Forest Green Rovers have announced that the club’s academy has been upgraded to Category 3 status by the Premier League and EFL.
The Green Devils invested significant funds and recruited new support staff to their youth set up following the club’s promotion to League 2, and after just one season in the Football League they have risen from Category 4 to 3.
The decision puts their academy on par with other clubs such as League 1 outfits Portsmouth and Plymouth, along with local rivals Cheltenham Town.
Upgrading the academy means that the club has met all of the criteria required to work to the latest rules and recommendations from football’s governing bodies, and will be able to operate in the EFL at all age groups from U9s upwards, whilst this was previously restricted to U17s and over.
A combination of ten key indicators for academies are used to assess each club, some of which include the vision and strategy of the football club, the coaching and player development programme, talent identification and corporate and financial stability.
Recently the academy has brought through players such as Tom Anderson, who was released by the club at the end of the season having made three appearances for Forest Green in cup competitions, and Jordan Stevens, who is currently at Leeds United.
? | Jordan Stevens, a January signing from Forest Green, comes on to make his #LUFC debut tonight 2-3
Watch ➡ https://t.co/IxHFYAR4ah pic.twitter.com/wHPzgN8LG9
— Leeds United (@LUFC) March 19, 2018
The academy manager, Scott Bartlett, told the club’s website: “Becoming a Category 3 club means we will be able to recruit the best players in our area, keep our best players and coach them a lot more – it’s a massive step forward and gives us a fantastic opportunity to continue to grow into a brilliant academy.
“Being in the EFL and working to the Elite Player Performance Plan has made a significant difference to the way that we operate and report within our academy, and the Premier League and EFL have been hugely supportive of what we’re doing and our plans for the future.
“It’s a proud day – I don’t know of another club that has gone from Non-League, to Category 4 and then to Category 3 in the space of 10 months.
“I’d like to thank the board for supporting our application and all the academy staff for their help, in particularly Vicky French who has worked tirelessly to ensure we were able to succeed in every area.”
Dale Vince, chairman at Forest Green Rovers, told the club’s website of his delight at the recognition of the academy’s work, saying: “Since promotion we’ve gone from zero (in Non-League) to Cat 3 in one season, which is an incredible achievement by Scotty and his team.
“It means we’ll be able to offer better facilities to young players and an increased possibility of progression to our first team and beyond.
“I sat in on the presentation to the EFL and PL and one thing that struck me was the total alignment between our first team playing philosophy and the training of our academy players – it’s a really good piece of teamwork.”
