This is fantastic news ! http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/20130612-academycat2-861569.aspx Exclusive: Club receives positive news about its youth setup. Bristol Cityâs Academy has been recommended for Category Two status, the club is delighted to announce. It puts the clubâs youth setup on a par with some of the top clubs in the country and ensures Bristol City will have the best and most attractive Academy in the South West. Independent inspectors for the FA Premier League and Football League spent four days with the Academy in April to audit the clubâs application for Category Two status. In its draft findings, received today, Cityâs Academy has been ârecommended for Category Two statusâ. A thrilled managing director Jon Lansdown exclusively told bcfc.co.uk: âI am personally delighted that we have received a recommendation for a Category Two Academy. This provides the club with the platform it needs to bring young players through the Academy and into the first team, delivering on one of our five key pillars. âBristol City is now clearly positioned as the premier Academy in the South West and the number one choice for footballing apprentices in the region. It is now our job to make sure that we deliver on that. âThe Academy has excellent facilities, first class coaching and most importantly a clear progression pathway to the first team. It will be an exciting place to work and play over the coming years. âA huge amount of praise should go to all of our Academy coaches, scouts and all other staff for their efforts over the last 12 months and especially to Amy Kington for achieving this recommendation. âThe real test will be in the results over the next five-to-ten years and what our Academy can produce for our first team and our club. This is a big step and is great news for potential young footballers in the West, but now the real work begins.â Praised throughout the report for its clear and concise football philosophy and vision, the Academy also scores highly on its education and welfare and âan extensiveâ coaching programme. As one of the clubâs five key pillars, the club has invested heavily in its Academy and youth development in readiness to achieve Category Two. It also means the club will receive more central funding and face better opposition in league matches at under-21, under-18 and under-16 levels, and all the way down to under-8s. Interim Academy director Amy Kington commented: âI am delighted the authorities have recognised that we have a clear vision and strategy in place to provide children in our region with a clear pathway to play in Bristol Cityâs first team. âAcademy staff have worked tirelessly to achieve this result and I am grateful for the sacrifices they have made. âWe all want and need Bristol City Football Club to be successful and the Academy is vitally important for our future.â While relegation to League One on the pitch is heartbreaking for everyone associated with City in the short-term, a sound youth policy will only aid help the club in its ambition to bounce back stronger. And a move towards a more productive Academy system, which regularly provides players for the first team squad or to move on to aid a sustainable future, can only be helped by the news City have been recommended for Category Two status.
Wouldn't mind a few walcotts and Oxlade Chamberlains coming through, Southampton made over 30 million alone on them.
Very good news especially if southamptons bath academy is getting shut down, heard cardiff are gonna be category 3 rovers i dont think are even in the academy system. Impressive commitment from the club saying that category 1 is the next target
We have to continue to work towards Cat 1 status though or Clubs with Cat 1 status can come after giving 48hours notice and poach the best players and we will get hardly anything for them. Though it does work both ways as a Cat 2 Academy we can pick up players from CAt 3 & 4 Academies but that is why some clubs have dropped the Academies altogether. Wonder if Watford have any good kids as they are lowering their academy to Cat 3 from almost achieving Cat 1 status.
After being asked elsewhere about EPPP I have finally emailed the FA to ask which clubs hold C1,C2,C3 and C4 for their Academies I hope to get a reply sometime soon.
My mate has two kids, his daughter plays for Bristol Ladies and his son plays for Cardiff. He told me the reason SL bought the ladies was to help gain Cat 2. I did ask about Cardiff but he told me they are already Cat 2 and could possibly be Cat 1 (I was pissed when I spoke to him but definetly one of those 2)
Thus far all I have seen says that Cardiff is Cat 2 but they like Ipswich might have applied for Cat 1 although I didn't see anything about that what it did say was the owners of Franchise FC are pouring loads of money into their Malasian Academy to bring players over to play for Cardiff.
Great news for us - another step in the right direction - impact will not be immediate, but good news nonetheless
Let's hope that in the long term, the Academy lives up to the investment and hard work put into it, and produces some good, young talent that are good enough for the first team. And that our manager, whoever it may be then, isn't afraid to blood Academy youngsters if they're good enough. It happened with the likes of Rooney, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain... if they're good enough, they're old enough.
