The Changing of Crewe Alex's Academy

Crewe Alex and off field changes don't go together very often. They've only really had one major shift of owner in the last 40 years, that being the buyout of Norman Hassall in 2020. So to see them come out today and announce that they were dropping the level of their academy from Category 2 to Category 3 in line with the Elite Player Performance Plan(EPPP) guidelines, it came in a weird way as a shock, but also not a shock.

It's a monumental change from a group of directors that have been increasingly open to change ever since they took over 5 years ago. They have sought out new investment as the clubs financial losses continue to mount. And now, they are moving to adjust the clubs entire DNA and ethos. It's an announcement that triggered a fair amount of thoughts in my mind. So here they are, broken down into negatives and positives:

Negatives

Downsizing

As Charles Grant announced in his interview today, the club will be making people in the academy redundant, as positions that are deemed essential under Cat 2 are either no longer necessary at Cat 3 or only require part time positions rather than full time. For example, with the club announcing that there will be no U21s team next season, Mike Jackson is now without a role, although I would imagine they move him to another position in the club. He won't be the only one affected. There will be others.

This isn't just an ethos change, it's a downsizing. That will also impact the first team as well, as I suspect it's budget will be slimmed down also. The club started the season with 27 contracted players and that number rose to 28 when Ian Lawlor joined in January. That was likely because they needed enough numbers across the first team and U18s to fulfil a minimum of 51 first team games(46 League Two, 3 EFL Trophy, 1 FA Cup and 1 League Cup), 29 U21s games(28 League, 1 Cheshire Senior Cup) and 32 U18s games(28 League, 1 FA Youth Cup and 3 Professional Development League Cup).

With the removal of the U21s games, that reduces the need for such a big squad. I suspect this means the end for players like Fin Roberts and potentially in 12 months time, Phil Croker if he doesn't show signs of stepping up to the first team squad over the summer. The club have 19 players out of contract this season. I'm willing to bet when all their summer business is done, more players will have left than new players arrive.

Lower Competition

Returning to the youngsters in the academy currently, the Alex's U18s currently ply their trade in a development league which includes Sheff United, Charlton and Cardiff amongst others, clubs who have always done well to produce top talent. From next season, the youngsters will be playing against sides who put far less emphasis and funding into their youth systems, which in turn means they won't face the best or even 2nd tier of young talent from across the country.

It's very possible that in downgrading to Cat 3, as the level of competition goes down, so does the speed and quality of the development of the Alex's youngsters.

Less Contact

The difference between Cat 2 and Cat 3 academies also comes in the amount of contact hours coaches can have with the players. Certain programmes and initiatives which are mandatory at Cat 2 will no longer be required at Cat 3. The amount of coaching that takes place on a week to week basis will diminish.

I know Grant said that the club will be looking to run a Cat 3+ academy, with more resources and funding in place than other clubs who operate at this level. But the fact is, if the club are dropping down a level, it's inevitable that as job cuts are made, the youngsters will spend less time at the club than they would have done in past seasons. Only time will tell if that's a bad thing or not, but on an initial glance, I'm not sure how it will help them.

Recruiting

By operating at Step 2, the club always positioned themselves as a club that could offer an alternative to locally based lads who perhaps weren't quite at the levels required by the Liverpools, Man City's or Aston Villa's of the world, but were still a step above the likes of Port Vale, Wrexham, Stockport and Shrewsbury. By putting themselves in with the latter, what is stopping a lad from Leek, like Billy Baker, opting for Port Vale in the future?

What about the lads they pick up from North Wales, like Iago Scott-Abel or Ffranc Vaughan-Evans, from choosing Wrexham? This is the real risk they run, that not only might they not get the top talents. They might not get the 2nd tier talents any more either.

Lower Fees

EPPP sets out how much clubs can expect to receive in compensation should they lose a homegrown player who is out of contract and refuses to sign a new one. It's a pittance quite simply. I won't go into how it's broken down, because I don't fully understand it myself. But the Alex could now be faced with the prospect of having a super talented youngster come through their system, reach the level of scholar and then get pinched by a Cat 1/2 team with a small 6 figure sum in compensation. At best.

When they operated at Cat 2, they would have been able to command better fees. That will soon be gone.

Less Funding

The level of funding provided by the Premier League to the Alex for operating a Cat 2 academy was apparently around £840k this season. I'm not sure how true that was or how much it might have changed in recent years. But in dropping to a lower category, that level of funding will drop significantly next season.

How it affects the Alex's overall budget and losses remains to be seen. It could be that doing this will allow the club to cut their sizeable annual losses. Or, it might not make much difference, as the money saved on reducing staff and operating costs might be offset by the reduced funding.

No U21s

I mentioned it in my first point, but the removal of the entire U21s level at the club is a sizeable shift. I know Lee Bell has been disparaging about the quality of U21s football, but it does have some use. It provides a place for recently recovered players to build up their fitness. See Shilow Tracey as an example. It allows players not currently in the squad to keep their fitness ticking over, such as Stan Dancey and Dion Rankine amongst others.

What will happen to the depth players who don't make the squad and who potentially won't be playing any football of any kind, aside from inconsistently scheduled friendlies perhaps? And what about the U18s? I'm sure some of the lads called up to the U21s found playing against players 2-3 years their senior beneficial at times, as it allowed them to see the standard they needed to raise themselves to.

As I'll go into shortly, removing the U21s is probably a net positive, but there are definite downsides to having no games at the level between the first team and U18s.

Positives

No U21s

This is, as I said above, probably a net positive. Not having to scrabble together a side to play 28 U21s games a season is probably not a bad thing. Asking U18s to play on Mondays after they probably had already played 2 days prior felt like you were pushing young lads to their breaking points. Forcing the club to fund kits, equipment, staff, travel, even accomodation at times for these U21s games felt too much.

This season they've travelled to Millwall, Swansea, Charlton, Bristol City and Bournemouth to play games. It's ridiculous and for what actual benefit? Does all the time and money spent on maintaining an U21s team get reflected in a player going for significantly more in the future? I don't think so.

Then we have the physical toll on the players themselves. Take players like Isaac Irwin and Tom Graves from the current scholar group. They have featured in almost all the U21s games, in addition to playing for the U18s. They are probably looking at having played around 40-50 games, which for me is too much for young lads. Is it any wonder that the likes of Holicek and Lunt have suffered from injury issues in recent years given they probably spent their scholarship years playing way too much football?

Letting the U18s solely focus on playing U18s football, without the need to constantly pluck them away from their age group to fill out U21s games is a good thing.

Regionalised Games

Another benefit to the youth groups is that they won't have to play teams nationally. Should they drop into the EFL Youth Alliance as expected, the divisions at that level are regionalised. Gone would be the lengthy trips up and down the country and instead, the furthest south they would have to travel would be places like Burton and Walsall.

Less travel means money saved, but it also means less strain on the young lads in terms of time away from families, families which now will likely be able to get to watch their sons play in more games, given more will be local to them. This will have beneficial ripples that go deeper than we might think.

Success Stories

If you think this downgrade will lead to the further diminishing of the quantity and quality of youth products being produced by the academy, I would say don't be so hasty. Port Vale have made a number of sales of homegrown talent in recent years whilst operating a Cat 3 academy, including Baylee Dipepa and Tommy McDermott. AFC Wimbledon with Jack Rudoni and Ayoub Assal, Exeter with Oli Watkins and Ethan Ampadu. It's very possible to produce good players when operating below Cat 2.

Loans > U21s

With the U21s being scrapped moving forward, that will free up young lads just turning pro to go and get valuable experience in mens football in the non-leagues. This season for example, Stan Dancey, Olly Armstrong and Luca Moore have not gone out on loan and have instead played only U21s football. Now, future graduates moving into the first team squad can quickly go on loan. That can only be a good thing.

Reducing Losses

As I did point out above, there is no guarantee that lower the category of the academy sees their losses reduce, but I'm hoping that in doing the cost/benefit analysis over the last few years, the board have concluded that it will indeed see their losses come down, even slightly. Given the shifting ground under the Alex's feet in terms of how the academy was funded and how much of it was from the owners pockets compared how much came from the FA/PL, it feels like the club were left with no other choice.

Conclusion

Here's the rub. Of the 72 clubs in the EFL currently, only 20 maintain a Category 2 academy, compared to 37 who run either a Cat 3 or Cat 4. And of the 20 in Cat 2, only 3 are currently in L2. That's telling. A sizeable portion of the EFL, over half, find sustaining a Cat 3 academy do-able. They still post large losses, but that is more likely a reflection of their lavish first team spending.

For me, this is the correct step. Yes, the academy and it being at the core of everything about Crewe Alexandra is lessened by this move. Will the club still be able to attract top young talents into the club? For me, as long as they commit to 2 things, then yes they will.

Step 1 is the increasing need for them to poach the cast offs from the local Cat 1 academies, namely Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Everton, Stoke and Aston Villa. These teams stockpile ridiculous amounts of lads at all age ranges and inevitably, they get slowly cut adrift as they approach scholarship age. The Alex need to be ready to jump in and grab those players and really sell the Cat 3+ image that Grant was promoting.

Step 2 is that they simply have to keep offering a pathway to the first team. That selling point is how I think they were able to get the top talents in the first place. It's critical now that they continue to keep that path open. Do that and I'm convinced that they can continue to attract talented youngsters to the club.

EPPP crippled the club and it's no surprise that since the day it was first implemented, the club have not even come close to selling a player for close to a million pounds, let alone the £3m that Nick Powell sold for. I admire the club, under 2 owners, for trying to make Cat 2 work for as long as they did. But the writing was on the wall for a while now.

Now, what this means for any potential investment and whether it's imminent or not, you can make arguments in either direction. It could be that in bringing forward season ticket sales and making this move with the academy, the club are lacking any serious investors and this is them pulling out all the stops to keep the lights on over the next few years as they desperately bid for time.

But I could also argue that this makes them more attractive. By operating a Cat 3+ system which isn't as pricey to maintain but still stands out above their peers given the facilities Reaseheath boasts, surely new investors look more favourably on them. Or it could be that new investors are imminent and they have asked the club to downgrade the academy as a way to make their onboarding easier. We simply don't know at this stage.

Regardless of whether investment is imminent or it remains a long way off, the club have taken the right step. They are cutting their cloth accordingly. What does this mean for the long term future of the club? Well, I don't think we can say for certain just yet.