CAT 1 - Academy - Should we invest at this level?

From what I understand, the cost of a Category 2 Academy ranges from £1 to £ 2 million per year, allowing the club to attract 12-to 18-year-olds within a 60- to 90-minute travel radius.

A Category 1 Academy reportedly costs £2-3m (an additional £1m) and enables the club to attract 12-18 year olds from all over the country.

In the past, I would have said stick with Cat2, but we now have BBM, a proven coach at Academy Cat 1 elite level and someone who, at Cat 2 level, is turning some of the youngsters into £5-10m players. I include Dylan Lawlor, Ronan Kpakio and the Colwill brothers in this category.

If we had a Category 1 and we could attract decent youngsters from all over the country, I wonder how many of these kids we could give a first team debut to and eventually use it as a bit of a "Money Train"

For the sake of an extra £1m spent, it is feasible to think we could turn that into £5m each season.

The problem is it's not something that can be done overnight.

It can take years to upgrade to Cat 1.

Not just the amount of money spent but also the number of coaches and all sorts of other things.

The problem is it's not something that can be done overnight.

It can take years to upgrade to Cat 1.

Not just the amount of money spent but also the number of coaches and all sorts of other things.

There are as many staff in an academy as in the main club in fact its a mirror image took a look awhile ago ..... costs are £3m+ only trouble is it doesn't stop big clubs taking youngsters thanks to the rules negotiated by EFL .... judging by level of youngsters coming in behind present bunch it looks as if our new academy is attracting cat 1 level talent... do we need level 1 cat is the question.

The problem is it's not something that can be done overnight.

It can take years to upgrade to Cat 1.

Not just the amount of money spent but also the number of coaches and all sorts of other things.

Ned, we had it but threw it away, and it has taken years to get to the recruiting levels we want to reach, in order to see our club move forward in the way we l, as supporters, would love to see; even seeing our own locals take the horrific step of travelling down the M4 West for their opportunity

BBM has shown us, as did Sunderland last year, what can be done with a proper ‘youth’ strategy, so it makes sense that a return to Cat.1 would only enhance the route we are now taking

All those opinions are valid BUT in todays "money, money, money" world.

We find em, we train them - big money comes in and poaches them for peanuts - that's just the way it is these days.

The answer ?

And I consider myself a "glass half full" sort of fella .

From what I understand, the cost of a Category 2 Academy ranges from £1 to £ 2 million per year, allowing the club to attract 12-to 18-year-olds within a 60- to 90-minute travel radius.

A Category 1 Academy reportedly costs £2-3m (an additional £1m) and enables the club to attract 12-18 year olds from all over the country.

In the past, I would have said stick with Cat2, but we now have BBM, a proven coach at Academy Cat 1 elite level and someone who, at Cat 2 level, is turning some of the youngsters into £5-10m players. I include Dylan Lawlor, Ronan Kpakio and the Colwill brothers in this category.

If we had a Category 1 and we could attract decent youngsters from all over the country, I wonder how many of these kids we could give a first team debut to and eventually use it as a bit of a "Money Train"

For the sake of an extra £1m spent, it is feasible to think we could turn that into £5m each season.

Obviously you would only have to unearth a couple of top class footballers to cover costs mentioned. However by recruiting locally surely that would bring more passion as in ‘he’s one of our own’

I do agree and definately think we should recruit locally - and we are already doing that as a Cat2 - but we risk losing the best local talent to Cat1 academies.

So go Cat1 - Seek local talent (by all means) - But then also seek to get some of the better kids as well, outside of the 90min travel zone (Like we did with Cameron Jerome from Middlesbrough youth)