In June, Premier League clubs submitted the lists of players they will be keeping in their squads, and the ones they will be releasing for 2015/16, but for those players who have not been kept on, all is not lost.
In an article published in the Times recently, Rory Smith tells the story of Fraser Colmer, who was released by Southampton's academy and is an example of a growing number of players benefitting from the Premier League's tie-up with the American University system.
Fraser Colmer is used to the questions. He still hears them now, thousands of miles from home in Radford, Virginia. Even here, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, as soon as a Premier League match comes on television, he has come to expect them. "Someone always asks if I know this player, or if I've played against that one," he says. More often than not, the answer is yes.
For a long time, the 21-year-old assumed he would be the one on the screen. Colmer joined Southampton's prolific academy at the age of 10. He was in the same age group as Luke Shaw — a left-back, like him — and he still counts James Ward-Prowse, Harrison Reed and Calum Chambers among his closest friends.
A knee injury stifled his development, and a loan spell at Farnborough failed to reinvigorate it. After three years as a scholar, as others were taking their first steps to stardom, he was told his time was up. He stays in touch with his "group" through WhatsApp and Snapchat, each message and every image a little glimpse of a life that might have been.
"I'm proud of what they've all done," he says. There is no trace of regret, or envy. If anything, the reverse is true.
"Whenever I tell them stories of what I've been up to, they say how much fun I must be having, that they wish they were over here," he says.
"They tell me they're jealous of me. I'm like: 'No, I'm the one who should be jealous of you'."
Second chance
Colmer has far too much going on to worry about what he is missing out on. He has spent the past few weeks revising for his exams — the majority, he feels, went well; he is determined to maintain his perfect grade point average — at the end of his second, or "sophomore", year at Radford University. He will start as a business major in the autumn, and should graduate in 2018.
He has had to balance all of that with his continuing football career. Colmer's route might be starkly different to that of his former team-mates, but he remains on the same road. "I loved being at Farnborough in my last year as a scholar," he explains. "It was great to be playing competitive football.
"It matters at that level: people are playing for that £50 win bonus, because it transforms their week. But at the same time, there was a realisation that maybe it was not for me, that I needed a new adventure. While I was at Southampton, we'd played in the Dallas Cup, and I loved the lifestyle in the States. I knew I would come back one day."
Colmer is not an isolated case. More and more players, those not fortunate enough to make it through the Premier League's necessarily cut-throat academy system, are making the same choice he did two years ago. There are now dozens of young English players in the US college system, choosing a new life across the ocean ahead of the uncertainty of the lower leagues.
Dwyer success
American universities recruiting British players is nothing new. Sporting Kansas City striker Dominic Dwyer is possibly the most high-profile case study: a player rejected by Norwich City who made to Major League Soccer, by way of Tyler Junior College and the University of South Florida.
There are suggestions he might even receive a call-up to the US men's team. There is one crucial difference, though, between Colmer and Dwyer. The latter had to go through an open trial staged by an agency to start his journey; the former has benefited from the Premier League's increasing determination to help even those who do not make the professional ranks find the right path.
"We found that a lot of players were paying agency fees to go to the US," says Mark Scarbrow, a careers adviser who helps the Premier League place players with American colleges.
"In some cases, they were going to schools where the level of football and the academic demands were not commensurate with their level. There was no proper conduit to find players a team.
"So we established links with the NCAA [college sports' governing body] and got to know the universities where our players had gone and had good experiences. That meant we knew the coach, the environment. It made the path smoother."
Premier League tie-up
One of those coaches was Michael Seabolt, now head coach at Missouri State University. He first came to England on a scouting mission in 2003, signing one player from Liverpool and one from Fulham after watching them in an exit trial at the end of their scholarships. The idea of continuing their career — and kick-starting their education — in the United States was, then, "a foreign idea" to most of the boys he encountered; the clubs, too, were not universally receptive.
"It had happened," Seabolt says. "But mostly from a lower level: the Football League or even non-League. It wasn't the top kids.
“I met Mark at that exit trial, and we started to talk about how we could make the process more sophisticated."
The result was an annual tour, in which the Premier League invites some of its partner universities to visit various club academies, watch players train, give short presentations and, in Seabolt's words, "sow the seed of an idea" in young prospects' minds.
It works: last year, 15 or so ex-academy players took up places in the US; this year's tour might result in 40 or so more joining them.
"It is a serious degree, and the studies are important. It is not a football holiday; it is going to be a level above. It is the best amateur football in the world."
"They have an idea this opportunity exists," says Seabolt. "They ask questions, always about the football: how often do you train, what is the standard like, what is the schedule, but they want to know about things like classes, what they can study, the cost, the expenses, too.
"I do not sell it as just football: that would be false advertising. It is a serious degree, and the studies are important. It is not a football holiday; it is going to be a level above. It is the best amateur football in the world. They are absolutely not going to be the star, or a saviour. We have a boy who came from Tottenham Hotspur and in his first year, he struggled. It is a high standard.
"The key is not to throw it on them too hard, too fast. You have to allow them to go through the grieving at leaving the club, being told they will not make it. And we know it will take time for them to adapt, too.
“But it is an unbelievable opportunity to bridge the gap [between academy football and senior] and to keep them in the game a little longer, to find out where they are going to land."
'Radford was my only choice'
In Colmer's case, that is entirely on his feet. His road to Virginia started one day at Southampton, when he ran into a coach from Radford.
"He had been to talk to us previously, and I asked if I was still eligible," Colmer says. "He told me to send some clips and my GCSE grades. I sent clips to a few other colleges, but he was so enthusiastic, Radford was my only choice."
For the last two years, he has relished university life.
"In a professional environment, everything is more supervised," he says. "I had to get used to things like paying my rent, household stuff, all of that. I have had to be much more independent."
He speaks to his parents on Skype once a week, but there is no homesickness. He delicately describes his accent, and his status as an imported footballer, as a "good conversation starter" on campus.
The football side of it is going well, too. The level of attention paid to athletes at US colleges — especially those on scholarships — is impressive.
"The facilities are eye-opening," says Scarbrow of the general standard. Colmer, in the specific case of Radford, agrees with that assessment.
"We treat it like we are professionals," says Seabolt. "We train every day, we do video analysis, the players take care of their bodies, we have a full strength and conditioning programme which is as good and may be better than anything [in the professional ranks in Britain].
“Most colleges have "academic advisers and tutors just for the athletes to make sure they get settled," he says. "We monitor them closely, especially in that first year. We make sure that if they do the work, they will pass. They would have to try to fail."
Then there is the experience of being the star athlete, what Scarbrow calls a "campus celebrity". Seabolt believes it is the feeling of "playing under the lights, in front of 1,000 or 1,500 fans, for their school, their new home town" that helps imports settle best; Colmer offers proof. Radford, he says, is "crazy" for its football team. "I love it," he says.
He has not yet given up on the dream he shared with Ward-Prowse, Chambers and the rest of his friends from Southampton.
"When I first came here, I was football, football, football," he says. "But the other opportunities that have come up have made me think that is not the only thing that matters. It would be nice to play but if not, I will do well anyway, because of the degree I'm going to get." He has, he knows, absolutely no reason to be jealous.
Making the grade
Some US college offers to players who do not make the grade in the Premier League are dependent on players sitting the SAT — the US equivalent of A levels.
US college football is run by the NCAA and divided into two divisions, related to number of students and funding, rather than team quality. Both divisions have about 200 teams and are divided into geographical conferences, followed by a national tournament between conference winners.
Players can go on two or four-year courses. If they impress sufficiently, they will be entered into the MLS SuperDraft, enabling them to sign terms with a professional US team. Others can go into open trials after their education and hope to land a deal.
This article was originally published in The Times on 9 May, 2016. For mor, click here >>
Rory Smith can be found on Twitter at @rorysmithtimes
