Ninety-seven per cent of the former elite academy players now aged 21 to 26 years old failed to make a single Premier League appearance, official statistics reveal.
Figures released to i by the Premier League uncover the stark reality for Premier League hopefuls who join clubs aged as young as eight years old and can, in some cases, spend more than a decade dedicating their life to a team before being released.
The analysis — of players born from 1 September 1995 to 31 August 2000 — includes 4,109 players who were registered at Category One academies. Category One status is awarded to the top-tier academies that represent almost the entirety of the Premier League — including the Big Six of Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United — and several clubs in the Championship.
Of the 4,109 former academy footballers, 70 per cent were not even handed a professional contract at a Premier League or English Football League club. And only one in 10 has gone on to make more than 20 league appearances in the top four tiers of English football.
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Players have shared experiences of depression and anxiety — some who still live with the effects to this day — suicidal thoughts and attempts on their own life.
Former Manchester City academy player Jeremy Wisten took his own life in 2020 after being released by the club and an inquest last November was told that Wisten did not believe he received the “right support” from the Premier League side after leaving.
The new figures reveal that of the cohort born between 1995 and 2000, fewer than half received a scholarship deal at a Premier League or EFL club, the contracts usually awarded at 16 years old when a player leaves education to train and play full-time.
Former Fulham academy footballer Max Noble, who first revealed his experiences at the west London academy to i, called and is campaigning for a suitable aftercare system to be established in order to protect and support released academy players.
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A growing number of figures, however, do not believe the EPPP is fit for purpose and that it has turned academies into money-making machines that manipulate the lives of children and teenagers for financial gain.
Last year, ITV News surveyed more than 100 footballers released from professional clubs and almost three-quarters did not believe they were given adequate support despite almost 90 per cent reporting having experienced anxiety and depression since being let go.
This week, 18 former academy players revealed their individual struggles after being released. One said: “I was honestly thinking if I jumped now it’d be less pain than I’m feeling now.”
There are a few standalone examples of better success rates. Of the 16-year-olds who played for elite academies from 2017 to 2019, almost four in five received a professional contract or had their contract extended. And almost three-quarters of the 2019/20 academy Under 18s were handed a professional deal or an extension.
Asked this week what improvements had been made to better support released academy players, a Football Association spokesperson said: “The professional leagues and their clubs are primarily responsible for the development and wellbeing of players who are active in the elite academy system, and bespoke regulations are employed throughout.
“They also provide a wide variety of support services to both scholars and former youth players who are no longer involved in the game alongside the Professional Footballers’ Association. We work closely with all of these stakeholders as the governing body of English football to ensure that the highest possible standards are upheld and the welfare of both current and former players is prioritised.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3zx9Gs8
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