Off on a complete tangent but I was just thinking about our youth system and who was the last player we produced who went on to really 'make it'? I massively struggled and in a way this is my point - have we got the worst youth system in the country? Best I could come up with was Roy Carroll. Or am I have total memory block and missing some obvious ones?
Since I started going about 15 years ago, there's probably only Adam Bolder, Scott Wiseman and to a lesser extent Clayton Donaldson that have made good careers for themselves that have come through our system. Hopefully this crop will be a bit more successful.
Still pretty ****e though innit? I mean, for a club who has been on the up for a decade and has spent much of that in the top 2 divisions they're hardly great examples. It's really, really poor. Edit - what ever happened to that little **** from Hull who was flashed across the HDM a few years ago after he chose TWS over us? I'm guessing nothing.
I'd argue Anderson still isnt a good example though. He's a bit-part player at lower end Championship clubs. Am I being too picky here or is that about right as the sum parts for a club like us to have produced?
Considering we didn't really have much of an academy till 2006 when we moved to Ideal I'm not surprised we haven't had many stars. In the last 6 years players have come through and in the next 6 they will definitely be more to come things are improving massively and unrecognisable from 10yrs ago.
Well yeah but didnt we ditch him at 15 or somethng and then resign him at 22? I dont think there's credit to take in that.
Cairney I suppose has shown to be a reliable midfielder for us. Although he hasn't moved on. What about Barmby was he through City at first?
Didnt Tom get released by TWS? And he'll be gone at the end of the season... And nah - Nick went straight to Spurs at about 12 didnt he?
Tom was 16 when he joined our academy, so he was only there for a couple of years. Barmby was never a youth player with us.
You're not being too picky no, we should expect a few higher-profile players to come through. But if you're just talking about 'making it' which I would define as becoming a regular first team player for a league club there are a few; Cairney, Nicky Featherstone, Paul Anderson, Scott Wiseman, Clayton Donaldson, Simon Russell, Adam Bolder, Mike Edwards. I'd suggest that Cooper, Devitt, Bradley, East and Townsend will eventually reach that stage too.
He was at the academy from being a young kid to being released at 18, he still went all the way through our academy, even if he did get released for a few years.
Gavin Gordon and Paul Fewings. Hardly world class but both had (or is Gordon still playing?) decent professional careers
Gordon now plays for an amateur side called Heckington. Fewings didn't have much of a professional career, most of his games have been non-league.
