Cardiff have launched a football academy in Yate in a bid to poach talent from under the noses of Bristol Rovers / City. Football Association rules enable clubs to set up academies anywhere within a radius of a 90 minute car drive and the Bristol clubs have faced unwanted competition from Southampton's Bath based recruitment centre for many years. Although this is the first time Cardiff have ventured across the Severn and into what is considered Bristol's traditional territory, the Welsh club is not breaking any rules. Rovers head of youth Tom Curtis said: "Everybody is fighting for the best young players and that Cardiff are to open a centre is not totally unexpected. Clubs all over the country are opening satellite centres and the fact of the matter is that we have a number of competitors already. Bristol City, Southampton and West Brom are among those we are already competing against, so Cardiff is just another club in that mix. We may not have the resources of some of our competitors, but what we do rely on to persuade parents to send their youngsters to us is the quality of what we feel is an excellent programme. We also have a fantastic reputation in the community as a family club and a place where there are very real opportunities for youngsters to go on to have a career in professional football either here or elsewhere. Our first-team squad has a number of players who have come through the programme and we have also recently sold young goalkeeper Matt Macey on to Arsenal. A number of Premier League clubs are regularly sending scouts along to our games across the age groups and I think that shows that the investment made by the board of directors and the hard work of our staff is paying real dividends." City head of youth Brian Tinnion said: "There is nothing we can do about it and it does not bother me one bit. All it does is give children and their parents another option when they are looking for a club. We've had Southampton based on our doorstep over in Bath for many years now and it has not been a problem. Now Cardiff are here, I don't see it making any great difference either. There is certainly no point in getting hot under the collar about it and I will be sleeping soundly in my bed tonight. How many players from the Bristol area do you see in the first teams at those two clubs? The answer is none. I've watched Southampton's Under-21, Under-18 and Under-16 teams this season and they only have one Bristolian in their ranks. Now they are in the Premier League, Cardiff only have one homegrown academy player anywhere near their first team (left-back Declan John). If kids from this area have ambitions to play first-team football, then the decision is an easy one. We have an Under-21 development squad that is made up of second-year academy scholars and first-year professionals and we have seen a number of them break into the first team over the last couple of years. Youngsters Wes Burns, Joe Bryan and Bobby Reid have all come through the Ashton Gate ranks to become regular members of City's first team squad in League One this season. Given the increased competition when it comes to recruiting young players, we have to ensure we are a more attractive proposition than either Cardiff or Southampton. We do that by giving kids an improved opportunity of playing in our first team. Overwhelmingly, the evidence says that is the case." Taken from the Post.
When I first seen this story I thought it would make things harder for both Bristol sides but Reading Tinnions statement, he makes a very good point about the lack of Bristolians in teams at all age group levels for the clubs who already recruit in our area. We may lose the odd youngster who may choose a higher club as they would have better coaches etc but if they want 1st team football then as Tinnion says, they would more likely get it with either Bristol side over the big clubs. Rovers have had 8 players in their first team squad this season who have come through the youth ranks. City have had 3 players in their first team squad this season who have come through the youth ranks. Evidence speaks for itself.
They'll probably get rid of it when they go down.... It's bad enough seeing Bristol as a hunting ground for the likes of Villa, WBA and Southampton, but the Welsh ? Really !! lol
Not really much change is it from the days when Stan Montgomery ex Cardiff player ran the South Wales scouting for Rovers. Pulis, Wayne Jones, Phil Bater, David Williams, Frankie Prince are names that immediately come to mind and there are plenty of others that I have missed. It is up to the Bristol clubs to "sell" themselves to the parents and the boys with good quality coaching and realistic assessment of progress into professional football rather than pie in the sky / jam tomorrow lies. PS. There are quite a few South Wales youngsters in City's Academy now. Wes Burns and Joe Morrell plus several others!
To be fair, we (Bristol City) don't play many of our academy hopefuls. We're now in League 1, and aside from one player none of them have had consistent playing time, and I doubt that will change. Honestly, I'm not sure of Rovers' record of using talent from their academy, nor am I sure of Cardiff's record, but I doubt it'd be much worse than ours. If I were a young upcoming player looking for a club I'd choose a team that plays its hopefuls instead of what team is highest in the league system.
The facilities are great at Yate International Academy and I believe most of these players were already traveling over the bridge to the Cardiff so it should make it a bit easier for parents/kids. They also forgot to mention that YIA is also a Bristol City Pathway Centre! It is a bit of a daft piece IMO. Would many other Cities be moaning about having an additional Academy that improves the coaching and opportunities for potential talent in the area. The more competition there is, the higher the standard will be. The more Bristolians playing professional football the better!
i think a bigger issue for rovers (not sure on city but i guess it may be the same) is youngsters who select rovers or city instead of the likes of saints etc and all the coaching and hard work put in by rovers / city and then players being poached for peanuts like scott sinclair to chelsea and now matt macey who has left rovers to join arsenal. if these players stayed at rovers / city until they broke into the 1st team then we could more money for them. sinclair could have been great at rovers level and we could have got a 7 figure sum for him or at least a high 6 figure sum.
