Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation concerning the
player pathway from grassroots to the professional level in Wales.
I am going to deal
specifically with the path for Boys as the Girls structure is slightly
different and I will dedicate a separate page to outline this soon.
Whether your child is
simply playing for fun or has serious ambition to become a professional, it is
important to understand the structure, so let me begin:
A player starts his or
her development at a local league club, at the age of say, 5, but equally, they
can join any time.
If a player has
the ability to go to the next level, that player may get an opportunity to
attend a trial at a development centre or advanced development centre.
From this level, the
next stage up is to be selected to attend a pre-academy trial and assessment.
If you are successful
in the pre-academy structure, the next stage is to move to the academy level.
You can stay in the
local league system and be a part of a professional club, eg Swansea City or
Cardiff City until you are invited to become an academy player, which is
invitational and you will be placed under contract, which will now prevent you
from playing local league football, although you can still play for your school
and at schoolboy level.
Schoolboys is a team
of players who represent a specific area in Wales.
You cannot, however,
play for your local team even when you are invited to the academy trials.
There is another
pathway that a player can go down from grassroots level and that is to be
invited to attend a League of Wales or Welsh League academy set-up.
To become a player in
this set-up, you will need to be invited to attend an assessment and trial and
if you are successful, then you will join the academy and in this structure,
you will still be able to play in the local league and schoolboy level.
Examples of Welsh
League academies within reach of Swansea are Llanelli and Pontardawe.
One final point about
what constitutes an “academy.”
To be an academy, you
will either have to be a professional club, a League of Wales or Welsh League
club.
There are no other
recognised academies in Wales.
As always please feel
free to contact me at any time:
O7779 495480