Inside Manchester United's scheme to support academy players who do not make the grade - The Telegraph

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Thought this deserved a thread. Seems like a great initiative.

Link to article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/11/20/manchester-united-academy-player-new-support-system/

Some highlights:
* Man Utd launching Alumni programme to improve support available to academy graduates.
* Been in planning for 18 months.
* Trying to make it network, formalizing it to make sure everyone is included, 4 meetings a year, launching in January
* The Premier League issued new guidance this season stating all club academies should provide a three-year “aftercare plan” for every player that is let go between the Under-17 and Under-21 age ranges.
* United hope to assist players looking for clubs or working their way back from injuries as well as those seeking career advice and opportunities or in need of welfare or general support.
* As a starting point, Cox said they would be contacting players who had left the club since 2012, when the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan was introduced, and were who were either registered over the age of 15 or had been in the academy for five years or more. But he was clear that players who reached out who fell outside that cohort would not be turned away.


The Athletic have been running a series of articles in the past about issues with leaving academies and not making the grade:
* “It’s quite sad because there is no real support network,. A lot of lads can go astray.” - Devonte Redmond (the Athletic)
* Charlie Scott on depression after being released by United - (the Athletic)
* and the cases of suicides from young players after being released by different clubs. (the Athletic)
* There are more case studies of players after leaving clubs in the Telegraph article linked above.
 
If you don't make it at United you should be tarred and feathered, how dare you not be good enough
 
Finally. For most aspiring professional footballers, being released is like falling into the abyss. Depression and financial struggle are almost inevitable; it's extremely important for rejected trainees to quickly find new purpose and develop new skills if a pro career becomes unattainable.
 
This is a very commendable initiative and I hope the rest of the league follows suit. Too often when players don't make it at their club, they end up drifting around the lower leagues for a few years while slowly descending into alcoholism and running a bouncy castle business to make ends meet. It's well past time to give them the support system they deserve.
 
HookedOnAPhelan said:
Academy Players Who Do Not Make The Grade FC
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No! Stop it! You can’t do that, you’ll make @TheReligion cringe again! :p

Anyway, I was reading an article about this programme and Tom Thorpe on the BBC. It’s an excellent initiative, great that the club have been proactive in this regard and they deserve high praise for this. Well done United!
 
I like the fact it will go back & contact players from as far back as 2012. All good looking towards the future but if the club has the ability to make changes from the past that’s good too.
 
I don’t know if this is part of the programme, but over the international break, utd have held training sessions for ex academy players think it’s a great thing tbh.
 
PeteRae said:
I don’t know if this is part of the programme, but over the international break, utd have held training sessions for ex academy players think it’s a great thing tbh.
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But but what does Fletcher do? I am sure that as the person who oversees transitions that he would be heavily involved in the design and implementation of these schemes
 
Plant0x84 said:
No! Stop it! You can’t do that, you’ll make @TheReligion cringe again! :p

Anyway, I was reading an article about this programme and Tom Thorpe on the BBC. It’s an excellent initiative, great that the club have been proactive in this regard and they deserve high praise for this. Well done United!
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:lol:
 
golden_blunder said:
But but what does Fletcher do? I am sure that as the person who oversees transitions that he would be heavily involved in the design and implementation of these schemes
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That's a devilish use of sarcasm.:nono:
 
Saw this earlier and thought it was a nice touch. I then thought, no doubt someone will complain about this on the caf so I've likely spent too much time on here!
 
golden_blunder said:
But but what does Fletcher do? I am sure that as the person who oversees transitions that he would be heavily involved in the design and implementation of these schemes
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I have it on good authority that he gets everyone's tea wrong before making a mess of negotiations with Ratcliffe. He's also trying to weasel his way into this scheme by claiming that, as an academy player, he is due aftercare in the form of a promotion with a huge pay bump!
 
PeteRae said:
I don’t know if this is part of the programme, but over the international break, utd have held training sessions for ex academy players think it’s a great thing tbh.
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Yeah, that's the soft launch of this programme. Tom Thorpe, Callum Gribbin, Ro-Shaun Williams, Matthew Olosunde, Eric Hanbury and Oli Kilner were all there. They attended a 'week-long series of activities.'
 
horsechoker said:
If you don't make it at United you should be tarred and feathered, how dare you not be good enough
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I’m sure if some of these players had played a few more games for us and failed they’d have been told to not let the door hit them on the way out.

Lovely initiative by the club. Brilliant idea.
 
I think i read before that if your in academy from 8 yrs old to 18 at this elite level, it would cost a couple hundred grand, in saying that probably most wont make it, so its a more a loss unless you get a class of 92, or a few others that make you a few pound.
 
galwayfa said:
I think i read before that if your in academy from 8 yrs old to 18 at this elite level, it would cost a couple hundred grand, in saying that probably most wont make it, so its a more a loss unless you get a class of 92, or a few others that make you a few pound.
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I've read that the academy actually makes money due to selling players. It's self-sufficient in that sense.
 
Didn't SAF do some of this, I seem to recall he used to follow up with young players he let go to see how they were doing and so on, given the high failure rate at every clubs acadamies I'm surprised something like this hasn't been in place everywhere for years
 
Ballache said:
I've read that the academy actually makes money due to selling players. It's self-sufficient in that sense.

Chong made us a Million euro, probaly at least 26 on squad, he plays for luton, can you , what was last player that came through
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Red in STL said:
Didn't SAF do some of this, I seem to recall he used to follow up with young players he let go to see how they were doing and so on, given the high failure rate at every clubs acadamies I'm surprised something like this hasn't been in place everywhere for years
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It has been, this is just a more formal and structured programme but the general idea has been in place for years, at many clubs.

United has always left the door open for any former players to use facilities, talk with counsellors and offered guidance.

This isnt really anything new, it’s just more of the same but with more structure and more direct outreach to the players rather than just leaving it open to the players.
 
We're so good at this we give 35 year old ex-youths contracts and game-time.
 
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