Academy
In 1996, the directors of Birmingham City dismantled their youth development system in the belief, according to manager Barry Fry, that the Bosman ruling meant "they may invest a substantial sum in producing a player who was then picked off, without cost, by a rival club", and the £250,000 annual saving would be better spent bringing in players from outside. Fry's successor as manager, Trevor Francis, insisted that the system should be reinstated and brought in Brian Eastick to oversee the process; by 1999 the club had met the Football Association's criteria and received a licence to operate an Academy.
Since the youth system was re-established, a number of players have graduated to careers in League football at Birmingham or elsewhere, some examples being Darren Carter, Craig Fagan, Andrew Johnson, Marcos Painter and Mat Sadler. Academy products who have represented their country include Colin Doyle (Republic of Ireland), David Howland (Northern Ireland U-21), Sone Aluko (England U-19), Krystian Pearce (2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup with England U-17), and Aaron Moses-Garvey, whose St Kitts and Nevis U-20 side reached the final qualifying round for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and who made his full international debut in February 2008. In the 2009–10 season, goalkeeper Jack Butland was part of the England under-17 team that won the 2010 European championships, and Will Packwood played for the USA at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Terry Westley was appointed Academy manager in 2006. In his first season, he presided over the under-18 side reaching the quarter final of the FA Youth Cup, and two years later they reached the semifinal of the same competition. After completing a report to the club's board of directors, which contained recommendations needed to "push to the next level", Westley left the club by mutual consent in February 2011. He was succeeded by his assistant Kristjaan Speakman on a caretaker basis.
Under the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan, Birmingham's Academy was assessed as category 2 (of 4)>
The Academy teams play their matches at the club's training ground, Wast Hills, at Kings Norton, south Birmingham.
Read more about this topic: Birmingham City F.C. Reserves And Academy
Famous quotes containing the word academy:
“I realized early on that the academy and the literary world alike—and I don’t think there really is a distinction between the two—are always dominated by fools, knaves, charlatans and bureaucrats. And that being the case, any human being, male or female, of whatever status, who has a voice of her or his own, is not going to be liked.”
—Harold Bloom (b. 1930)
“When the State wishes to endow an academy or university, it grants it a tract of forest land: one saw represents an academy, a gang, a university.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)