" Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Thu May 17, 2012 12:49 pm
' Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite '
May 17 2012
CARDIFF City will know in July if their bid to take a place alongside Premier League academies has succeeded.
Staff have been working for several months on their bid to ensure the Cardiff City Youth Academy is able to step up their work again in 2012-13 and stay among the best clubs.
Youth development in Britain has been reviewed and a new strategy means each academy will be categorised at one of four levels.
Malky Mackay is excited by the quality of talent being developed by academy manager Neal Ardley and his coaching staff.
Joe Ralls broke through last season, Theo Wharton made his first team debut in the FA Cup at West Brom, while Tommy O’Sullivan is another young player with rich potential.
Jaye Bowen, the son of former Bluebirds player Jason, and goalkeeper Liam Matthews, cousin of Wales international Adam, are also among the talented young players in the City Academy.
Chief executive Alan Whiteley and club directors are right behind the academy and he says: “It is critical to the club’s future. We must do everything possible to ensure the most talented young players in our area and Wales know their development will be assured with Cardiff City.
“The last thing we want is potential Gareth Bales to move away. We want them growing up in our academy.
“It’s not always possible to hang on to talent, but certainly we want to get into a position where young players know they have the best opportunity to play for the first team.”
City manager Mackay has made it clear he wants a clear pathway from under-nines through to the first team that young players can see and identify with.
He showed last season by introducing Ralls, Wharton and more that, if a young player is good enough, he will be given a chance to show it at first team level.
A new nationwide strategy means each academy will be categorised one, two, three or four – and City are pressing for the second level along with many of the Premier League clubs.
“We have to raise our game to make category two status and all plans are in place for that,” says former Bluebirds player Ardley, now in charge of City’s future stars.
“The top level is virtually a boarding school for young footballers and that’s tough, but we believe we can make the grade at category two.
“It’s a step up and extra funding will be needed. One or two more staff are needed with more coaching hours, but we believe we have the right facilities.
“A lot of hard work was put in by a lot of people and there were a thousand and more questions to be answered in making sure we were ready for the category two application.
“We have worked closely with the club directors on this. Our job is to make sure we are able to keep our best young players and they won’t want to leave Cardiff. The biggest clubs are going to become more aggressive and we are likely to have Liverpool, Manchester United or others scouting our players.
“We have super talented players like Tommy O’Sullivan, Theo Wharton, Declan John and more coming through. When we look down the age groups we are getting better and better.
“Where we used to just compete with the bigger Premier League clubs now, at under-nine, under-10 and under-11 we are beating them. In the older age groups, too, we feel we can match and sometimes beat the best opposition.
“It’s not about one team coming through the age groups. There are players of genuine quality in every age group.”
The new system means Cardiff City’s young professionals will step up their work in education, working with full-time teachers within the football club, and there will be more coaching.
Cardiff City’s Academy now have new facilities, including pitches and a dedicated building for analysis, gymnasium work and education.
Next season, the Bluebirds will again have teams playing from the youngest age groups through to under-18 and an under-21 development squad will compete in a new nationwide league.
There were 24 full-time City apprentices in the season just ended, while there are around 130 players throughout the Academy.
City have 27 regional scouts working around Wales, while eight development centres underpin the academy, providing a safety net for players who perhaps don’t initially make the grade. They can work within a development centre and are able to go back up.
Among the coaches in charge of nurturing the young talent are ex-Bluebirds Jason Fowler and goalkeeper Lee Kendall, while Kevin Cooper is leading the Malaysia1CardiffCity grassroots project in the Far East. All the work on ensuring Cardiff City have a category two academy from next season has been done and the plans are in.
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... z1v89e53qt
May 17 2012
CARDIFF City will know in July if their bid to take a place alongside Premier League academies has succeeded.
Staff have been working for several months on their bid to ensure the Cardiff City Youth Academy is able to step up their work again in 2012-13 and stay among the best clubs.
Youth development in Britain has been reviewed and a new strategy means each academy will be categorised at one of four levels.
Malky Mackay is excited by the quality of talent being developed by academy manager Neal Ardley and his coaching staff.
Joe Ralls broke through last season, Theo Wharton made his first team debut in the FA Cup at West Brom, while Tommy O’Sullivan is another young player with rich potential.
Jaye Bowen, the son of former Bluebirds player Jason, and goalkeeper Liam Matthews, cousin of Wales international Adam, are also among the talented young players in the City Academy.
Chief executive Alan Whiteley and club directors are right behind the academy and he says: “It is critical to the club’s future. We must do everything possible to ensure the most talented young players in our area and Wales know their development will be assured with Cardiff City.
“The last thing we want is potential Gareth Bales to move away. We want them growing up in our academy.
“It’s not always possible to hang on to talent, but certainly we want to get into a position where young players know they have the best opportunity to play for the first team.”
City manager Mackay has made it clear he wants a clear pathway from under-nines through to the first team that young players can see and identify with.
He showed last season by introducing Ralls, Wharton and more that, if a young player is good enough, he will be given a chance to show it at first team level.
A new nationwide strategy means each academy will be categorised one, two, three or four – and City are pressing for the second level along with many of the Premier League clubs.
“We have to raise our game to make category two status and all plans are in place for that,” says former Bluebirds player Ardley, now in charge of City’s future stars.
“The top level is virtually a boarding school for young footballers and that’s tough, but we believe we can make the grade at category two.
“It’s a step up and extra funding will be needed. One or two more staff are needed with more coaching hours, but we believe we have the right facilities.
“A lot of hard work was put in by a lot of people and there were a thousand and more questions to be answered in making sure we were ready for the category two application.
“We have worked closely with the club directors on this. Our job is to make sure we are able to keep our best young players and they won’t want to leave Cardiff. The biggest clubs are going to become more aggressive and we are likely to have Liverpool, Manchester United or others scouting our players.
“We have super talented players like Tommy O’Sullivan, Theo Wharton, Declan John and more coming through. When we look down the age groups we are getting better and better.
“Where we used to just compete with the bigger Premier League clubs now, at under-nine, under-10 and under-11 we are beating them. In the older age groups, too, we feel we can match and sometimes beat the best opposition.
“It’s not about one team coming through the age groups. There are players of genuine quality in every age group.”
The new system means Cardiff City’s young professionals will step up their work in education, working with full-time teachers within the football club, and there will be more coaching.
Cardiff City’s Academy now have new facilities, including pitches and a dedicated building for analysis, gymnasium work and education.
Next season, the Bluebirds will again have teams playing from the youngest age groups through to under-18 and an under-21 development squad will compete in a new nationwide league.
There were 24 full-time City apprentices in the season just ended, while there are around 130 players throughout the Academy.
City have 27 regional scouts working around Wales, while eight development centres underpin the academy, providing a safety net for players who perhaps don’t initially make the grade. They can work within a development centre and are able to go back up.
Among the coaches in charge of nurturing the young talent are ex-Bluebirds Jason Fowler and goalkeeper Lee Kendall, while Kevin Cooper is leading the Malaysia1CardiffCity grassroots project in the Far East. All the work on ensuring Cardiff City have a category two academy from next season has been done and the plans are in.
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... z1v89e53qt
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Thu May 17, 2012 5:05 pm
Great news! Does anybody know if it has been mentioned that we are looking to eventually move up to tier 1 status? No matter what happens to us in the next few years, having the best academy that we can will be a vital part of our success.
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Thu May 17, 2012 6:08 pm
Just got a part time job with the academy. 
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Thu May 17, 2012 7:29 pm
birchblue wrote:Just got a part time job with the academy.
Good luck with the new job, is it on the coaching side or in the office?
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Thu May 17, 2012 9:05 pm
Yes this is great news.
My lad is in the Cardiff EPPP it is a fantastic opportunity for a the boys, this new programme will increase the chance of any of the boys making the grade.
There are good people work for the club striving to bring through the next generation of Cardiff City stars long term this has to be good for our club.
My lad is in the Cardiff EPPP it is a fantastic opportunity for a the boys, this new programme will increase the chance of any of the boys making the grade.
There are good people work for the club striving to bring through the next generation of Cardiff City stars long term this has to be good for our club.
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Fri May 18, 2012 9:30 am
This is the future for the Club and is probably the most vital area for any investment that takes place
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Fri May 18, 2012 11:20 am
Lazy reporting again from the Echo ,
Re: " Cardiff City bid for place among Youth Academy elite "
Fri May 18, 2012 7:33 pm
Daya wrote:Lazy reporting again from the Echo ,
But great news for our club.