Steve 
Football club nicknames tend to fall into one of two camps. There are the unimaginative: The Villans (Aston Villa), the Reds (Liverpool) and the Citizens (Manchester City), etc. Then there are the unusual: the Eagles (Crystal Palace), the Toffees (Everton) and the Hatters (Luton). The one we are dealing with today probably falls into the … Read more
Very few clubs have a youth academy with a reputation like that of West Ham. The backbone of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team was made up of West Ham academy graduates in Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst. Then when I was a teenager, it produced the likes of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael … Read more
For many years Chelsea’s youth academy was viewed somewhat as a laughing stock. The commonly held perception was that a youth setup at the club was almost pointless when Roman Abramovich’s millions could buy the club any player they want. But slowly but surely the club put more focus on developing academy players and the … Read more
Bayern Munich is undoubtedly the biggest team in Germany, and one of the biggest in the world. Whilst they have the financial muscle to outmaneuver any team in the country a great deal of the club’s historical success has been built on its stellar youth setup. Numerous graduates from its academy have gone on to … Read more
Barcelona’s fabled La Masia youth academy has a reputation like no other. Perhaps only the Ajax youth academy can run it close in terms of the quality of players it has produced. And of course, probably the most famous graduate of La Masia is widely acknowledged as the greatest player to have ever played the … Read more