EFL Youth Development Week: Sunderland’s bold standard and search for ‘utopia’

Wassall was appointed in 2023 having previously served as academy manager at Derby – shaping, amongst others, Liam Delap’s early journey, the now-established careers of Leeds defender Jayden Bogle, Jason Knight and Max Bird, now both of Bristol City, and Crystal Palace midfielder Will Hughes.

His remit is a complex one but essentially to head a group of 12 regional managers who assist clubs in adhering to the guidelines and criteria set out in the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) around the general management of academies.

It’s all part of an overarching desire to grow a culture of investing in youth development, not just at the early stages, but all the way through to senior level.

Last season, Bristol City achieved their first play-off finish since 2008 with Bath schoolmates Max O’Leary and Zak Vyner playing every minute of every match, as part of a squad in-part funded by previous sales of academy graduates Lloyd Kelly, Antoine Semenyo and Alex Scott to Bournemouth.

Admittedly, originally via Arsenal, but Sydie Peck progressed through the Sheffield United academy from 17 to form the bedrock of their midfield which also would have had Ollie Arblaster by his side if not for injury. Andre Brooks and Femi Seriki were also heavily involved for the Blades.

This term, Cardiff City’s rebuild and revival in League One has been driven by Rubin Colwill, Ronan Kpakio and Dylan Lawlor – all products of the club’s academy.

At present, the average across the league is one academy player per game across 46 matches on every gameweek. The hope for Wassall is that number can be doubled – “utopia, from a youth development point of view”.

“There are clubs that are really doing it well and there are other clubs that we think can improve,” added Wassall.

“Our big challenge is to try to get the message out to everybody – what’s the point of investing in youth development, if you’re not going to use it?

“It’s easier said than done, and we know that if it was that easy everybody would be playing five or six academy graduates every week – but we just know it’s possible.”

While in theory the concept of having a constant stream of homegrown talent, giving clubs a sense of local identity is an easy sell, in practice, given the demands on EFL managers – the average shelf life in the Championship is marginally over a year – it is decidedly more complicated.

How and why should a manager under constant pressure and in need of immediate results have the necessary patience and suffer the inconsistencies of youth?

Sunderland may be the example for others to follow, but they are one of 29 clubs in the top four divisions of the English game whose academies have been graded ‘Cat 1’ – a measure of the work undertaken but also something which requires significant investment in staff and facilities.

Running an academy is expensive – total annual expenditure across the EFL’s three divisions is around £150m – amid the backdrop of clubs throughout the pyramid dealing with substantial losses.

Time is money and both commodities are largely in short supply across the EFL.