Full name | Cardiff City | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Bluebirds | |||
Founded | 2004 | |||
Chairman | Mehmet Dalman | |||
Manager | Darren Purse | |||
League | Professional Development League 2 | |||
The Cardiff City F.C. Academy is the youth football academy at Welsh side Cardiff City. The category two academy has a range of players from ages 7 to 18. The Cardiff City Under-21 side is the highest age group of football other than the senior first team at the club, although the side is allowed to field up to three overage players and a goalkeeper. The age range was initially set at under-21 until 2016 when the limit was increased to players under 23 years of age. From the summer of 2022, the team once again became an Under-21 team. The side competes in the Professional Development League 2.
The youth system at the club was given academy status in 2004 following the investment of chairman Sam Hammam. The academy had several managers in its formative years, including John Kerr who died suddenly while employed in the position. Several players who progressed through the academy in the first five years went on to play for the senior side and represent Wales at international level, such as Joe Ledley, Darcy Blake, Chris Gunter and Aaron Ramsey. Former Cardiff player Neal Ardley spent five years in charge of the academy before departing in 2012, witnessing the construction of the House of Sport training complex.
Dick Bate spent two years as the academy manager between 2012 and 2014 before being replaced by James McCarthy. The academy attracted national attention in 2019 when player development manager Craig Bellamy and other staff members were accused of bullying players. Bellamy stepped down from the role and a later enquiry stated that the environment at the academy had been "unacceptable". In 2020, the club announced plans to upgrade the academy to category one status, the highest possible rating available, and appointed Steve Morison as manager of the under-23 side.
In the post-war era, Cardiff City had developed players using local feeder clubs in a network established under the management of Cyril Spiers. With competitive football suspended during wartime, Spiers had focused his efforts on attracting the best local young players. [1] Spiers resigned from the club before the end of the war over a dispute with the board but his work reaped rewards for his replacement Billy McCandless. [2] He led the club to the Football League Third Division South title with several of Spiers' former youth players in the side. [3]
In the early 1990s, Cardiff's youth system introduced a number of players into the senior squad. The most prominent of these, such as Nathan Blake, Damon Searle and Jason Perry, were known in the media as "the darling buds of Eddie May" in reference to the club's manager. [4]
By the late 1990s, Cardiff chairman Steve Borley led an investment in the club's youth system along with manager Frank Burrows. The move was in direct response to several Cardiff-born players, including future Welsh internationals Craig Bellamy, Mark Pembridge, Gareth Bale and David Cotterill, leaving the area to sign for more sophisticated youth programmes. [5] [6] Neal Ardley, who managed the academy for five years, later stated that during this period, the youth system at Cardiff was an "unattractive prospect" and that staff at the club had described how "we could not have attracted those players at that point because the club had nothing to offer." [7]
Chairman Sam Hammam announced plans for the club to be granted academy status within two years in 2003. This coincided with the youth team using the improved training facilities at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel and the announcement of a new sponsorship deal for the academy with Brace's Bakery. [8] The club's youth system, ranging from 7- to 18-year-olds, [6] was granted academy status in 2004, with the first match under the new designation being an under-18s fixture against Everton in August of that year. Hammam projected an annual cost of £1 million to run the academy. [9] Hammam invested in the academy as part of his business plan to improve the long-term development of the club's infrastructure, hoping to produce Welsh players for the club's first team. [5] The academy was initially managed by Matthew Crocker before he left the role and was replaced by coach and former professional John Kerr. He remained in the role before his death in 2006 while on holiday in France. [10]
In its formative years under Kerr, the academy enjoyed some success with five players making their professional debuts for the first team within the first two years. Although four, Joe Ledley, Darcy Blake, Curtis McDonald and Joe Jacobson, had all been with the club prior to the academy's founding and one, Cameron Jerome, had been released by another team before signing for Cardiff. [6] Lee Robinson was appointed as Kerr's replacement in June 2006. [11] During the 2006–07 season, two further graduates of the academy, Chris Gunter and Aaron Ramsey, both made their professional debuts. [12] [13] In making his debut, Ramsey became the youngest player in the club's history to feature for the senior side at 16 years and 124 days. [13] Robinson was credited as being a key figure in Ramsey's decision to reject interest from other clubs by local media, but left Cardiff suddenly in 2007 with the club refusing to elaborate on the decision. [14]
Former Cardiff player Neal Ardley was appointed as academy manager in September 2007 shortly after his retirement from playing. One of Ardley's early initiatives was the scouting of local parks teams, with a side being organised to take on Cardiff's academy players. The match resulted in several local players being signed to the academy, including Ibrahim Farah. [15] By this time, Cardiff's academy was also operating five development centres around South Wales, including Brecon, Newport, Neath and the South Wales valleys. [7]
In 2010, the Academy moved into the newly built Cardiff City House of Sport (HOS), an indoor football centre and multi-sport venue. The sports facilities are also used by the wider local community in Cardiff. [16] The first phase of the building was opened in November 2010 and it was expended in the second phase (House of Sport 2) in April 2013. [17] The third phase of the building (House of Sport 3) was opened on 18 January 2016. [18]
In 2011, a new age group team was launched as the Cardiff City under-21 side to compete in a newly formed development league following a restructure of reserve and youth team football in the English football league system. Former Cardiff player Kevin Cooper was appointed as the team's manager. Malky Mackay was appointed as manager of Cardiff's first team in 2011 and stated his hope of the club's youth system providing more players for the first team. In his first season, Mackay gave debuts to Joe Ralls and Theo Wharton and also gave debuts to several academy players in the following years, including Declan John and Ben Nugent. [19] The club's takeover by Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan also led to the opening of an academy in Kuala Lumpur. [20]
At the start of the 2012–13 season, a new academy tier system was introduced in English football with clubs judged on the quality of facilities and the support they provide. Cardiff applied for the highest category but were eventually designated a category two academy. [21] [22] Academy manager Ardley, who had applied for the senior team managers position along with Mackay, left the club in October 2012 after being appointed manager of League Two side AFC Wimbledon. [23]
Dick Bate, who had previously worked as the elite coaching director for the Football Association, was named as Ardley's replacement in November 2012. [24] He remained in the role until June 2014 when the club underwent a major staff reshuffle which included Bate and Kevin Cooper leaving their roles within the academy. [25] Academy coach James McCarthy was appointed as the new manager of the academy following Bate's departure. [26]
In 2016, the regulations involving tier academies were criticised when Rabbi Matondo left Cardiff's academy to sign for Manchester City. Under the regulations, teams with tier one academies, such as Manchester City, can freely sign players from lower ranked academies. [27] Cardiff received compensation, believed to be around £500,000, [28] for Matondo who was sold by Manchester City to FC Schalke 04 for around £10 million without appearing for the senior side. [29] The same year, the Premier League raised the age limit of the Premier Development League sides to under-23s. [30]
Following the arrival of Neil Warnock as first team manager in 2018, the youth system at Cardiff underwent a significant overhaul. This included the departure of several coaches and the arrival of former players Craig Bellamy and Andy Legg. Warnock criticised the under-23 squad, stating "and I don't think it's giving the younger players, the 18-year-olds, the right opportunities". [31] Bellamy was appointed as a player development manager, assisting all of the academies age groups. [32] The club's under-18 side went on to win the Premier Development League Division Two South in the 2018–19 season. [33] However, less than a year into the role, Bellamy stood down after an accusation of bullying from the parents of a former academy player which he denied. [34] No charges were brought against Bellamy but an independent investigation commissioned by the club described that there had been an "unacceptable coaching environment" within the academy for which Bellamy later apologised and stated "The allegations [...] made against me were difficult for me to come to terms with as I deplore bullying and any form of discrimination." [35] Following his departure, Bellamy criticised Warnock over his reluctance in promoting academy players to the senior side, although Warnock responded by stating his belief that there were no players of sufficient quality within the youth system at the time. [36]
Warnock left the club in 2019 and was replaced by Neil Harris. Soon after, the club announced plans to upgrade the academy to a category one facility in the hope of increasing the number of players impacting on the senior side. [37] One of Harris' first appointments at the club was the hiring of his former player Steve Morison as the new manager of the under-23 squad. [38]
Since the youth system at the club was granted academy status in June 2004, several players have gone on to feature for the first team. The following current or former players have made at least one senior appearance for the club after having been part of the youth academy.
The following players have gone on to play senior professional football after having left or been released by the academy.
Those in bold have been capped at full international level.
As of 30 January 2023 [82]
The Under-21 development team compete in the Professional Development League 2. Players with squad numbers have appeared in or are part of the senior squad but regularly return to play for the under-21 team.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
The under-18s team play in Division 2 South of the Professional Development League.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Craig Douglas Bellamy is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at Premier League side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norwich City, where he made his professional debut in 1996. He signed for Premier League side Coventry City in 2000, breaking the club's record transfer fee, but suffered relegation in his only season. He joined Newcastle United the following year where he helped the club achieve two top-four finishes during a four year spell. Bellamy fell out with manager Graeme Souness in 2005 and spent the latter part of the 2004–05 season on loan at Celtic, where he won the Scottish Cup.
Peter Michael Whittingham was an English professional footballer. His primary position was as a central midfielder, although he also sometimes operated as a wide midfielder on both the left and right.
Neal Christopher Ardley is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He was most recently the manager of York City.
Lee Anthony Peltier is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Rotherham United. While he has played in positions in both defence and midfield, he primarily plays as a right-back or centre-back. He started his career with his hometown club Liverpool, making his professional debut as a teenager in 2006. After loan spells with Hull City and Yeovil Town he signed for the latter on a permanent basis in 2008.
Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The team has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929. Their most recent season in the top flight was the 2018–19 Premier League season.
Darcy James Blake is a Welsh former professional footballer. During his career, he won 14 caps for Wales at international level, scoring once, and made more than 100 appearances in the Football League.
Jason Peter Bowen is a Welsh former international footballer. During his career, he made over 500 league appearances and was capped twice by Wales in a career which started at Swansea City. He made over 100 league appearances for the club and played in their 1994 Football League Trophy final victory over Huddersfield Town. In 1995, he was sold to Birmingham City for £350,000.
Stuart Antony Alan O'Keefe is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for National League side, Aldershot Town.
Joseph Bennett is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Oxford United.
Simon William Moore is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Coventry City. He also represented the Isle of Wight in the 2009 Island Games.
Joseph William Ralls is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains EFL Championship club Cardiff City.
Declan Christopher John is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a left wing-back for EFL League Two club Salford City on loan from EFL League One club Bolton Wanderers and the Wales national team.
Mark Alexander Hudson is an English football manager and former professional footballer who was most recently manager at Cardiff City. A centre-back, he began his professional career with Fulham after progressing through the club's youth academy. He made his senior debut in a League Cup match in 2000 but made just two further first team appearances for Fulham. He spent two spells on loan with Oldham Athletic in 2003 before joining Crystal Palace on loan after Oldham manager Iain Dowie moved between the two clubs. He joined Palace on a permanent basis soon after as they spent one season in the Premier League before establishing himself in the first team following their return to the Championship.
Thomas Mark Harris is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for EFL League One club Oxford United and the Wales national team. A versatile forward, he is able to play as a winger or as a striker.
Cameron Terry Coxe is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a defender for Boreham Wood.
Rabbi Matondo is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the Wales national team.
Rubin James Colwill is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for EFL Championship club Cardiff City and the Wales national team.
James Rowberry is a Welsh football manager who was most recently in charge of EFL League Two team Newport County. He began his coaching career at an early age, and at 29 years old became one of the youngest people to ever gain the UEFA Pro Licence. Rowberry has previously been a youth coach at Newport and Cardiff City, where he was made first-team coach in 2014.
Specific
Bibliography