Youth Set Up.

[culmstockgull]

Firstly do we still have one , heard lots in recent months on the rise to prominence of the woman's setup and the amount of support the club is giving them but nothing about about our youngsters, I ask ,because today Exeter announced 11 new prospects for their full time under 18's academy, 5 are either from the bay or newton abbot. I have yet to do the same exercise with the plymouth under 18's but logic dictates they are taking our brightest as well.
As a club we must have one if not he worst records of converting youth to first team players, part of that I realise is that league acadmies have got in first to recognise talent, where we seemingly lack that ability, the odd one that does get signed on a pro contract has more to do with it looking negative if we signed no one than they have the ability to make the first team,and the very rare one we do sign usually ends up in the southern league after a season. Local parents who suspects their child may have the ability to make it to the pro game would logically be pushing them towards any youth set rather than ours.
For a club like ours finding the money to fund a decent first team is a struggle and youth set ups are not cheap but we only have to get it right once with a young player, I understand the contribution Watkins has made to the financial stability of Exeter currently stands at the 3.5 million mark with more to come dependant on england appearances.That amount alone would fund over three seasons of our first team wages.

[thebigp1]

In answer to the question yes we have one, however in all honesty it's not fit for purpose in terms of producing players for the professional game. It may produce players that can go into semi-professional level at best. Any talented youngster in Devon will be snapped up by Plymouth or Exeter who run proper academies. If the club ever wants to be a serious football league side it needs ripping up and starting again.

[Taelee73]

Torquay United have coaches that come in at lunchtimes at the school I work, I talked briefly to one of them ( a former player) and he thinks it’ll be this time next year that everything will be in place for it to start working for us and not for Exeter City etc. He gets frustrated that Torquay begin the process and then other teams carry it on and benefit.

It’s such a high priority, as the money City make from selling players is considerable.

[MoxGull2502]

Very frustrating indeed we are miles away from our once Devon rivals in every aspect.

[thebigp1]

Torquay United have coaches that come in at lunchtimes at the school I work, I talked briefly to one of them ( a former player) and he thinks it’ll be this time next year that everything will be in place for it to start working for us and not for Exeter City etc. He gets frustrated that Torquay begin the process and then other teams carry it on and benefit.

It’s such a high priority, as the money City make from selling players is considerable.

I don't want to be too pessimistic but the idea that in a years time we will start to be challenging Plymouth and Exeter is not realistic. Both have invested significantly in their academies facilities in recent years and are miles ahead of us. We dont even have a proper training ground.

[happytorq]

In answer to the question yes we have one, however in all honesty it's not fit for purpose in terms of producing players for the professional game. It may produce players that can go into semi-professional level at best. Any talented youngster in Devon will be snapped up by Plymouth or Exeter who run proper academies. If the club ever wants to be a serious football league side it needs ripping up and starting again.

My understanding of how the the academy and youth set ups work is that you need to be in the football league to be given funding to help. Ours closed when were relegated from the EFL (I think the first time?) and that's when Plymouth, and particularly Exeter were able to step in. We never really had the best record of producing players in any case, but what Exeter have shown is that there are a preferred location for young players looking to break into the professional game. We are simply not able to compete with the promise of "hey kid, you could be the next Ollie Watkins".

I'd argue that it's getting back to the football league that will allow us to restart the academny set up and then produce players suited to the professional game. We all want to have 11 lads playing for us wgho have come through the ranks and then for that team to piss the division, but the way things are in the football pyramid mean that it's simply not feasible.

it's all very well to say "It’s such a high priority, as the money City make from selling players is considerable." but you also have to be aware of the investment that they have put into that set up. We do not have that money. It may well be that investment in the youth is something the board would like to do, but it's been clear from the start that the primary intentions are to make the club sustainable, and to challenge for promotion back to the EFL. If we can do that, I expect a 'proper' academy could eventually follow. If we were to throw money at it now (which we don't have, as everybody knows) you wouldn't start seeing results for at least 5 years, and the club doesn't have the revenue to support right now - which circles back to "make the club sustainable"

[culmstockgull]

My understanding of how the the academy and youth set ups work is that you need to be in the football league to be given funding to help. Ours closed when were relegated from the EFL (I think the first time?) and that's when Plymouth, and particularly Exeter were able to step in. We never really had the best record of producing players in any case, but what Exeter have shown is that there are a preferred location for young players looking to break into the professional game. We are simply not able to compete with the promise of "hey kid, you could be the next Ollie Watkins".

I'd argue that it's getting back to the football league that will allow us to restart the academny set up and then produce players suited to the professional game. We all want to have 11 lads playing for us wgho have come through the ranks and then for that team to piss the division, but the way things are in the football pyramid mean that it's simply not feasible.

it's all very well to say "It’s such a high priority, as the money City make from selling players is considerable." but you also have to be aware of the investment that they have put into that set up. We do not have that money. It may well be that investment in the youth is something the board would like to do, but it's been clear from the start that the primary intentions are to make the club sustainable, and to challenge for promotion back to the EFL. If we can do that, I expect a 'proper' academy could eventually follow. If we were to throw money at it now (which we don't have, as everybody knows) you wouldn't start seeing results for at least 5 years, and the club doesn't have the revenue to support right now - which circles back to "make the club sustainable"

Can we ever be truly sustainable and get the success we all wish, I think that is a tall order, even with larger crowds, selling extra beer and a few more pies and increasing season ticket prices or having twenty different coloured shirts in the club shop will never leverage the additional finance that is required, if as suggested borehamwood had double our budget that gained them promotion and argueably requiring the doubling of that figure again to get promotion to the league no increased crowds or pie sales will meet that shortfall. I like the way the club is going but we seem to increase the back office quicker than we acquire players, we now have a part time CEO and a managing director all costing good money which detracts from wotton's budget.

[leetufc]

Longer term it would be great to have an academy - but competing with clubs like Exeter and Plymouth on our doorstep when they are so far ahead in terms of establishment means this is probably a long way off. Most young players will look at Exeter as a better option - clear success of turning players into first teamers or opportunities to be sold on.

Short to medium term we need to be scouting players released by academies to find the ones that have been missed - Dreyer, and potentially Carson, are good examples of this.

I would also like to see us build closer links with local clubs to get young players on loan.

[happytorq]

Can we ever be truly sustainable and get the success we all wish, I think that is a tall order, even with larger crowds, selling extra beer and a few more pies and increasing season ticket prices or having twenty different coloured shirts in the club shop will never leverage the additional finance that is required, if as suggested borehamwood had double our budget that gained them promotion and argueably requiring the doubling of that figure again to get promotion to the league no increased crowds or pie sales will meet that shortfall. I like the way the club is going but we seem to increase the back office quicker than we acquire players, we now have a part time CEO and a managing director all costing good money which detracts from wotton's budget.

It's an excellent and valid question. at its heart must surely a be a definition of what 'sustainable' actually means. Clearly we can't afford to be in the position whereby we're losing a million plus quid a year. But I think with the increased commercial revenues, bigger crowd etc, it's feasible for us to get to a point where our annual losses are X amount. Whatever X is, could eventually be covered by a membership fund similar to what Exeter do. Without knowing figures around playing budget, etc, it's hard to say, but I've said for some time that I could see a trust membership bringing in 250k a year (back of the envelope maths of ten quid a month, and a thousand members). Obviously we're not there yet, but in my mind that makes sense as a long term goal.

I'm not aware of how much the part-time CEO and managing director are taking - if anything - so those are good questions to ask. A really good front office team should bring in more than they cost, of course, but as the club is partially fan owned we have a right to know, I feel.

[Pslo]

It feels like the missing piece isn’t just an academy or more pies sold ===> it’s a model that multiplies value over time. Exeter didn’t just get lucky with Watkins; they invested, they structured properly, and they were patient. And now they’re reaping the rewards both financially and on the pitch.