At what age is it appropriate to start Talent ID in Football ? - England,Belgian,French and Croatian 2018 FIFA World Cup Squads

At what age is it appropriate to start Talent ID in Football ?

Taken  from the new online course ‘ Identifying Potential Talent ‘ - developed in conjunction with the English League Managers Association ( LMA) sister organisation the PFCA 

© Sports Path 2018 www.sportspath.com

Comparisons of World Cup Squads

• England Reference  Download Age Talent ID
• Belgium Download Belgium Squad Excel
• Croatia  Download Croatian Squad
• France  Download French Squad

 A different approach is provided by the AIK Club in Stockholm who believed ' We could not find research to support  selection at 8 years of age ' ' Instead of picking out ten players who believe the most from the age of nine, AIK will come in the upcoming hills to focus on giving ten to twelve times as many players an equivalent training of up to twelve years' Details here using Google Translate 

	Belgium	England	Croatia	France
Average age to join a Pro Club Academy	9years 6 months	9years 6 months	10 years	11 years 6 months
Median age to join a Pro Club Academy	9 years of age 50% of the squad  had joined a Pro Club Academy by 9 years of age	8 years of age 50% of the squad  had joined Pro Club Academy by 8 years of age	10 years 50% of the squad had joined a Pro Club Academy by 10 years of age	12 years 40% of the squad had joined a Pro Club Academy by 11 years of age - 70% by 12 years of age
Average age when  made Pro debut	17 years nine months The range was from 16 - 20 years of age	18 years one month The range was from 16 - 24 years of age	17 years nine months The range was from 16 - 21 years of age	18 years The range was from 16 - 21 years of age
Median Age to make a Pro debut	17 years 6 months	17 years 6 months	18 years	18 years two months
Average number of years from joining Pro Academy to making Pro Debut	8 years 2 months	8 years 6 months	7 years 9 months	7 years 3 months

 

What lessons can we learn ? 

• There are similar patterns in Belgium,Croatia and England but from this World Cup squad  the French players left grassroots football to go a Pro Club Academy at a significantly older age,spent less time in an Academy and made their Pro debut marginally later than palyers in the other 3 countries. France is a bigger country than the others and so the competition amongst neighbouring Professional Clubs may be a factor in the later age to join an Academy 
• All countries have grassroots football from which players come into Acadamies and the vast majority of of the World Cup players in the Final Four have entered an Academy run by a Pro Club by 11 years of age
• Yes scouted early from a large pool. Thousands others don't progress but many identified early & go on to be Internationals !