Sunderland’s bold standard and EFL’s search for ‘utopia’
Sunderland’s promotion to the Premier League this summer was spectacular on multiple levels.
Regis Le Bris, a head coach in his first season in English football, debunked the myth that it takes a long time to acclimatise to working in the cut and thrust of the Championship.
A team that just returned to the second tier in 2022, with no parachute payments to increase spending on transfer fees and wages. But it was all supported by a very young squad – their average starting age was 23 years and 316 days, the youngest in the division – with academy graduates creating a steady core.
Goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, midfielders Chris Rigg and Dan Neil all made 40 or more league games, while forward Tommy Watson scored the winning goal in the play-off final after Brighton & Hove Albion negotiated a £10 million deal to recruit him.
The foursome has helped establish a pattern that the English Football League (EFL) hopes other clubs will follow, or at least take note of as a proof of concept.
“There were a lot of clubs getting into the play-offs and being promoted that were the epitome of youth development,” remarked the EFL’s head of youth development, Darren Wassall, at the conclusion of the EFL’s Youth Development Week.
“You need to dispel the misconception that if you play experienced players, you’re promised promotion or a trophy. Now, more than ever, developing your own players should be an important aspect of your strategy.”
Wassall was appointed in 2023 after previously serving as Derby’s youth manager, where he shaped the early careers of Liam Delap, Leeds defender Jayden Bogle, Jason Knight and Max Bird, both of whom now play for Bristol City, and Crystal Palace midfielder Will Hughes.
His responsibility is broad, but he is primarily responsible for leading a group of 12 regional managers that assist clubs in adhering to the requirements and criteria outlined in the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) for general academy management.
It’s all part of a larger effort to foster a culture of investing in kid development, not just in the early stages, but all the way up to the senior level.
Bristol City finished in the play-offs for the first time since 2008, with Bath schoolmates Max O’Leary and Zak Vyner playing every minute of every match as part of a team partially supported by the sales of academy graduates Lloyd Kelly, Antoine Semenyo, and Alex Scott to Bournemouth.
Sydie Peck began his career with Arsenal, but he proceeded through the Sheffield United academy from the age of 17 to create the foundation of their midfield, which would have included Ollie Arblaster if not for injuries. Andre Brooks and Femi Seriki were also key players for the Blades.
Rubin Colwill, Ronan Kpakio, and Dylan Lawlor, all academy graduates, have spearheaded Cardiff City’s rehabilitation and comeback in League One this season.
Currently, the league average is one academy player per game across 46 matches each gameweek. Wassall hopes that number may be doubled – “utopia, from a youth development point of view”.
“There are clubs that are really doing it well and there are other clubs that we think can improve,” Wassall explained. “Our main difficulty is to get the message out to everyone – what’s the sense of investing in youth development if you don’t use it?
“It’s easier said than done, and we know that if it was that easy everybody would be playing five or six academy graduates every week – but we just know it’s possible.”
While the concept of having a steady stream of homegrown talent and providing clubs a feeling of local identity sounds simple in theory, in practice, considering the demands on EFL managers (the average shelf life in the Championship is slightly more than a year), it is much more challenging.
How and why can a manager under constant pressure to deliver immediate results have the tolerance to tolerate youth’s inconsistencies?
Sunderland may set the standard for others to follow, but they are one of 29 teams in the top four divisions of English football whose academies have been graded ‘Cat 1’, which is a measure of the work done but also necessitates significant investment in personnel and facilities.
Running an academy is expensive – total annual expenditure across the EFL’s three divisions is over £150 million – especially with clubs throughout the pyramid suffering significant losses.
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