For so many who love professional football, this time of year marks the crescendo of excitement they’ve been waiting for. As seasons start to draw to a close, on the line are titles, promotions, playoff places, relegations and cup competitions. It all comes down to this. The next few weeks will be marked by in-depth analysis of permutations, the constant checking of results from elsewhere, wall-to-wall media coverage of the run in and, of course, somewhere there will be final-day drama. It is a captivating time and a time that is easy to get swept up in.
But there is another side to this time of year. One that is not so easy on the pallet. In this role, I get to speak with many people involved in Academy football and this is probably the hardest time of year for so many. It is decision time. The time when the Under 18s (and a handful of others) find out if they are to be awarded a much coveted professional contract. Some clubs tell those being released of their fate before this point. And for some, the wait will go on as they are offered trials, sometimes into the next pre-season. But for most, these months are the point they’ve been focusing on for the past two seasons.
Is this the end?
After ‘how many make it?’, the question of where those who do not get a professional contract end up is probably the most asked question I get. Luckily, we can draw on over ten years of data to try and piece together an answer. In 2012, I completed a study which explored the footballing experiences of 303 players who were, at the time, in professional football Academies (and Centres of Excellence as they were then). For the following decade or so, we can track the careers of this group, giving unrivalled insight into the career trajectories of professional players. The data, which was taken from 21 professional clubs, shows that 167 players were awarded a professional contract, leaving 136 who were not. Extrapolated out, what that means is that around 44% of players who have had scholarships throughout the past two seasons will not be offered contacts within professional football this year.
So, is that the end of ‘the dream’ for the 44%? Let’s look at the data. The first point
