Brandon Buckley / The Youth Team

My understanding is that the youth team is completely self funding. Is this still the case?

If so then the best to see see a fruitful academy is by participating in their fundraisers etc. and give these lads the best possible chance of breaking into the first team.

Quoted from Cloudy

I see a couple of the youth lads have been released already and one played for Gy Borough recently.

Hand on heart I think it may be a little longer before the revamped youth system starts to produce. This is another major reason why relegation MUST be avoided

Key point in bold here to consider, and remain patient.

We were only promoted to the FL in 2016, and with that begun receiving the EPPP Academy funding. So over last season and the current one, the Academy has been scaling up and adding staff (full-time and part-time) to make up the required structure and quality. So realistically, the current lads at the top end (u15s/u16s) have spent most of their time in the Academy when we were in the conference and it was running on pretty much a skeleton staff doing their best to do multiple jobs and keep it going to a good standard. That's not to say those now-older lads didn't receive good coaching, they will have done, but the structure and support/development network wasn't in place then as it is now. So only the current younger ones in the foundation phase (u9-u11) will end up going through the whole system while it's got the structure it now has.

A bit similar to the FA rolling out the "England DNA" stuff in 2014. Laughed at by many at the time, and used as a stick to beat the FA with in 2014 and 2016 after poor International tournament showings from the senior England team. But with the DNA only rolled out in 2014 it was never going to impact massively on the already-established England senior team at the time. Fast forward to 2017 and you see multiple age-group national teams being successful after having had 3 years building through the system and the England DNA (as well as their own Club academies of course).

Point is to not expect immediate results from something like this, although it may still produce some. The benefits should be more evident longer term. Which as Cloudy says above, is why it is absolutely vital that we do not slip back into non-league when we would lose funding and have to scale it all back again.

I too agree with DHM and is is an indication of the shortsightedness that has become the clubs trademark.

Paying a couple of young pro's £250 per week but unlikely to play in the 1st team is seen by the bean counters as poor value for money when paying an experienced pro £1,000 a week to sit on the bench is seen as value.

Yet again it is the knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing together with the lack of a long term plan or strategy

Sad!y even during Hurst's  reign and before, fear of losing has been a more powerful driving force for the management, than taking some risks to win. Therefore it has followed that having experienced journeyman or elderly players in the team and on the bench, has been more important to them than blooding  quite talented youth. I have seen footage of the youths and some of them including young Buckley are talented and hopefully in the near future some will be given a chance.