Are Crewe Alex moving away from youth development?

Crewe Alex have had a disastrous start to the season. 2 defeats from 2 games isn't unheard of, but them losing 1-0 at Barrow whilst not having a shot on target and then getting destroyed 5-0 at home by Chesterfield in a scoreline that flattered them feels like we're in new territory.

And a lot of discussion is happening as to why they are in such a bad position right now. I could easily write an article discussing what I think has been a grossly overrated transfer policy which hasn't returned anywhere near as much success as some would claim. I might do one once the window shuts.

No, today I was to delve into a deeper issue. It's been leveled by some fans that Lee Bell and his coaching staff aren't prioritising youth development alongside the need to win football matches. And on the surface, the numbers suggest they are. In their first 2 league games, only 3 academy products have started each game. Add in the bench players and that number was 6 at Barrow and 5 against Chesterfield.

Considering they finished the 19-20 season with 7 in the starting XI and 2 more on the bench, the drop has been noticeable. But, is the issue that the club are moving away from developing youth players? For me, no. Let's get into it.

Ten of 26

In this squad of 26 contracted players, only 10 hail from the academy: Tom Booth, Zac Williams, Lewis Billington, Lucas Sant, Nathan Robinson, Charlie Finney, Owen Lunt, Matus Holicek, Joel Tabiner and Callum Agius. That feels like a number that is lower than it's been in a long, long time. So, is Bell just refusing to play them? Also no.

Tom Booth would be the number 1 when fit. Bell mentioned he was close to returning on Thursday but didn't make the squad yesterday, so perhaps they are being cautious with him. Once he gets back to full fitness, he'll start I'd imagine, especially if Marschall is as bad as everyone claims. What about the rest? Well, Billington and Holicek have started one of the 2 games and made the squad for both. Williams and Tabiner have started both. So, that's half of the players accounted for. What about the rest?

Well, Finney is clearly not where he needs to be fitness wise, or else he'd have played in pre-season. I expect him to start tomorrow in the U21s for example. What about Lunt? Well, he was on the bench at Barrow and started in the League Cup at Rotherham. Would I expect either of those 2 to start at this point in time? No, not given they are coming off long term absences. In the squad, yes. But getting lots of minutes? Probably not yet.

Should Sant be in the squad more? Not yet. He's a first year pro. Robinson is injured, so he's not a factor. Finally, what about Agius? Yes, he should be in the squad without a doubt. He might be a first year pro, but his exclusion yesterday was baffling given they had no Bogle or Long.

So, that's all 10 players covered. 1 is out injured, 3 more are being eased back in after injuries, 1 is a first year pro who wouldn't normally make the squad and 5 more are in and around the team. I don't see how that equates to them moving away from youth development.

For me, the bigger issue is that they only have 10 graduates in the squad. So, let's delve into the topic of why that is.

Diminishing Returns

So, how did we get to this point? How is it that there are only 10 graduates in the squad?Well, let's look at who has graduated from the academy since the summer of 2020 and it tells a story. Just 3 players graduated from the academy in 2020. They were Tyreece Onyeka, Nathan Woodthorpe and Joe Robbins. A quick google search shows they are currently playing for Leek Town, Chester and Stalybridge Celtic.

The 2021 class produced nothing. That's right, no 2nd year scholars earned deals out of that group. Moving quickly on to 2022 and that group has 50% of the players currently in the squad, those being Booth, Billington, Finney, Holicek and Tabiner. A 6th, Connor O'Riordan, was of course sold by the Alex back in January. That was clearly a decent crop.

In 2023, they signed 3 in Zak Kempster-Down, Lunt and Max Woodcock. After just 1 year in the squad, Kempster-Down and Woodcock were released and as far as I can tell, neither have found new homes yet. This summer, 3 more came through in Agius, Robinson and Sant. Obviously time will tell how they pan out.

The numbers

Given roughly 8-12 2nd year scholars graduate from the academy every summer, the Alex have found only 16 worthy of professional contracts in the last 5 groups. And of those, 5 were released within a year or 2 of moving into the first team. So, that number drops to 11. 11 in the space of 5 years just isn't enough. It's nowhere near enough for an academy that costs significant amounts year on year to maintain.

One decent year for graduates isn't enough. And then you realise in 3 out of 4 classes between 2020 and 2023(2022 aside) produced 1 first team calibre player. Again, it's nowhere near enough. Graduating just 3 players in 3 of the 5 classes and none in a 4th is not good enough.

It raises serious questions about why they aren't producing more talent, both in terms of quality and quantity. Do we regret seeing any of those youngsters who've been released go? No. Are we now starting to distrust the club in how they evaluate youth talent? Also no. It's one of the few areas that I do trust them on. They rarely get a released player wrong. For every Chey Dunkley or Toby Mullarkey, there are 10 players who drop into the non-leagues and are never heard from again.

Should they have given some of the youngsters who've been let go longer to flourish? Again, no. We've criticised them for holding onto players well into their 20s who realistically had no chance of making the squad. See Billy Sass-Davies and Regan Griffiths for 2 recent examples. I have no problem with them cutting players after 1-2 years of them turning pros.

What's next?

So, what happens next? Well, as I said, I expect the numbers of graduates in the team to increase. Booth will return and start and if the more senior players struggle to perform, we'll likely see Agius and Lunt get opportunities and potentially Finney too. But I don't think it's fair to say Bell doesn't want to use younger players. The issue as to why the numbers are so low go deeper than him and his philosophies. And until the club find a way to give him more youngsters to work with through better scholar groups, we're going to continue to see the number of graduates in the match day squad remain low.

Fans need to accept that reality and hope it improves in 2025-26 and beyond. There are plenty of other issues at the club right now.