No reason. Which in itself is detail and could be something to complain about.
90 mins after the announcement of a training facility is a childish time to do it. Keep your powder dry, have a day off, wait for information (or not) to come out and then you might have some weight to your complaint
No, not saying that. If it said it was 5, I missed that and thats my error
You, however, said they have to suck this up Decades. Thats 20+. See what I mean about making things up in your head and fearing things that might not happen?
The Reality is the owner has potentially committed us to a 5 year contract on a site we are renting. Thats a hell of a lot less of a commitment than the £25 million purchase of Bearwood, isn't it?
I'm not surprised that ownership of Harlington will remain with Imperial College.
I think they must have owned it for a long time and they did so back in the 1979's when I went the University.
I'm interested to know quite how the finances of renting this and the academy are integrated into WWFC. It will be easier to determine its worth if they are transparently separate.
The announcement today fits with what we have already been told, and without further details we'll never know if the dalliance with Bearwood Park enabled us to negotiate a better deal at Harlington or if we had to look there after the deal to use Readings facilities hit the road block.
i am in the ‘very positive development’ camp with this.
From the little we do know, the new owner does see the development of a football academy as an important part of his interest/investment.
As someone who thinks that is a good thing, I see this as clearly a necessary first step to achieving that as the current facilities, by all accounts, aren’t really up to that.
It also dilutes my concern (or paranoia) a little about about getting too close to our friends across the border in Berkshire.
I can accept that people may have concerns about whether this will put a financial millstone around our necks in the intermediate future, but I would rather the owner do this than splash out stupid wages and transfer fees.
(Although the top priority should of course be returning to the range of real ales on offer in the Vere pre-Americans..)
The deal itself makes a lot of sense and I'm sure it's a good step up. I think we probably need to accept he's going to massively increase outgoings and hope he'll cover them and not lose interest.
I said he could afford to suck it up for decades not that this deal means he'll have to.
The Couhigs were very open by football club owner standards. Their openness lead to greater discussion and debate on here. It also offered plenty of ammo for their detractors to pick away at. Either way, lots to talk about, argue over and engage with.
I suspect both fans and detractors alike will have a lot less material to digest under the new regime.
Very much in agreement @bookertease, especially your penultimate paragraph. That element of the culture of our club is so important and, in the clear commitment by our new owners to putting the emphasis on development of younger players, seems likely to remain.
I am not sure I get how setting up an academy works from scratch - especially if it is to be based nearer to London. The best kids in London have many academies to choose from - surely the best would choose an Arsenal or a Tottenham or a Chelsea or Crystal Palace with a good reputation rather than a start up with no reputation from a League 1 club. Then I believe those kids get signed up by around 7 or 8, so if we are to do that even if we can attract good kids it will be ten years before the first year graduate and can be sold (even assuming the transfer system allows).
I kind of got the development team theory - pick up some rough diamonds at 16-20 who have fallen out of the system for one reason or another, polish them up and look to benefit. I struggle with the Academy from start up route.
One thing we’ll have to start making our peace with (or not) is increased spending coupled with decreased clarity about where the money is coming from.
But again, if the other plan was £25M on Bearwood this seems to be the economic option.
The owner has made it very clear that developing Kazakhstan youth is his number one ambition. So, joking aside, having a training ground near Heathrow Airport was probably seen as a big plus.
On the other hand if you are the parent of a promising young player you might prefer him to sign for Wycombe where the path to first team football is a lot more visible than getting ‘lost’ in the system at a major PL club.
I don't want to be the Forums Eeyore but would you though honestly? If you were the parent of little seven year old Jonny who's going to be the next big thing and you have toured Arsenal's facility and seen the amazing facilities and best coaches in the country and you can choose between that and a League 1 club that is just starting something new, hiring coaches and pitches, no track record and frankly not certain to still be operating an academy in ten years when Jonny graduates, are you really going to reject Arsenal for your lad?
One thing I'd like for us to do is to keep the Marlow Road site and use that for our Academy. That way, we can develop and keep all of the "local" talent in a place that can be accessed for training. If the academy games are played at Harlington but they train at Marlow Park
I read an article recently about how many of the England squad for Euro 24 began their careers with lower division or even non league clubs. Of course, if your son was a truly exceptional talent being wooed by a pack of PL clubs that might be different, but not many young players fit that description. Also, starting out at a smaller club doesn’t rule out being signed by a bigger club at a later stage.
Wouldn’t it be just great if one of the three wise men( the new directors) went on Wanderers TV and explained the rational and more details of the move to Harrington. As they’ve been pretty silent so far, not expecting it to happen.
I don't think there's any real excuse not to have addressed the supporters yet. They're taking over a football club, they should understand that supporters will want to know a bit about them.
Dan Rice could surely have done a quick five minute q+a with Phil saying who he is, where he's been and what's he's looking forward to achieving. Could be the most clichéd, general stuff ever, but at least we'd know what he sounds like.
Should have done that day 1 really, let alone by now
Get all that Alan. But honestly if it was your kid and you thought he had a chance, faced with the choice between the established highly impressive Arsenal set up or a start up Lg1 academy, would you honestly deny little Johnny his shot at Arsenal?
Plus a 7 year old might look like the next Messi, but at 17 a Sunday league player and vice versa. Going to a big 6 c.ub might put too much pressure on some kids who lack confidence or get overwhelmed by the competition.
Little Johnny would say he wants to play for Arsenal’s academy. And you’re hardly going to deny him of his wishes. You’re his parent. Emotionally attached. The child gets to pick (within reason). And we all know the child is going to pick Arsenal.
The point though surely Eric is surely that if your kid is 7 and has Arsenal sniffing around , you are likely to think he has a shot at being "the next big thing" and give him his chance rather than thinking "well actually I think little Johnny may actually not be that great" so I'll send him to that new lower level start up Lg1 club instead.
I agree it is very possible that at 18 if Johnny is one of the 99% or so 9?) Arsenal Academy kids that don't make it, you the parent may have second thoughts. But honestly if you do choose the Lg1 club and Johnny at 18 says "aw Dad, I am pretty good but if only you had given me my chance to train with Arsenal, I reckon I'd be a pro now or if he made pro, I reckon I'd be an England player now, why didn't you give me the chance" how on earth would you answer him?
I think this is broadly a positive by the club & shows the new owners intent.
I would hope that Marlow Road could become the training facility for WWFC women whilst we still lease it. They will benefit hugely from a dedicated facility which will not only help thier match prep but also attract players.
Regarding an academy, to develop one from scratch will be hugely expensive especially if one is looking to cover all age groups from 7 to 18.
Alternatively; don't we already have some sort of partnership with a local college where their U18s play in Wycombe kit & represent the club in FA youth tournaments? If this is the case then you already have the nucleus of an U18s academy side, alongside the dev squad members who probably make up your U21s. You can then progressively build out U17s & U16s adding to the better local schoolkids with kids rejected by the big London clubs at those age groups. Over the course of 5 years you could build this out to include age groups from 10 to 16.
Why can't Johnny still end up being the next big thing by going to a lower league academy?
If youngsters are pulling up tree at lower league club then they will be snatched by the likes of Man City anyway. As an example Eze was thrown out by Arsenal at 13 and went to Fulham and then Reading Acadamies. Look where he is now?
Vardy and Jarrod Bowen as far as I am aware, never even attended an Academy and Ollie Watkins was in Exeter's Academy.
If youngsters don't get a pro contract, they can at least always get an apprenticeship as a plumber!
Comments
No reason. Which in itself is detail and could be something to complain about.
90 mins after the announcement of a training facility is a childish time to do it. Keep your powder dry, have a day off, wait for information (or not) to come out and then you might have some weight to your complaint
The club statement doesn’t specify how long for. I believe that a poster said a couple of days ago that he was told it was a 5 year lease.
No, not saying that. If it said it was 5, I missed that and thats my error
You, however, said they have to suck this up Decades. Thats 20+. See what I mean about making things up in your head and fearing things that might not happen?
The Reality is the owner has potentially committed us to a 5 year contract on a site we are renting. Thats a hell of a lot less of a commitment than the £25 million purchase of Bearwood, isn't it?
I'm not surprised that ownership of Harlington will remain with Imperial College.
I think they must have owned it for a long time and they did so back in the 1979's when I went the University.
I'm interested to know quite how the finances of renting this and the academy are integrated into WWFC. It will be easier to determine its worth if they are transparently separate.
The announcement today fits with what we have already been told, and without further details we'll never know if the dalliance with Bearwood Park enabled us to negotiate a better deal at Harlington or if we had to look there after the deal to use Readings facilities hit the road block.
£1.5m? Thought it was closer to £3m?
Apologies @FmG. I posted this on the Bearwood thread before checking this thread. At least not quite of Titanic proportions!
i am in the ‘very positive development’ camp with this.
From the little we do know, the new owner does see the development of a football academy as an important part of his interest/investment.
As someone who thinks that is a good thing, I see this as clearly a necessary first step to achieving that as the current facilities, by all accounts, aren’t really up to that.
It also dilutes my concern (or paranoia) a little about about getting too close to our friends across the border in Berkshire.
I can accept that people may have concerns about whether this will put a financial millstone around our necks in the intermediate future, but I would rather the owner do this than splash out stupid wages and transfer fees.
(Although the top priority should of course be returning to the range of real ales on offer in the Vere pre-Americans..)
The deal itself makes a lot of sense and I'm sure it's a good step up. I think we probably need to accept he's going to massively increase outgoings and hope he'll cover them and not lose interest.
I said he could afford to suck it up for decades not that this deal means he'll have to.
I'm sure I remember hearing during the Bearwood saga that the Marlow Road contract was up for renewal, anyone else?
The Couhigs were very open by football club owner standards. Their openness lead to greater discussion and debate on here. It also offered plenty of ammo for their detractors to pick away at. Either way, lots to talk about, argue over and engage with.
I suspect both fans and detractors alike will have a lot less material to digest under the new regime.
Very much in agreement @bookertease, especially your penultimate paragraph. That element of the culture of our club is so important and, in the clear commitment by our new owners to putting the emphasis on development of younger players, seems likely to remain.
I am not sure I get how setting up an academy works from scratch - especially if it is to be based nearer to London. The best kids in London have many academies to choose from - surely the best would choose an Arsenal or a Tottenham or a Chelsea or Crystal Palace with a good reputation rather than a start up with no reputation from a League 1 club. Then I believe those kids get signed up by around 7 or 8, so if we are to do that even if we can attract good kids it will be ten years before the first year graduate and can be sold (even assuming the transfer system allows).
I kind of got the development team theory - pick up some rough diamonds at 16-20 who have fallen out of the system for one reason or another, polish them up and look to benefit. I struggle with the Academy from start up route.
One thing we’ll have to start making our peace with (or not) is increased spending coupled with decreased clarity about where the money is coming from.
But again, if the other plan was £25M on Bearwood this seems to be the economic option.
Because all those clubs kick out players every year which, and I don’t know if you have noticed, we have kinda tried to pick up ourselves.
I suspect we will expand on that and then work down the age groups rather than compete directly with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal etc
The owner has made it very clear that developing Kazakhstan youth is his number one ambition. So, joking aside, having a training ground near Heathrow Airport was probably seen as a big plus.
On the other hand if you are the parent of a promising young player you might prefer him to sign for Wycombe where the path to first team football is a lot more visible than getting ‘lost’ in the system at a major PL club.
I don't want to be the Forums Eeyore but would you though honestly? If you were the parent of little seven year old Jonny who's going to be the next big thing and you have toured Arsenal's facility and seen the amazing facilities and best coaches in the country and you can choose between that and a League 1 club that is just starting something new, hiring coaches and pitches, no track record and frankly not certain to still be operating an academy in ten years when Jonny graduates, are you really going to reject Arsenal for your lad?
One thing I'd like for us to do is to keep the Marlow Road site and use that for our Academy. That way, we can develop and keep all of the "local" talent in a place that can be accessed for training. If the academy games are played at Harlington but they train at Marlow Park
I read an article recently about how many of the England squad for Euro 24 began their careers with lower division or even non league clubs. Of course, if your son was a truly exceptional talent being wooed by a pack of PL clubs that might be different, but not many young players fit that description. Also, starting out at a smaller club doesn’t rule out being signed by a bigger club at a later stage.
Wouldn’t it be just great if one of the three wise men( the new directors) went on Wanderers TV and explained the rational and more details of the move to Harrington. As they’ve been pretty silent so far, not expecting it to happen.
I don't think there's any real excuse not to have addressed the supporters yet. They're taking over a football club, they should understand that supporters will want to know a bit about them.
Dan Rice could surely have done a quick five minute q+a with Phil saying who he is, where he's been and what's he's looking forward to achieving. Could be the most clichéd, general stuff ever, but at least we'd know what he sounds like.
Should have done that day 1 really, let alone by now
Yes, if your a Spurs fan!
Get all that Alan. But honestly if it was your kid and you thought he had a chance, faced with the choice between the established highly impressive Arsenal set up or a start up Lg1 academy, would you honestly deny little Johnny his shot at Arsenal?
Plus a 7 year old might look like the next Messi, but at 17 a Sunday league player and vice versa. Going to a big 6 c.ub might put too much pressure on some kids who lack confidence or get overwhelmed by the competition.
Little Johnny would say he wants to play for Arsenal’s academy. And you’re hardly going to deny him of his wishes. You’re his parent. Emotionally attached. The child gets to pick (within reason). And we all know the child is going to pick Arsenal.
classic Dev here! A real blast from the past, sneaking in a cheeky little condition to enhance his point
What about if they're not the "next big thing" but instead one of the hundreds of youngsters Arsenal take on and discard by the time they are 18?
The point though surely Eric is surely that if your kid is 7 and has Arsenal sniffing around , you are likely to think he has a shot at being "the next big thing" and give him his chance rather than thinking "well actually I think little Johnny may actually not be that great" so I'll send him to that new lower level start up Lg1 club instead.
I agree it is very possible that at 18 if Johnny is one of the 99% or so 9?) Arsenal Academy kids that don't make it, you the parent may have second thoughts. But honestly if you do choose the Lg1 club and Johnny at 18 says "aw Dad, I am pretty good but if only you had given me my chance to train with Arsenal, I reckon I'd be a pro now or if he made pro, I reckon I'd be an England player now, why didn't you give me the chance" how on earth would you answer him?
I think this is broadly a positive by the club & shows the new owners intent.
I would hope that Marlow Road could become the training facility for WWFC women whilst we still lease it. They will benefit hugely from a dedicated facility which will not only help thier match prep but also attract players.
Regarding an academy, to develop one from scratch will be hugely expensive especially if one is looking to cover all age groups from 7 to 18.
Alternatively; don't we already have some sort of partnership with a local college where their U18s play in Wycombe kit & represent the club in FA youth tournaments? If this is the case then you already have the nucleus of an U18s academy side, alongside the dev squad members who probably make up your U21s. You can then progressively build out U17s & U16s adding to the better local schoolkids with kids rejected by the big London clubs at those age groups. Over the course of 5 years you could build this out to include age groups from 10 to 16.
"don't be such a deluded prick Johnny"
K
Why can't Johnny still end up being the next big thing by going to a lower league academy?
If youngsters are pulling up tree at lower league club then they will be snatched by the likes of Man City anyway. As an example Eze was thrown out by Arsenal at 13 and went to Fulham and then Reading Acadamies. Look where he is now?
Vardy and Jarrod Bowen as far as I am aware, never even attended an Academy and Ollie Watkins was in Exeter's Academy.
If youngsters don't get a pro contract, they can at least always get an apprenticeship as a plumber!