When it comes together it’s worth the wait, the setbacks and the tantrums. It’s just got to start happening more frequently – the belief, consistency and, of course, the goals.
We’ve seen good 20 minutes’ in some matches, some good halves in others but we hadn’t seen anything close to 90 minutes of the football Daniel Farke is trying to create until we played Villa on Saturday.
It was like suddenly switching on the light, clicking your fingers or perhaps rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time – it just fell into place.
Now I’m not thinking this is going to happen every week, but it has offered us hope. There’s a player in Mario, Srbeny is starting to find his place and Josh (one of our own) Murphy has still got that trademark finish.
With the season hardly cantering to an end and not much to play for other than bragging rights over those fellows down the road and perhaps Leeds (we all hate Leeds), all that’s really left is be that spoiler team – to help secure Sunderland’s demise and/or to keep PNE just away from the playoffs. But let’s hope next season we will begin to see more games like Saturday.
With £5 million secured for the much-needed facelift to the Academy to help retain its category one status, ‘one of our own’ is something we should hope to hear more frequently in years to come. With the outdated facility obviously needing some major work it beggars belief how we have let such an integral part of our young footballers’ careers get so antiquated, especially given that more time is spent training, getting fit and having physiology or psychology reports done, than actual game time on a pitch!
When the FA introduced the ‘homegrown’ ruling in 2011 this should have be seen as an area of importance to all clubs that aspire to PL status. To have to include eight homegrown players in your squad of 25, the majority of these players are naturally going to come from the academies.
In essence, it was intended to promote domestic talents rather than look for the more appealing international stars, to bolster the team for the following season and to save the upheaval of teams in the transfer markets.
So when we say ‘homegrown’ let me alert you to the rule ( not wanting to teach you to suck eggs!):
All 20 Clubs must include eight Home Grown players out of a squad of 25 for that Premier League season.
A Home Grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).
Clubs are able to supplement their squads with unlimited additional players under the age of 21 on 1st January in the year in which the season commences.
Changes to the squad list of 25 may be made during the period of a transfer window. So Clubs must declare their 25 at the end of August when the window shuts and then again at the end of January.”Article 19 of FIFA’s Regulations on the status and transfer of players only allows transfers of International players over the age of 18, save for limited exceptions, one of these is, if the transfer takes place within the EU or EEA then the age restrictions drop to 16.
This is fundamental in how UK clubs can acquire young cost effective players.
It’s a low risk strategy needing only a small amount of these potential talents to develop into professionals for a high return in investment.
So, young academy players who are brought over from the EU are now ‘homegrown’. Brought over at 16, to allow them to play their football here until they comply with those FIFA guidelines.
And to name a few well-known examples: Hector Bellarin, Cesc Fabregas, Adnan Januzaj.
We may not have used our Academy to full its advantage, but others have.
Now, however, things are about to change. With Brexit looming, and with uncertainty around our trading arrangement with and within the EU, academies will almost certainly play a larger part in the future of young English players. It’s in our government’s hands but where will it leave the footballing world?
Will it force our homegrown players to become just that?
Will we have scouts more prevalent at grassroots?
Stewart Webber spoke of his concerns about this matter at the Canaries Trust AGM – another reason he felt we needed that area to be working for us in the future.
Another requirement of work permit criteria from the FA is the governing body endorsement (GBE). All sportsmen and sportswomen who require a tier 2 or tier 5 visa from the Home Office must have a GBE from their respective sport’s governing body.
A player can automatically qualify if they have played a minimum percentage of senior competitive international games for his national team or through a points-based system. Points are based on the transfer fee paid, the salary offered in relation to others in the league and are also awarded depending on the level played at previous clubs in respect of top domestic and continental competition.
Personally, I can’t see footballers gaining “the highly-skilled worker” category giving them exemptions from Brexit rulings!
So, football could be on the brink of big changes post season 2019.
Could little ol’ Norwich just have foreseen what could be happening?
For certain, post-Brexit GBE criteria and Financial Fair Play rules will have an effect throughout football, but exactly what it will look like and what it will be no one knows right now.
Tighter restrictions could give the European clubs the upper hand, forcing Premier League clubs to look to young English talent, something that would surely help our national squad of the future.
So, while we may be witnessing our very own transitional period at the moment, I have a feeling it’s going to be a transition on a much wider scale for the Premier League in the next few years.
Love Brexit. Win win.
Wow. First good thing that might come from Brexit.
How insightful Flicky Licky.
Some decent points to consider Anita. I wouldn’t say the redevelopment of Colney was a reaction to the leaving of the EU however, more a necessity to continue the self-sustaining model touted by the top brass of the club. Having pondered that recent Guardian article about the new structure at Colney an ideal balance would be majority shareholders with more money AND this new ethos. But we wont see that (if ever) for at least a few years to come.
You’re correct to thing it was strange Colney was on its knees like it was, if I recall correctly Mitchell Djiks declined a permanent contract because he wasn’t convinced when he visited back in Jan 2017. I do wonder how many other potential players slipped through the net like this? This tardiness in the redevelopment does ape the indecision at the top though and demonstrates the previous business acumen was clearly rudderless.
Given Huddersfield have folded their academy perhaps we got lucky in that Webber has foreseen this and wanted a project like ours. I would be willing to bet a pound that’s why we landed him. I would add I’m thankful this revamp has taken place, can you imagine what we’d be staring down with no promotion this season and the same infrastructure as before for the foreseeable? Doesn’t bear thinking about.
A fine speech Hillary. Spot on.
Boooo!
We therefore might be looking at a situation where our best players are being picked off by bigger clubs well before they get near the first team.
That’s the thing though; no-one knows what we are dealing with post Brexit. I suspect UEFA will react badly if the British government starts putting visa restrictions on youngsters from France, Spain, Germany etc. The clubs (Chelsea for instance) who load their youth teams with European players and then loan them out till their value increases and they are sold will find it very difficult to keep their business models within the FFP rules (don’t under-estimate how rabidly these rules may be applied post Brexit when Britain becomes isolated in the continent).
The club is wise in investing in the academy, no doubt about it. Whilst we don’t know just how Brexit will affect the country in general and football in particular, we do know that there will be talented kids growing up who we need to attract to Norfolk; players like Craig Bellamy and Darren Eadie were previously brought in and hopefully we should be able to bring more in like this.
I think NCFC are ahead of the game.My daughter-in-law recently asked me what 2nd language the kids should be taught.It didn’t take long to decide,Mandarin.It’s China which can answer some of NCFC’s problems too.Instead of having a male menopause on the dancefloor,the Chairman could use some of his connections to speak with the Chinese.
While I’m happy the club are investing in the academy (despite my issues with how the money was raised), realistically how long before we see returns? A few years to fully build the new structure. A few more to start seeing more players come through. I understand it’s a long term investment and hopefully will save the club on transfers in the long-term. I just wonder how many academy players are going to make the first team on any given Saturday.
I’m not too concerned about Brexit’s impact on the footballing landscape. The country can make it easy to bring in non-eu players. It’s not like non-eu players have been absent all these years. Look at Man City’s squad right now.
Proving you have ‘special skills’ is not particularly difficult, it’s how I got to the states and I’m remarkably un-special. You just need a good company lawyer.
If it ends up with a few failed permits and a few more English players in the top tier, I’m all for it.Again, compare Man City to Bayern for # of home grown players. It has to be good for the nation team.
The new focus on the Academy isn’t just the fundraising for improved infrastructure. A whole new regime is already in place, with specific plans for each player’s development. Stuart Webber says he expects to see tangible benefit to the first team within 2-3 years.
Good points about the EU and the potential benefit to the national team. Long overdue!
Stew – to be honest, can’t believe I posted a piece that has a pro-Brexit message as its conclusion! (you know me) 🙂
I’ll forgive you just this once
A great and interesting read Anita.
It is great when the Academy players make it into the first team squad and even better when they get into the first team and actually play.
Looking back since the Youth FA cup win how many got first team football< Britt, Norman, Wyatt, McGeehan, McFadden, Toffolo, Josh Murphy, Randall (Hodd 90), Morris, King (Young 81), Murphy. Subs not used: Lokko, Reading (GK), Young, Brown. Murphy Twins Toffolo All the rest either in non-league or lower down in Leagues 1&2 Other players just a bit older... Rudd, Morris, but never set the footballing world alight. City has to improve on this - it can't get any worse so lets all hope for a big improvement. Chase sold Sutton, Fox, Eadie, others were sold by the Smiths (ie Cureton, Bellamy) - all left to progress their careers and make City money, so as supporters we are used to seeing talent leave. Nothing has changed - just the names.
Stuart Webber’s view (and I’m sure Daniel Farke’s too) is that the development of our Academy players has been badly mismanaged. Hence the sweeping changes in that part of the club. Will be interesting to monitor over the next few years.
The big problem is if they show a talent then the bigger clubs will try and snare them before they make a first-team game, so City will only get a development fee and a percentage of any sell-on.
Haven’t City lost, this season, a 16-year old they had great hopes for?
Interesting piece Anita, although I’m deeply cynical about FFP and it’s likely impact. The regulations are very soft, making compliance too easy. To be honest, the current “home grown” rules aren’t exactly onerous too. Football has a unique ability to flout rules to suit its own needs.