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
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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 |
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Average age when made Pro debut |
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|
|
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Median Age to make a Pro debut |
17 years 6 months |
17 years 6 months |
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18 years two months |
Average number of years from joining Pro Academy to making Pro Debut |
8 years 2 months |
8 years 6 months |
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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 !