Highlights
- Football academies have lost significance in recent years but have still produced some of the biggest talents in English football.
- Several academy coaches, such as John McDermott, Jim Cassell, and Matt Crocker, have played a crucial role in developing future footballing icons for Premier League clubs.
- Meanwhile, the likes of Liverpool, Leeds, Southampton, Manchester City and Manchester United have all produced a golden era of young players.
Make no mistake about it, football academies have struggled to maintain the same significance for Premier League clubs that they enjoyed when the modern incarnation of the English top flight came into being in 1992. Nowadays, it’s much easier and safer for a manager to spend tens of millions on a new signing who has already established himself in a foreign league, rather than attempting to blood in a youngster from his own club’s youth system.
We may balk at that notion but the truth is that we’ve all become acclimatized to it. The association between net spend and progress has become so entrenched that most fans would instantly call for the sacking axe if their club’s manager revealed that instead of spending £100m in the next transfer window he’d instead integrate five teenagers from the development squad into his starting XI.
But once upon a time, opportunities for youth prospects was commonplace throughout Premier League football and although it isn’t quite so prevalent these days, when it does happen it feels particularly special. And while the managers usually get the credit for being brave, giving youth a chance and developing potential into superstardom when faith in a promising youngster pays off, the fact of the matter is that someone else has already done the hard yards in giving that talent every chance to succeed by nurturing them through the academy process.
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final success in February 2024 was a testatement to the incredible work done behind-the-scenes in bringing through that young talent, with the Reds finishing the game with four players who had played some part in their academy system. The likes of Bobby Clark, James McConnell, Jayden Danns and Jarrell Quansah were all brought on by Jurgen Klopp at Wembley Stadium, and were in no small part responsible for their cup triumph.
So, which youth team coaches have the best track record of developing future footballing icons? Who are the unsung heroes that discovered and developed the Premier League’s greatest home-grown entities? Who do the likes of Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Klopp have to thank for the future superstars handed on a plate to them?
GIVEMESPORT takes a look at the 10 most important academy coaches in the history of the Premier League.
10 John McDermott – Tottenham (2005-2020)
John McDermott spent 15 years in the youth setup at Tottenham so any player to emerge from the academy system during that time no doubt crossed his path at one point or another. Perhaps the slightly more surprising thing though, is that only a handful have gone on to really establish themselves at Premier League level, let alone at the very top of the game – the only shining example in that regard being Harry Kane.
Outside of the England skipper, McDermott can claim ownership over the development of Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend, Jake Livermore, Steven Caulker, Kyle Walker-Peters, Oliver Skipp, Harry Winks, Japhet Tanganga, Josh Onomah, and Marcus Edwards while the likes of Stephen Kelly, Adam Smith and Ryan Fredericks have enjoyed decent Premier League careers elsewhere.
But none have particularly set the world alight when compared to some of the other names that will go on to feature in this list.
9 Jim Cassell – Man City (1997-2013)
Manchester City may be better known these days for spending fortunes to bring in the best players in the world, but there was a time when they heavily relied on home-grown talent to improve the first team squad. That was supplied by Jim Cassell, a former chief scout at Oldham Athletic who was brought in to develop the Citizens’ academy in 1997.
City would reap the rewards in the subsequent decade, when they enjoyed a real purple patch of developing first-team talent. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Joey Barton, Stephen Ireland and Micah Richards were all crucial members of the starting XI at various times, with the latter even playing a role in City’s ever Premier League title win under Roberto Mancini.
Michael Johnson at one time appeared to be a future superstar in the making, while Daniel Sturridge was an academy graduate who went on to make a name for himself with Chelsea and Liverpool. Other players who enjoyed decent Premier League careers after progressing under Cassell include: Tyrone Mears, Nedum Onuoha, Ishmael Miller, Dickson Etuhu, Kasper Schmeichel, Ben Mee, Kieran Trippier and Glenn Whelan.
8 Matt Crocker – Southampton (2006-2013)
Southampton have a reputation for being one of the best developers of young talent in British football, whether that’s working with their own academy players or youngsters from other clubs imported in at an early age. There was a time when virtually every top Premier League club made St. Mary’s their first port of call when looking to recruit, and over the years their best players have been snapped up by Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United on more than one occasion.
As far as their own talent goes, Southampton proved to be a particularly vibrant breeding ground between 2006 and 2013, when Matt Crocker ran the academy. During that time, some of the players to have broken through into the first-team include Gareth Bale, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Ward-Prowse, Jack Stephens, Luke Shaw, Callum Chambers and Harrison Reed, while Matt Targett did so shortly after Crocker’s departure.
Crediting Crocker with Bale and Lallana’s development is perhaps a little generous considering he arrived around the same time as them making their first-team debuts. Nonetheless, the rest of his Saints cohort remains impressive.
7 Paul Hart – Leeds United (1992-1997)
Leeds United no longer be considered one of English football’s elite clubs – in fact, they’re not even a Premier League club currently – but their impact on the history of the sport remains indisputable. Back in 2001, the Whites made it to a Champions League semi-final and numerous members of the side that featured were from the club’s academy, which enjoyed a real purple patch under the guidance of Paul Hart.
Hart won the FA Youth Cup in 1993 and 1997, with his starting line-up for the latter including Harry Kewell, Jonathan Woodgate and goalkeeper Paul Robinson. During Hart’s five years in charge of the youth setup, he also helped bring through Ian Harte, Gary Kelly and Alan Smith, with all six of those players becoming mainstays in the Leeds United starting XI and four of them (Kewell, Woodgate, Robinson and Smith) eventually moving on for huge money. James Milner also became part of the Leeds academy setup in 1996.
6 Bryan Jones – Aston Villa (1996-2014)
Jones insisted upon his retirement in 2014 that all he ever did was appoint the staff – the nuts and bolts of turning young players into elite-level footballers was entirely up to them. Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue with the job he did in that respect, as Aston Villa produced a number of club legends, Premier League winners and England internationals during his time in charge.
Jones’ academy setup initially churned out Gareth Barry and Darius Vassell, who both debuted in 1998. But they were soon followed in the 200s by Thomas Hitzlsperger, Liam Ridgewell, Luke Moore, Steven Davis, Craig Gardner, Gabby Agbonlahor, Gary Cahill, Isaiah Osbourne, Barry Bannan, Marc Albrighton, James Collins and Ciaran Clarke.
That’s an incredible number of Premier League players to produce even if only a handful ever reached the levels of above average, but after that the supply line admittedly started to dry up a little. During Jones’ later years there was only one truly noteworthy academy player to speak of, although he’s arguably the best of the bunch – now-Manchester City star Jack Grealish.
5 Liam Brady – Arsenal (1996-2014)
Such was Brady’s longevity as Arsenal’s academy director that he can claim a level of ownership over virtually any player to materialise from the club’s production line within the last three decades. Under Brady, Arsenal won the 1998 Youth Premier League, the 2000 Premier Academy League U17 title and the U19 title in 2002, as well as the 2009 and 2010 U18 titles and the FA Youth Cup on four occasions.
Along the way, plenty of elite players were churned out. Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczesny, Hector Bellerin and Jack Wilshere all had big careers at Arsenal, while the likes of Steve Sidwell, David Bentley, Seb Larrson, Leon Britton, Justin Hoyte, Mortiz Volz and Emi Martinez would go on to impress for rival Premier League clubs.
Perhaps a case more of quantity over quality considering only a small selection of Arsenal-grown players made themselves key parts of the first team during that time, although Brady also helped set the path for Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson who are all part of Mikel Arteta’s current first team squad.
4 Jody Morris – Chelsea (2016-2018)
Jody Morris can lay claim to being one of the most successful youth team managers of the Premier League era when it comes to silverware. His Blues U18s side won back-to-back FA Youth Cups and U18 Premier League titles, as well as a Premier League Cup in 2018. Of course, youth development isn’t just about winning things – creating future superstars is a far, far bigger priority.
But Morris’ record on that front stands firm as well: his cohort of Chelsea prodigies included Marc Guehi, Mason Mount, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Connor Gallagher, Tariq Lamptey and Billy Gilmour. James, Gallagher and Chalobah are still at Stamford Bridge, with the former serving as Chelsea captain, while Guehi, Lamptey, Gilmour and Hudson-Odoi are all up-and-coming players for other Premier League clubs. Mount, meanwhile, just completed a big-money move to Manchester United.
We haven’t seen any of these players reach their full potential just yet but in the years to come, Morris may well be looked back upon as the overseer of a golden generation within the Blues’ academy setup.
3 Steve Heighway – Liverpool (1989-2007)
While Klopp might have ushered in a new era of young stars at Anfield in his final season in charge of the club, it’s not the first time the red half of Merseyside has seen a golden generation of talent come flooding through. A simply ridiculous amount of talent emerged at Liverpool throughout the 1990s and academy boss Steve Heighway played an instrumental role in that, with some crediting him for discovering Steven Gerrard. Alongside the Liverpool legend, the academy alumni during Heighway’s tutelege includes Jamie Carragher, Steve Mcmanaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Dominic Matteo and David Thompson. So in short, basically any player in Liverpool’s first team that had a Scouse accent had something to do with him.
Jay Spearing, Stephen Warnock, Neil Mellor and Martin Kelly also emerged from the youth setup during Heighway’s spell in charge, although none managed to truly cement themselves in Liverpool’s starting XI. Heighway stepped down in 2007 after winning back-to-back FA Youth Cups, but returned in 2015 to work in various part-time and consultancy capacities before calling it quits again in 2022.
2 Tony Carr – West Ham (1973-2014)
West Ham’s lineage of producing elite English footballers goes back so far that to this day, some Irons supporters insist West Ham won the World Cup back in 1996, when Bobby Moore captained and Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters fired the Three Lions to a 4-2 victory over West Germany at Wembley. Carr is widely credited as the man who kept the conveyor belt going and considering West Ham’s lack of success during the subsequent decades, the level of play they’ve produced has been pretty phenomenal.
After Tony Cottee and Paul Ince emerged in the 1980s, a real golden generation flourished in the late 1990s as Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe all received their first team debuts. West Ham’s graduates beyond that point struggled to reach the same heights, but many nonetheless forged decent Premier League careers: Glen Johnson, Anton Ferdinand, Mark Noble, Jack Collison, James Tomkins, Junior Stanislas and Grady Diangana all impressed either at West Ham, elsewhere in the top flight or both.
Declan Rice joined West Ham’s youth setup from Chelsea in 2013, just before Carr stepped down.
1 Eric Harrison – Manchester United (1981-1998)
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It was always going to be difficult for anybody to top this list ahead of the architect of the Class of ’92. Eric Harrison was first brought into Old Trafford by Ron Atkinson and initially found himself at odds with Sir Alex Ferguson. But Fergie agreed to improve his scouting network upon the proviso that Harrison would provide more first-team players and the negotiation proved to be a master-stroke 13 years later when a Manchester United side comprised heavily of a group of players from the club’s academy won the Champions League to complete a historic treble.
Indeed, Harrison was the Ferguson before Ferguson for the likes of Gary and Phil Neville, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, while Keith Gillespie and Robbie Savage represent further Harrison graduates who went on to make their mark in the Premier League. Harrison can also claim ownership of Mark Hughes, Norman Whiteside, Clayton Blackmore and Graeme Hogg.
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