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Youth Football Expert disagrees with vast academy recruitment process at big clubs
We’re delighted to welcome the founder of Kinetic Academy Harry Hudson as our exclusive columnist. Each week the youth football expert will be giving his views on the biggest talking points on wonderkids across the UK…
The recent surge in demand for young, homegrown talent has seen youth football across the British Isles become a minefield of movement.
The biggest clubs across England and Scotland look to overwhelm their youth sides at all levels with a swarm of talent but only a small fraction of them will ever make it towards senior football at a professional level.
Rangers have been one of the biggest movers in the transfer market in terms of signing teenagers for the future with no less than eight new arrivals destined to play for the B Team in the Lowland League.
Kinetic Academy founder Harry Hudson is not pleased with the way some clubs go about their business in dealing with young players and insists that it is also prominent in London, where he is based.
“I do personally have a bit of a bugbear with the amount of players some clubs are allowed to sign,” Hudson said exclusively to The Football Wonderkids. “Especially in the younger ages groups like at the foundation stage.
“It happens at any club and it’s particularly prevalent in London that there will be 23 or 24 signed players at an age group when you’re only playing seven-a-side and even if you have two games back-to-back it is still not the best thing to have loads and loads of subs.
“I know there are caps to the amount of scholars that can be handed out before they go on to become pros so I think clubs should only commit to the number of players they think they can really develop and give game time to.
“Sometimes those numbers are over-inflated and some of the people in an age group will only be there as facilitators or training players to make sure the other players have the best training sessions or if they go up and age group, their backs are covered.
“It happens a lot at B team and Under-23 level where players are only signed as fillers who will never play first-team football but the B team might need someone in his position.”
Kinetic saw their 62nd graduate from the foundation recently as Reading signed midfielder Josh Green on a one-year deal with an option to extend that to two.
In other Kinetic Academy news, read what Hudson thought about teenager Green and why he could be a very good signing for the Royals in the long run.