Watford FC Academy – Hertfordshire’s very own La Masia

by Ally Poole and Rob Hazell

Elton John, a meteoric rise from the fourth division to the first division in the late 70s and early 80s and a stadium with one derelict stand are what people normally associate with Championship outfit Watford. But less well known is that they also have arguably the best youth academy setup in the country, with a large amount of players produced in their esteemed academy going on to to play for Watford and other Football League clubs.

Watford are involved in a unique venture with the Harefield Academy in Uxbridge, West London. The Harefield Academy is the official education provider for Watford FC. Boys who are involved in Watford’s youth system attend the Harefield Academy. The Academy educates boys aged 11-16 involved with Watford.

The boys study not only academically but also play and develop their football skills on-site with professional and renowned coaches. This setup helps the pupils manage their school life with their football as they don’t have to spend hours after school travelling to training, which often has a detrimental effect on their academic studies and their love for football as many find it time consuming and struggle to fit everything in with their busy schedules.

Four of Watford’s current team have come through their youth system. Defender Andrew Mariappa and fan’s favourite Lloyd Doyley were both academy graduates and goalkeeper Scott Loach has been a regular for England Under 21s and has even been called up to the England first team (editor’s note – Loach counts as ‘homegrown’ under Football League rules). Striker Marvin Sordell has also played for England Under 21s. Manchester United and England start Ashley Young was also at Watford as a youngster and fortunately wasn’t let go by the club for being too small which seemed a really possibility at one time. QPR midfielder Tommy Smith also came through the system at Watford as did David James, the former England goalkeeper who holds the record for number of both clean sheets and appearances for a goalkeeper in the Premier League era.

Through emphasis on youth development the immediate future looks bright for Watford with a lot of potential being cited in the academy. Players such as Gavin Massey, Matty Whichelow, Sean Murray and Adam Thompson all look like they have the potential to step up to the first team fairly soon. Add to this the impressive 16 year old striker Bernard Mensah who is scoring plenty for the reserves and has already trained with the Ghanaian national team and the team does look like it will have even more academy products in a few years.

In future, the FA’s proposal (led by Gareth Southgate) to change the structure of academies may damage Watford’s very own Harefield academy. From 2012-13, there are set to be 4 levels of academy from Super Academies to what are basically players who have been released by other clubs at the age of 16. Previously Watford were unclear on what was required to meet each category, issuing a statement on the subject expressing their frustration at the proposals amidst fears for the future of Harefield:

“At this moment in time it is unclear to Football League clubs what is expected of them to achieve each of those categories. As a football club we are frustrated by the lack of transparency in recent months, which means we are not clear on what could be inspected moving forward. However as a club we have explored all possibilities to make sure we will have a strategic approach to how the academy at the club can be affected.”

Watford’s obvious annoyance at plans to revamp the Academy system in England was clear, and establishing how to reach the right category remains of vital importance to Harefield Academy’s overall standing. Esteemed as it currently is, even coaches from internationally renowned clubs like Ajax have commented on the very high standard of the Harefield Academy. Nonetheless, Watford’s initial reaction to the Premier League’s announced Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), voted in in October, was one of optimism with the general consensus at Vicarage Road being that the proposals effectively ‘compliment Watford’s approach to youth development’:

“The model we came up with is now going to be potentially rolled out across a number of clubs who are striving to be category one clubs,” the Hornets’ Head of Academy Nick Cox commented. “We’ve got a broad outline of what the changes will be, but we don’t know the specific criteria.”

Watford have been a leading light in the production of players recently, despite financial struggles and featuring very little in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. Implementation of the EPPP, with the Harefield model in mind, could lead to a massive change in the way academies are run in this country. As the face of English youth development looks set to change, fans and the club are desperate to keep Watford’s impressive academy as strong as it is.

Ally Poole is a new contributor to Just Football. Follow him on Twitter @allyjpoole

(photo credit: Colt Group on Flickr under Creative Commons Licence)

English Championship, Football League, Watford FC, Youth Academies, Youth Football