy for part of their weekly timetable. This model can be used in the Youth Development Phase and it will depend on your child’s age and your child’s Club programme if it is available to them.

Full-time Training Model

This model can only be used in the Youth Development Phase Category One Academies that operates a FTTM. To attend the FTTM your child will need to reside within the one and a half hour travel restrictions as outlined in the Youth Development Rules. Under 14 players can be recruited onto the programme from around the country.

Safeguarding

The Premier League places great importance on safeguarding children and adults at risk and we believe that everyone has the right to enjoy football in a safe and inclusive environment. We have safeguarding rules in place that Clubs must follow to promote and protect the safety and welfare of children and young people.

Your child’s Club safeguards its Academy Players in lots of different ways:

• Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility; however, the Club has in place a dedicated full-time Head of Safeguarding and an Academy Safeguarding Officer. The members of staff fulfilling these roles are at the heart of Clubs’ development of young talent and can provide you and your child with support and advice. It is important to know who the Club’s Safeguarding Team are and how to contact them.
• Getting the right people involved. Your child’s Club must make sure that they only work with suitable people and organisations who also believe in keeping children and young people safe.
• Creating a safer environment. Your child’s Club has safeguarding policies, procedures, and guidelines in place which everyone must follow.
• Empowerment and education. Your child’s Club must make sure that people who work for them know what their responsibilities are by giving them regular training. They have a responsibility to educate and empower children and young people by helping them understand their rights and where they can get help or advice if they need it.
• Working together and taking action. All Clubs have a duty to take all concerns seriously and ensure that they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately.
• Getting Advice and Reporting Concern.The Premier League want to help children and young people feel safe, valued, and empowered. We have teamed up with Childline to give information about issues which may be worrying your children, and the support available. Whatever is on their mind, the Premier League and Childline are there to support them. Visit our website for information. Premier League Safeguarding.

Player Care

Each category One Two or Three Academy has a Head of Player Care who coordinates the personal, social, and emotional development of Academy Players. They are also a point of contact for parents/carers or players who would like advice or support on a range of issues. The Head of Player Care also provides Academy Players with a series of workshops as part of the Life Skills & Personal Development Programme.

Medical (inc. concussion & heading)

The Premier League require a very high level of medical care for players within Academies. For example, all Academies must have an Emergency Action Plan written by the Academy doctor, and they must have staff who have specific First Aid and Primary Care qualifications present at all games and training sessions.

Although Academies have very high levels of medical care provision, parents and carers also have a very important role, especially when a player has sustained, or is suspected of having sustained, a concussive injury. On these occasions, players should not be left alone in the first 24 hours and the ‘FA graduated return to play protocol’ must be followed. This can be found here. 

English football has introduced heading guidance that is aimed at reducing heading without impacting development of technique. The guidance has been produced using a precautionary approach to protect player welfare where scientific evidence is currently limited, but is constantly under review. Recommendations for heading vary depending on a player’s age. Further information can be found here.

Leaving the Academy System

The reality of elite sport

Releasing an Academy Player from registration can be a difficult time. Academy Players and parents and carers should remember that involvement in the programme is a tremendous achievement in itself. If your child’s Club does not wish to extend their registration, then it is expected to provide support by, for example, helping find opportunities for your child to continue their football development elsewhere.

What this will look like

• Requesting Cancellation
  
  

During your child’s registration period, their registration may only be cancelled if everyone agrees (the Club, player, and their parent/carer). If your child has concerns that might lead to them wanting to leave, they should be supported to talk to the Academy Manager. If all parties agree then a player’s registration can be cancelled by completion of a form. If the parties don’t agree, then any person involved can also ask the Premier League to provide a binding decision on a termination request by making a written application providing full reasons for the request. Compensation may still be owed to the Club should your child wish to register with a new one.

• Inducements
  
  

Clubs are not allowed to encourage players to register with them by offering cash or some other benefit in kind to you, your child, or anyone connected to you. This is called ‘inducement’ and you or your child must not accept anything that is offered. Inducement could be breaking the Premier League’s Rules, and the rules cover registration with a new Club, or re-signing with a Club they may already be registered with. Inducements can be anything from cash payments to the payment or reimbursement of accommodation or travel costs. It is of course understood by the League that some expenses are genuine and guidance is available upon request explaining which payments are allowed. If you have any doubts whether something might be an inducement, you or your child should contact the Premier League before accepting anything. Remember, if you or your child have accepted an inducement, there could be serious consequences, including a potential sanction from the Premier League and/or termination or refusal of your child’s registration.

• Investigating a move to another club
  
  

If your child has had a previous registration where compensation is owing to their former club, your child and the two Clubs may need to attend an exit interview to talk through the circumstances of their proposed move. This is a process that has been agreed by all Premier League Clubs and is intended to make sure that no rules have been broken in relation to the move.

As part of the process, you, your child together with the Club that they wish to move to, will also need to sign a declaration that no approach has been made to you or your child prior to the relevant date, nor has any inducement been paid or offered to you or your child or anyone connected with you or your child to encourage them to move Academy. Following this process, you or your child may be asked to provide certain documents and/or other information to the Premier League to ensure that all Rules have been complied with. As an example, phone records and bank statements covering the last year may be requested. 

You and your child should be aware that this process can potentially take a few weeks and while it is ongoing, your child will not be able to train with or play for the new Club’s Academy. We appreciate that this can be inconvenient and can be a time of uncertainty, but it is an extremely important part of ensuring the integrity of the Academy system and the Premier League Rules. We will endeavour to ensure the process is completed as soon as possible. 

• Reporting
  
  

If you or your child have any concerns about approaches, inducements, or any other breaches of the Youth Development Rules by anyone involved in the system that you don’t feel able to report directly to a Club, the Premier League has a confidential reporting service that is constantly monitored (and which can be used anonymously if you wish) where you can share those concerns. If you have anything you wish to report, please email reporting@premierleague.com.

• Compensation & Compensation formula
  
  

Compensation is money paid by your child’s new Club to their previous Club to cover training and development costs if they decline an offer of extended registration. Clubs are required to calculate compensation based upon an annual fixed fee which relates to the age group of the Academy player and the category of Academy the player was registered with. The full compensation formula can be found within the Premier League Youth Development Rules. Should the Club offer your child a Scholarship, and subsequently this is not accepted, if your child then register elsewhere compensation could be determined outside of the prescribed formula.

Academy players and their parents/carers do not pay these fees, do not receive any money, and will have no involvement in these conversations. Compensation does not need to be paid if the player was released from their registration by the Club, at the end of the registration period.

Support provided

If you have any queries or concerns on the process of leaving the Academy system, please contact youthregistrations@premierleague.com or the PFA Youth Advisory Service is available for independent support and advice via youthadvisory@thepfa.co.uk – more information in the Support and Independent Advice tab above.

Celebrating success beyond playing

It is the unavoidable reality of the pathway that the majority of young people will leave the Academy system without a professional playing career. Therefore, it is important to manage expectations - 77% of Premier League Academy player parents have moderate-to-high expectations that their child will become a professional footballer.

The chances of progression represent the reality of elite sport rather than a failure of the Academy system. The system does not define its success by the small minority of boys who have professional playing careers, but the positive development outcomes for the 100%, that are all Academy graduates.

The Academy system aims to educate, equip and empower boys to transition to successful careers beyond a professional playing career. 

Recent Academy graduates who have made a league appearance based on the category of their first Academy:

- 16% Category 1
- 9% Category 2
- 5% Category 3

Recent Academy graduates who have made 20 league appearances based on the category of their first Academy:

- 11% Category 1
- 6% Category 2
- 3% Category 3

As part of the Youth Development Rules, clubs are required to have an induction and transition strategy in place, with a focus on aftercare for released players. As part of the review of the EPPP in Season 2021/22, new guidance has been provided to clubs on what should be included in their strategy, including a three-year commitment of support for all Academy players that depart in the Professional Development Phase.

A supported transition process ensures that those leaving the Academy are prepared for their lives beyond it, which is why there is a diverse offering of support mechanisms in place.