Is Cat 1 Status at risk?

[Green]

If the youth academy is actually a money drain then maybe it should be shut down?

I mean I'm all for investing in the next generation but if the players aren't coming through that it at least pays for itself then why are RFC funding it? Has to be seen as an investment - and as such one that doesn't deliver needs to be axed.

Nothing to do with the current owner or climate, that's just business.

[Pepe the Horseman]

^^^ As mentioned on here before, part of the reason for McDermott being sacked was because he wanted to close down the academy.

[Green]

^^^ As mentioned on here before, part of the reason for McDermott being sacked was because he wanted to close down the academy.

What was the other part of the reason?

[Pepe the Horseman]

^^^ As mentioned on here before, part of the reason for McDermott being sacked was because he wanted to close down the academy.

What was the other part of the reason?

Not sure. I think there's a thread on it somewhere.

[Nameless]

Would be really interesting to know what the cost/benefit of the Academy over the last decade has been and what the expectations over say the next 5 years are.

The benefits obvioulsy extend beyond just what cash we have got from selling players as having half the current first team come through the ranks has saved us a fair bit in transfer fees and wages.

I wonder if there are actually any clubs who have decided running a youth set up is not economically viable and just work on bringing in older players either on frees (plus signing on fees) or for fees. I would have thought you could comfortably run a lower division side on a £2.5 million annual transfer budget assuming your wage bill didn't change if you bought in players (in reality it would be higher). Could you have a decent Championship side spending only £2.5 million ?

[SCIAG]

I would be hugely surprised if the Academy doesn't lose us money, but the chances are that even Le Fondre doesn't make us as much as we "invest" in him. You can't use normal business logic exactly. It's more like a stock market, where it is likely you'll lose on most of your investments but every year enough come off for you to have enough to keep going with.

A quick back-of-the=envelope calculation tells me we've raised about £8m in Academy Player sales, most of that coming from Sigurdsson (and not counting Long, who played for our U18s but was not strictly an Academy product).

Then there's the money we have saved on not buying first team players. I estimate that, post-Coppell, the average cost of a first team player for us is £500k. Pogrenyak, McCleary and Guthrie drag that down, but Gunter and Mariappa drag it back up. Occasions on which we have used an Academy player instead of making a signing: probably five - Pearce, Karacan, HRK, McCarthy and Obita. Could add minor savings for Church, Henry, Davies, and J. Kelly. Sigurdsson left in his first summer after breaking in, and was behind Davies, Howard and Matejovsky at the start of the season, so we probably can't count him. Let's call that £6m saved.

There are then further savings in reduced wages, but these are very hard to quantify. In any case, I find it hard to believe that our academy has cost less than £14m + wage reductions in 15 years.

[Green]

It's more like a stock market, where it is likely you'll lose on most of your investments but every year enough come off for you to have enough to keep going with.

Emerging markets man are you, SCIAG

[winchester_royal]

If the youth academy is actually a money drain then maybe it should be shut down?

I mean I'm all for investing in the next generation but if the players aren't coming through that it at least pays for itself then why are RFC funding it? Has to be seen as an investment - and as such one that doesn't deliver needs to be axed.

Nothing to do with the current owner or climate, that's just business.

The players are coming through though. And academy players played a significant part in us securing the PL revenues that we are currently benefitting from. Not to mention the money made from sales, and the FA cup revenues that largely resulted from the qualities of Siggy et al.

You're correct in what you say about it being an investment decision, and there can surely be no doubt that a successful academy is the most prudent way with which to run a football club. The 2.5m is pittance compared to what it would cost to bring in players of similar quality. The social benefits of running a club filled with local talent is just an added bonus, although I suppose you could also argue that it will lead to more connection with the fan base and hence higher ticket revenues and merchandise sales, not to mention the benefits of a good reputation in sponsorship negotiations.

[Struggle Pig]

The players are coming through though. And academy players played a significant part in us securing the PL revenues that we are currently benefitting from. Not to mention the money made from sales, and the FA cup revenues that largely resulted from the qualities of Siggy et al.

You're correct in what you say about it being an investment decision, and there can surely be no doubt that a successful academy is the most prudent way with which to run a football club. The 2.5m is pittance compared to what it would cost to bring in players of similar quality. The social benefits of running a club filled with local talent is just an added bonus, although I suppose you could also argue that it will lead to more connection with the fan base and hence higher ticket revenues and merchandise sales, not to mention the benefits of a good reputation in sponsorship negotiations.

+1 Well said