"The future's bright for Watford"

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Prentice, Dec 22, 2010.

  1. Prentice

    Prentice Administrator

    http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/upthef...uture-s-bright-for-watford-s-golden-boys.aspx

    Last season was a somewhat testing time for Watford fans. Memories of their brief stint in the Premier League in 2006-07 were fading, Brendan Rogers had left the club for Reading and the club's financial health was deteriorating rapidly.

    The multi-million pound sale of top players Tamas Priskin, Mike Williamson, Tommy Smith and Jobi McAnuff, coupled with a last-minute intervention from majority shareholder Lord Ashcroft, was just about enough to stave off administration last December, and young boss Malky Mackay superbly battled through the drama to guide the Hornets to mid-table obscurity.

    But with Mackay’s budget and squad shrinking again in the summer, the Golden Boys featured in most expert predictions as relegation candidates, and the mood among the club’s fans was far from optimistic.

    Fast forward to a cold Friday night in December. A Danny Graham brace, one either side of Jordan Mutch’s cross-shot, hands Mackay’s side an extraordinary 3-1 win at QPR, in the process inflicting the league leaders’ first defeat of the season. Watford's fifth away win left them just three points off the play-offs.

    A quick browse of the squad from that televised win explains exactly why things are very much on the up at Vicarage Road – and it's nothing to do with injections of cash.

    Seven of that 18-man matchday squad had progressed through the ranks at the club, ranging from fans’ favourite Lloyd Doyley, who has made over 280 appearances for the side and is approaching his testimonial season, to new kid on the block Gavin Massey, a striker who has just turned 18.

    Massey made his debut for the first team on the final day of last season, and the occasion marked a significant moment for the club and its revolutionary youth academy as he was the first graduate from Watford’s Harefield Academy to go on and play for the first team.

    [​IMG]
    Is seven-goal Marvin Sordell (centre) destined for the top?

    Watford have previous when it comes to developing top young players. During their remarkable rise between 1977 and 1984 from a run-of-the-mill Fourth Division outfit to League and FA Cup runners-up, manager Graham Taylor nurtured some of the best players of the time, including Luther Blissett and John Barnes.

    More recently, their last spell in the top flight was punctuated by the record sale of future England winger Ashley Young to Aston Villa for just shy of £10 million.

    The current side is littered with promising young players too. Goalkeeper Scott Loach moved to the club at 18 and is now reportedly being chased by a whole host of Premier League sides following a call-up to Fabio Capello’s England squad, while striker Marvin Sordell bagged five goals in the first eight games of the current campaign.

    But it is the next clutch of youngsters that Hornets’ fans should really be looking forward to, thanks to the Harefield Academy. The centre has become the envy of clubs across England and Europe, with even the masters of youth development, Dutch side Ajax, paying an inquisitive visit to Hertfordshire.

    Watford now boast that their young players receive up to three times the amount of contact time that they would at some of the country’s more illustrious academies. Maximising the amount of time players between the ages of 11 and 16 spend with their coaches is the one major hurdle every academy must find a way of overcoming. The recognised target is a rather ambitious 20 hours a week but, even after striking deals with schools, most Premier League sides struggle to get anywhere near that.

    But Watford’s revolutionary approach is hitting the spot. By enrolling the young players at the Harefield Academy, a local secondary school that is fully focused on excellence in sport, the club has managed to combine first-rate education with maximum contact time, while ensuring the young boys’ lives are as normal as possible, avoiding any residential programmes or hectic schedules.

    And the approach is already paying off. For the past two season the junior Hornets have reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup, the national competition for Under-18s. Last term they beat Liverpool at Anfield before losing to a multi-national Chelsea side – a considerable achievement when one considers that at under-18 level most top Premier League sides boast players from across Europe, while Watford’s players grew up on average 12 miles away from the club’s home.

    A couple of years ago the future seemed rather dim at Vicarage Road, with the club struggling massively at the bank and therefore on the pitch.

    But their prolific production and development of top young players, alongside a promising young manager, looks to have solved the problem on the pitch, and will also financially secure the club going forward.

    And now the Hornets' future looks Golden.
     
  2. bishop fan 1

    bishop fan 1 First Year Pro

    with new investment it would be brighter but this is a credit to MM job behind the scenes
     
  3. With A Smile

    With A Smile First Team

    now's the time to invest more in Harefield

    It is clearly going to be something copied by many many clubs, we need to stay one step ahead.

    Better coaches
    Better and higher level of education
    Better transport in

    At some point we are going to be crossing over with Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea, teams a lot of these lads will support. We need to make sure that they come to us not to them
     
  4. Prentice

    Prentice Administrator

    I agree, when I see reports like this and exposure about Harefield, it makes me proud that our humble little old Watford can make the footballing world stand up and take notice.

    Little old Watford eh?
     
  5. berkshirehorn

    berkshirehorn presumably I upset/disappointed someone

    I didn't realise I had so many reasons to be cheerful. :xmascheesy:
     
  6. Birdydoug

    Birdydoug The Flying Scotsman

    At the moment we do not have any money.
     
  7. With A Smile

    With A Smile First Team

    a slight myth

    we aren't crippled with debt and have very little operating funds, that doesn't mean that we don't have money

    Planning and preparation costs nothing.

    We aren't talking re building and splashing out millions as Chelsea, Arsenal and the like will. It could be that we invest by using people or sponsorship resources. It could be that we invest first team coaches into the academy on certain days.

    We were in a lot worse position when Simpson set the academy up in the first place. If we were frittering money then i would agree, but this is a proven solid investment and a module that others want to emulate.
     
  8. Masada

    Masada First Year Pro

    For sure.
     
  9. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    Isn't that the same thing.

    Or am I missing something?:xmascheesy:
     
  10. PotGuy

    PotGuy Forum Fetishist

    I doubt it will be copied by too many people.

    How many clubs will be willing to put over 10% of their turnover into a long-term academy?

    It will take at least what, 7 or 8 years for the first generation of full graduates to even get into the first team. Football clubs don't think in that length of time.
     
  11. With A Smile

    With A Smile First Team

    Coaches tend to teach players how to play the game

    If they weren't interested then Ajax, Barcelona, United, Arsenal, Bayern, Chelsea, Real, Liverpool wouldn't have taken an interest.

    Its a module that the FA have looked at as a long term blue print for their own academy so it's unlikely to stay unique
     
  12. Birdydoug

    Birdydoug The Flying Scotsman

    What a turnaround , that school used to be the shiit .

    The brighest kids from Harefield used to bused into my school and that is saying something.
     
  13. lutonh8a

    lutonh8a Squad Player

    Proud to be a Orn!
     
  14. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    I thought they were used to transport the lads into the academy!

    Sorry, it was my daft attempt at a little joke.
     
  15. Birdydoug

    Birdydoug The Flying Scotsman

    School of window lickers.
     

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