Brentford has re-started an academy, thanks in part to new Premier League rules, in what appears to be a u-turn.
However, the B team still exists, and the club is in a very different position than it was ten years ago, as explained by director of football Phil Giles: “We had an academy but closed it in 2016.
The reason for this was that we were a very small Championship club with low revenue, and the spend on the academy was not meteoric, but it was significant enough, and we believed that if we wanted promotion, we needed to spend every penny on that goal.
“We couldn’t wait ten years to bring players in; we needed promotion to generate some revenue.
“That is why we focused on our first and second teams. The idea behind the B team was to have players who were closer to the first team and capable of making a genuine impact, such as Mads Roerslev and Marcus Forss, who came through for our promotion team.
“When we were promoted, we reviewed the situation and considered reopening the academy because our revenue increased. Brexit had an impact because it limited overseas player availability while increasing demand for British players from all other clubs in the Football League.
“We, for example, brought in Fin Stevens from Woking and sold him to St Pauli from our B team, demonstrating the increased demand for English talent.”
We also need more youth teams to obtain our Uefa license if we end up playing in Europe, and the Premier League mandate changed the rules to require us to open an academy, which was the final deciding factor.”
He added at the opening of the new academy building: “The B team will continue to exist and do what it has always done, but there will now be a pipeline from Under-9s to the B team, which will also play in the Professional Development League as Under-21s, but will also play the same bespoke games as before. “The B team remains the link to the first team.”
Academy director Stephen Torpey, who previously coached at Liverpool and Manchester City, added: “We treat it like a private school for footballers.”
“There are more coaches available, about five to one with combined age groups at younger levels, allowing us to provide more tailored, bespoke programmes and opportunities for growth.
“We also encourage kids to continue playing grassroots sports to strengthen their friendships outside of Brentford and relieve some of the pressure. We’ve recruited 114 players and hired 54 full-time employees, with an additional 30 part-time employees to round out the team.
“We are the first club to progress from a Category 4 academy to Category 2, and the next step will be to add an indoor pitch, a dome, to reach Category 1.
“Our Under-18s were the first men’s team to have a female coach, Lydia Bedford. Our B team, which fulfills the U21s programme and is in the play-offs, is in the Premier League Cup final and will compete against Monaco and Nice in the Atlantic Cup.
“As a dad of four myself – I know it is about caring first and we want to be admired as the most caring, progressive academy, which fits the ethos of the rest of the club.”
