Barrow AFC.net

Well it's now official. The club have abandoned the idea of running an academy. It was always a pipe dream in my eyes and down to location it was never going to work. Such a shame for all the coaching staff and the older players who have left local teams to commit to the academy however probably the right decision.

Is there a link to the article?

No press release as of yet but my son plays in the younger set up and weve been told its over with immediate effect. Cancel and further payments. I can't say I'm surprised really.

I thought there was some EFL ruling that we had to have one?

Is it all age groups being cancelled, do you know Rtw?

Just had a google and Huddersfield scrapped their academy below u17 and now just have u17, u19 and an ‘Elite Development Team’.

Maybe we’re doing something like that?

I’m sure a full STATEMENT will be forthcoming in due course.

All we've been told is the academy will no longer be representing Barrow AFC at the end of the season. I know for a fact that the U10s have decided to call it a day with immediate effect and the other age groups will likely follow. The Sporting Director has said he sees no value in running an academy at Barrow AFC.

Rtw6095 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 12:21 pm All we've been told is the academy will no longer be representing Barrow AFC at the end of the season. I know for a fact that the U10s have decided to call it a day with immediate effect and the other age groups will likely follow. The Sporting Director has said he sees no value in running an academy at Barrow AFC.

Totally agree atm. If there is no clear pathway to the 1st team then whats the point in running an academy? As soon as they hit 16 theres no where to go or play!! Now if we had a youth team that would be different. Id imagine theres a few unhappy parents but like i said when they youth team got scraped, if its not getting done properly it could ruin the kids careers before they even get one

Rtw6095 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 12:21 pm All we've been told is the academy will no longer be representing Barrow AFC at the end of the season. I know for a fact that the U10s have decided to call it a day with immediate effect and the other age groups will likely follow. The Sporting Director has said he sees no value in running an academy at Barrow AFC.

Wouldn't surprise me id it continued under another name, its still funded by parents and sponsors isnt it? I doubt the club actually put much, if any, money into it.
Would be a shame if it didnt carry on in another guise, theres a lot of hard work gone in to getting it where it is, and a lot of talent in the area that will miss out on playing at a better standard if it doesnt carry on.

Agree with the decision

Still think we need something to get the young kids to hopefully identify with the club, in whatever guise we need to establish something whether it's a junior blues club membership etc we need some sort of connection!

Matty wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 11:55 am I thought there was some EFL ruling that we had to have one?

Maybe the board know something we don`t, so it`s 6 Subs from now on.

It was never ever run as an academy,more an elite training facility for those players that the coaches thought were the best in the junior leagues once picked at a young age.Once you were picked you stayed in 99% of the time and the teams they played offered very little opposition bar the odd games v Blackburn.
A proper academy would cost a fortune and would involve releasing players and bringing developing players in on a regular basis.It’s just not feasible for a club like Barrow to run a proper academy.

Seems strange as this was in the media only two months ago. It’s only a snippet as the full article is too long.

Next up for sporting director Wood is establishing an academy in time for next season. A useful knock-on effect for Wild will be Barrow at last being able to field seven substitutes on a matchday rather than the six currently permitted under EFL rules for clubs with no recognised youth set-up.
The plan is to launch just an Under-18s side initially with a squad of 18 players, meaning Category 4 status. An advert for an academy manager will run until the end of this month but already there have been 40-plus applicants.
“The academy will be set up in Barrow,” adds Wood. “Not completely confirmed yet but there is one site I am leaning towards. If I am able to sort that site out, it makes the process easier in terms of where we see ourselves in a few years’ time.”
Does this mean the first team may soon end their weekday exile of recent years and decamp back to Cumbria?
“The conversation about going back to Barrow happened the moment I walked through the door,” replies Wood. “But it was quashed very quickly. It didn’t feel like the right time or the right environment.
“To underline how important where we are based is at the moment, my first conversation with every agent is, ‘You do realise we train in Manchester?’. Those are literally my opening words.
“But I am also aware that the football club does need to be in Barrow at some stage.”
Just when the landscape might be right for a possible return to training on the Furness Peninsula remains to be seen. “The only way this moves forward to Barrow being in Barrow is the club has gone in an upwards direction,” adds Wood.

Probably the right decision for the time being while we are still finding our way as a EFL club on limited cash. The new seats/ground improvements should take priority for now. We are slowly building as a EFL team

If the club are going ahead with category 4 academy only as their recent statement implied, they would be ending all age groups under 18.
EFL clubs receive funding (mainly from Premier league clubs) towards running these academy's.
Carlisle for example got £1,335,000 for running theirs between 2019-22.