The PFA has launched a new degree.
In their words, this degree “has been created with a focus on players who are in, or have recently left, club academy systems. The course will help equip them with the skills needed to go on to a range of senior on and off-pitch roles within the game and beyond”.
The course is endorsed by Arsene Wenger no less and he assumes the role of Course Director. One looks forward to footage of Mr Wenger sitting in module evaluation meetings, course planning days and taking his place on the course Open Day stand! Joking aside, there is a serious reason for writing this article and what I foresee as inherent problems with this route.
Let me start by adding a caveat to what I am about to present, however. I believe what the PFA are trying to do is honourable. The notion of adding education to the lives of young players as a way of providing them with options for future employment and broadening their skill set feels the right thing to do morally and nobody can fault the hard work and dedication of all those involved to get this up and running. However, there are some inherent dangers in this project and indeed all other collaborations at other institutions seeking to attract young people who have been released from professional football clubs (of which there are many). Players and parents need to understand these dangers.
Education in Academies
To examine my concerns in more detail, I am going to examine each point in isolation. First, I want to outline the issues with education in academies. In the promotion for the course, the PFA notes that
“The Football and Business Management degree course, delivered in partnership with the University of Portsmouth, will build on and act as a natural continuation of mandatory age group education that is currently delivered within club academies.”
For most players, the education within an academy is a B-Tec. The issue in trying to build on this for a degree is that this education is not very good. It is no fault of those delivering it, but as I noted here, education falls outside the needs of the club. I undertook focus groups with 303 players who were completing their education in academies. These players were at 21 professional clubs across all four leagues. I have purposely used evidence from all leagues to show that these issues are not isolated to certain levels.
You can't fail it
The main subject that requires consideration regarding the education players receive in their academies is that by definition it is not ‘education’. It is less a process of learning and more a process of passing. What do I mean by that? Well, at the 21 clubs I visited, clubs reported a 100% pass rate. Nobody failed. The players knew this was the case and as one group of players said:
