Great article about the academy on 21:57 - Mar 8 with 2494 views | philc | I was just in the process of posting something similar. Recommend reading and a longer than normal piece on the approach the club is looking at. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 22:53 - Mar 8 with 2340 views | DavieQPR | Eze, Chair and Manning didn't really come through the Academy as they are claiming. The only two are Lumley and Kakay who are back up players. | ![](/images/avatars/21942.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 22:57 - Mar 8 with 2320 views | TacticalR | Cat One or Cat Two, that is the question. | ![](/images/avatars/7026.gif) |
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Great article about the academy on 23:00 - Mar 8 with 2305 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Great article about the academy on 22:57 - Mar 8 by TacticalR | Cat One or Cat Two, that is the question. |
The thing I like about this article is that it makes no pretense that Cat Two is somehow better, which some previous articles or club comment has hinted at.Hopefully we'll go Cat One in the future. Thanks for posting, really enjoyed it. | ![](/images/avatars/1570.gif) |
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Great article about the academy on 23:18 - Mar 8 with 2256 views | E1Hoop | A really interesting article. It sounds encouraging and hopefully the plans come good. I cannot get my head round the fact that money changes hands for players at under 9. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 23:26 - Mar 8 with 2245 views | Getmesheron | I had the opportunity pre lockdown to visit the Spurs Academy which is next door to their 1st team site. The facilities are superb with pitches as far as you can see arranged around the central indoor playing area. They were a little bit pleased with themselves to have made the Champions League final with home grown graduates in their team but seemed to ignore the fact that Kane & Rose came from other clubs. No secret was made that boys were there on trial from other teams, 2 lads were there from Stevenage in the session I observed. Interestingly Tom Carroll was mentioned as someone they had given longer to develop due to his size & Luke Amos was also referred to as someone who had gone out on loan with a view to coming back into the their 1st team at that point. Hopefully if we can get somewhere near their standard of training ground and give kids the pathway to first team football the new Furlongs & Sterlings will stick with us. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 23:28 - Mar 8 with 2237 views | daveB |
Great article about the academy on 22:53 - Mar 8 by DavieQPR | Eze, Chair and Manning didn't really come through the Academy as they are claiming. The only two are Lumley and Kakay who are back up players. |
article said they came through the academy programme so were brought into the club and developed to become first team players. Not really important if they came aged 9 or aged 18 | ![](/images/avatars/1922.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 08:01 - Mar 9 with 2039 views | nix | Excellent article. I agree with every word. Really disappointing that massive clubs with almost bottomless pockets are allowed to take the best young players for peanuts. They don't even have to have any intention of playing then in their first team as they can make money from loaning them back to the team that developed them in the first place and make lots of cash for doing that (e.g. Bamford and our own Todd Kane). | ![](/images/avatars/16746.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) | Login to get fewer ads
Great article about the academy on 08:13 - Mar 9 with 2021 views | rsonist |
Great article about the academy on 23:00 - Mar 8 by BrianMcCarthy | The thing I like about this article is that it makes no pretense that Cat Two is somehow better, which some previous articles or club comment has hinted at.Hopefully we'll go Cat One in the future. Thanks for posting, really enjoyed it. |
Have never really understood why you've been so insistent they've been trying to pull the wool over our eyes on this. I can recall no evidence to support it. Certainly no one's ever made the pretense Cat 2 is better - just more realistic and a much more functional medium term option than optics might suggest. This was always implicit in previous dialogues and is remains exactly the argument expanded on in this interview. In fact a more cynical and sensationalist journo could easily have presented these same quotes as a reasoned argument for a longer term future at Cat 2 ("if we continue [...] we might not have to go down that road") than the acknowledgment of absolute inferiority and a commitment to achieving the higher grade it's being taken as. But look at the end of the day, yes, Cat 1 is the high expense option it is for a reason and we all want it for the club ultimately. | ![](/images/avatars/6250.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 08:32 - Mar 9 with 1973 views | philc | I think the big question with the academy cat status is whether some of the 10 boys enticed away would have stayed and whether they would make the grade. He certainly doesn’t feel that the cat status affects the level of coaching the boys get, or will get once the new training ground facilities come on line. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 08:53 - Mar 9 with 1934 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Great article about the academy on 08:13 - Mar 9 by rsonist | Have never really understood why you've been so insistent they've been trying to pull the wool over our eyes on this. I can recall no evidence to support it. Certainly no one's ever made the pretense Cat 2 is better - just more realistic and a much more functional medium term option than optics might suggest. This was always implicit in previous dialogues and is remains exactly the argument expanded on in this interview. In fact a more cynical and sensationalist journo could easily have presented these same quotes as a reasoned argument for a longer term future at Cat 2 ("if we continue [...] we might not have to go down that road") than the acknowledgment of absolute inferiority and a commitment to achieving the higher grade it's being taken as. But look at the end of the day, yes, Cat 1 is the high expense option it is for a reason and we all want it for the club ultimately. |
I don't think I've been all that insistent that we were being duped, perhaps on occasions, but I certainly recall comments whether written or on a pod subtly implying that Cat 2 is best for us, and I could never see why, bar expense as you say. And I have no problem with that as - after all - the owners are funding us to the tune of £1m a month. I just think this is the best example so far of calling it as it is. | ![](/images/avatars/1570.gif) |
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Great article about the academy on 09:02 - Mar 9 with 1923 views | slmrstid |
Great article about the academy on 23:28 - Mar 8 by daveB | article said they came through the academy programme so were brought into the club and developed to become first team players. Not really important if they came aged 9 or aged 18 |
I'm with you on this Dave. As far as I'm concerned if a young player makes their senior permanent debut with the club, then its us who have produced them. (I say "permanent" debut to differentiate from loans - if a player plays for X club on loan first before making their debut for the parent club, I certainly wouldn't suggest the loan club produced them!) | ![](/images/avatars/20196.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 09:22 - Mar 9 with 1877 views | rsonist |
Great article about the academy on 23:28 - Mar 8 by daveB | article said they came through the academy programme so were brought into the club and developed to become first team players. Not really important if they came aged 9 or aged 18 |
It's pretty important if the topic is the merit of investing millions in perpetuity into a youth academy over having an 18-23 B-team set up... | ![](/images/avatars/6250.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 09:35 - Mar 9 with 1829 views | rsonist | Could Norf remind me please, what were the costs regarding facilities/youth he said a few months ago weren't exempt from FFP calculations? It was something quite surprising iirc but I can't find it now. My kingdom for a half-functional LFW search feature... | ![](/images/avatars/6250.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 09:40 - Mar 9 with 1811 views | daveB |
Great article about the academy on 09:22 - Mar 9 by rsonist | It's pretty important if the topic is the merit of investing millions in perpetuity into a youth academy over having an 18-23 B-team set up... |
What they'd done by signing good 17/18 year olds and developing them into the first team is send a message to those in the lower age groups that there is a chance of making it and will help attract better prospects in the lower age groups. It's easier to convince parents to keep their kids at QPR if they can see whats happened with Eze, Chair etc and that there is a chance of getting in the first team rather than just all talk. | ![](/images/avatars/1922.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 09:42 - Mar 9 with 1808 views | rsonist |
Great article about the academy on 08:53 - Mar 9 by BrianMcCarthy | I don't think I've been all that insistent that we were being duped, perhaps on occasions, but I certainly recall comments whether written or on a pod subtly implying that Cat 2 is best for us, and I could never see why, bar expense as you say. And I have no problem with that as - after all - the owners are funding us to the tune of £1m a month. I just think this is the best example so far of calling it as it is. |
Well as "calling as it is" goes, they're not exactly going to put out a press release unveiling Cat 2 facilities with "it's not the creme de la creme but hey ho!" are they. Would be fun if they did that for player signings though. | ![](/images/avatars/6250.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 09:44 - Mar 9 with 1802 views | Antti_Heinola |
Great article about the academy on 09:22 - Mar 9 by rsonist | It's pretty important if the topic is the merit of investing millions in perpetuity into a youth academy over having an 18-23 B-team set up... |
i can see this argument, but it ignores the intangible benefits of having age groups down to the U9s. Even if only one U9 every 10 years makes it, does that mean it's a waste of money? Not at all imo. It gets kids and parents involved in the club, it is part of our being a community hub, which should only now grow. The idea that a youth product has to have been at the club since the age of 8 is an extremely narrow guage on how to assess the worth of a good youth set up, which should be there to benefit many more things other than just the first team, even if that is it's ultimate focus. Manning, Eze and Chair are great success stories, and should be celebrated as such. | ![](/images/avatars/5743.gif) |
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Great article about the academy on 09:50 - Mar 9 with 1777 views | rsonist |
Great article about the academy on 08:32 - Mar 9 by philc | I think the big question with the academy cat status is whether some of the 10 boys enticed away would have stayed and whether they would make the grade. He certainly doesn’t feel that the cat status affects the level of coaching the boys get, or will get once the new training ground facilities come on line. |
That's correct, the message between the lines is that the protection from poaching is what Cat 1 really buys you more than anything. Otherwise he acknowledges the accreditation as a lure for prospects while at the same time rueing its superficiality. Certainly there are plenty of underachieving Cat 1s and productive Cat 2s around to support this view. | ![](/images/avatars/6250.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 10:07 - Mar 9 with 1746 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Great article about the academy on 09:42 - Mar 9 by rsonist | Well as "calling as it is" goes, they're not exactly going to put out a press release unveiling Cat 2 facilities with "it's not the creme de la creme but hey ho!" are they. Would be fun if they did that for player signings though. |
True, and I get that there's a certain amount of spin, of course. That's just human nature, and probably good business. Either way, this is great news - Cat 2 for now, with the possibility of Cat 1 to come. | ![](/images/avatars/1570.gif) |
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Great article about the academy on 10:54 - Mar 9 with 1644 views | LazyFan | The approach is very good. Create a set-up for Cat 1 and see how it goes first with Cat 2. If all goes well then you have the option to upgrade to Cat 1, but you don't have to commit to it all upfront, blow it and then sack a load of good people. Also, we won't be mismanaging expectations Tony style, keeping it simple and evolutionary. I was going to wait until it was all built to say this. But QPR is with this initiative about to get ahead of Brentford. The Bees made a massive mistake dropping their academy approach (they have the money with all the player sales). As there is another aspect not mentioned in the article and that's community. If you have a load of "come and see the QPR youth" events, many young trialists who unfortunately are not quite good enough to progress anywhere not just at QPR, but get an experience of it all, you have now grown your fan base for the long term. Kids remember their day at QPR academy, they may even be lucky and have a kick about with someone who goes on to be a future star. They start to appreciate what the pro game is really like. The parents see that their kids love football (at QPR) and encourage them to get into it more. We actually have a kit that is attractive to people, neutrals often like our first team colours compared to others for some reason. But first you have to introduce them to football wearing our kit. And we know its good as after all, the fakes copied it. There are many community activities, but opening up the Academy now and again for many different types of events really builds that up more than most other activities. Especially when it's close to state of the art, bright and shiny new, newness, that people often get impressed by. The article suggests happens with the other clubs that already have this. As we have seen with Warren Farm, to do that locally in the area is not easy to obtain and make sustainable. This software (people) is very important for the sustainability and survival of our club and as others catch up to Brentford on Moneyball and the Bees can no longer get away with being the only savvy lot in the market (I notice the fees they have been paying have started to go up as the compo comes in), then other factors come into play to make the difference on getting young talent on the cheap. Long term I feel this will be a game-changer for us and missed opportunity for others. | ![](/images/avatars/1596.gif) |
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Great article about the academy on 10:57 - Mar 9 with 1636 views | philc | On a slightly different note, but still connected to player development, I saw on the Indys page that Charlie Kelman scored a hat trick against Maidenhead, which they described as against QPR B team. This is obviously something which is going ahead and shows more evidence of the clubs commitment to developing more of our own players. Also saw we had 3 players on trial with us, so that’s another area we are still looking at. Hopefully good news for the long term future of the club. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 10:58 - Mar 9 with 1633 views | rsonist |
Great article about the academy on 09:44 - Mar 9 by Antti_Heinola | i can see this argument, but it ignores the intangible benefits of having age groups down to the U9s. Even if only one U9 every 10 years makes it, does that mean it's a waste of money? Not at all imo. It gets kids and parents involved in the club, it is part of our being a community hub, which should only now grow. The idea that a youth product has to have been at the club since the age of 8 is an extremely narrow guage on how to assess the worth of a good youth set up, which should be there to benefit many more things other than just the first team, even if that is it's ultimate focus. Manning, Eze and Chair are great success stories, and should be celebrated as such. |
Completely agree but intangible is the word. The roles of football club as social institution and big business have never been uneasier bedfellows; but both an idealist claiming a Category 1 academy as purely a local charity cost and a cynic claiming it purely as a financial sales instrument would be equally misguided in their extremes. | ![](/images/avatars/6250.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Great article about the academy on 11:29 - Mar 9 with 1581 views | Antti_Heinola |
Great article about the academy on 10:58 - Mar 9 by rsonist | Completely agree but intangible is the word. The roles of football club as social institution and big business have never been uneasier bedfellows; but both an idealist claiming a Category 1 academy as purely a local charity cost and a cynic claiming it purely as a financial sales instrument would be equally misguided in their extremes. |
Very much so, Jeff. | ![](/images/avatars/5743.gif) |
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