With economic prudence weighing heavily on the mind of most English clubs, the idea of prospering as a result of your academy system is as attractive as it has ever been. Clubs look back at Manchester United’s golden generation of Beckham, Giggs, Scholes and the Nevilles, or the success Arsenal have had under Arsene Wenger in developing their own players and wonder: why shouldn’t they too benefit from their own academies? Southampton, as we all know, has done just that.
The Saints academy was set up in the late 1990s, a time when they were still in the top flight. They were eventually relegated in 2005; yet, whilst many clubs would have taken relegation as a reason to cut back on spending for the academy, Southampton recognised that it could be their ticket back to the top. Indeed the sales of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain alone have recouped around £40m for the Saints, and that’s before including the other graduates such as Chris Baird and Wayne Bridge. Not a bad return for an academy that costs just over £2m a year to run. So what makes Southampton’s academy so successful?
Ethos
Many clubs consider home-grown talent to be something of a bonus whilst relying mainly on purchasing players from other clubs, not at Southampton. Academy manager Matt Crocker said of the Saints’ youth system:
“The model is Barcelona, who have home-grown players and success. The club has always had a philosophy of giving youth a chance and raising its own talent, from Mick Channon to Danny and Rod Wallace, Matt Le Tissier and Alan Shearer. What we’re doing now is continuing those traditions at even higher levels.”
The sales of recent stars, in particular to the north London clubs, may have helped Southampton climb from administration and League One to second place in the Championship but the end goal for Southampton is for the youngsters they develop to stay at the club and help bring success to St Mary’s.
Hierarchy
Southampton may have watched their neighbours and rivals Portsmouth floundering under a string of detrimental owners but the lessons have not gone unlearnt. Markus Liebherr took control of the club in July 2009 and his manifesto was markedly different from that of Portsmouth’s owners’. Liebherr continued the investment in the academy and following his death in August 2010 the club’s chairman, and former banker, Nicola Cortese, has remained a fervent perpetrator of the self-sustaining model.
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When Cortese came to the club in 2009 he outlined a five-year plan to take Southampton back to the top. By his own admission they are ahead of plan, but then again – Cortese claims he always is. Central to Cortese’s plan for the club is the academy. Speaking about the behind-the-scenes set up Cortese said:
“We planned ahead. Everything we have been doing is Premier League standard. The whole operation behind is Premier League already. There will be lots of side-affects that will be different and we are prepared for that, whether that is this year, next year or the year after.”
So, will promotion to the Premier League mean that the Saints have to focus their spending on other areas? Definitely not, says Les Reed – the club’s head of football development:
“The moment you are in the Premiership you have got to be sustainable. The academy is very important to become a sustainable business. We would want to see a starting eleven in the Premier League that is fed from our youth development.”
Cortese is not the only original thinker Southampton have hired in the last decade. In July 2005 former England Rugby Union coach Clive Woodward was brought in to be technical support director. The plan might not have worked out exactly as Southampton would have liked, Woodward left after only eighteen months in the post, but the then Chairman, Michael Wilde, said of Woodward:
“Clive has made a considerable difference to the organisation of this club over the last 12 months. He has opened our eyes to new methods of training which have been introduced to positive effect.”
Moreover, it should be remembered that during Woodward’s time at Southampton the club produced its most famous, and profitable graduates of recent times – Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott. Whatever you think of Woodward’s time at the club, if nothing else his introduction to Southampton demonstrated a free thinking and innovative club, ready to try new ideas in the quest for their own progression.
Belief
Behind the gates of Southampton’s training ground there is a sign that says ‘The Southampton Way’ which is explained as ‘The best in class both on and off the field of play’ and it is clear that those at St Mary’s truly believe in their project. Les Reed, a former FA technical director, said that the Southampton ‘way’ will be implemented starting with those at the very bottom of the club – the under eights.
“We want to win matches by keeping the ball on the ground and therefore we have to develop players who can do that. The parents understand it, they enjoy it, they want their kids to be playing a good style of football and hopefully over time that becomes the culture of the club.”
Reed believes that the German model has much to teach Southampton.
“The philosophy of player-development at Bayern Munich is two [players] each year for the first team, two for the league, and two for the rest of German football.”
The general consensus at the club seems to be that Southampton believe this is possible, and why not. Another £15m has recently been invested in training facilities; the Liebherr family have transferred £33m they were owed by the club in to shares and the club look extremely likely to return to the top flight next season.
Ricky Lambert may be the club’s, and the Championship’s, top scorer this season but if you ask a Saints fan who their most important player is they will say Adam Lallana.
Lallana is from the Southampton academy and graduated the same year as Walcott and Bale. Saints fans will be hoping in the future they are in a position to hold on to all of their most promising youth players. Even if that scenario still appears far away, with such excellent training facilities, backroom staff and a progressive culture to match, the future for Southampton is looking undeniably bright.
Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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