Our castle in the sky: Why Crystal Palace’s new programme is long overdue

We all dream, whether they differ or are the same – we fantasise about scenarios that bring distinct feelings of happiness and completion. We dream about a time when glances in the mirror are met with grand satisfaction, that you’ve ticked off the demands of your younger self. One dream that trumps them all in the UK; is to lace your boots, tap the doorway and step onto a football pitch as a Premier League footballer.

Yet, this dream is dangerously improbable as of the 1.8 million players in organised English youth football; only 180 make that dream a reality, a 0.00012% chance. With a dream so formidable almost every young player believes they can make the grade, resulting in tragic consequences when that eventual disappointment lands.

Crystal Palace has become the first team to create a dedicated 3-year aftercare programme to support players released from these academies.

Speaking to us, resident Crystal Palace fan Matt Cady commented on the positive impact this could potentially have. “The Crystal Palace scheme is awesome! It allows people who are dropped from academies to move forward in life potentially without football and gives them dreams and aspirations away from football. This puts them in a much better mental state than doing it all on their own. Other clubs need to look at this and this should be the future of academies

“You think how much getting cut and discarded negatively affects you, there should be a lot more done about this for young players. Mentally it has a huge effect., it is their life. They play pretty much every single day, and they give up so much for it so they can be in the best physical shape. The aim is to get a pro contract and when they put this much effort into this from the age of like seven, they will be a lot of emotional damage from it.” He continued.

Its unfortunate events like the passing of Jeremy Wisten truly shed light on how severe this is. Aged 18, he passed away in his bedroom with his parents completely oblivious to his deteriorating mental health. For him, the big time felt so close – as he trained with stars like Kun Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, yet in reality, the possibility of sharing the pitch with them was legions away. The statistics that fall in favour of these young boys are solemn, and it’s why alternates must be looked at by the parents of these children.

I talked with Louis Kanwal, a semi-professional footballer who became fully aware of the arduous reality in UK football academies. “The best option was just to leave, you look at countries like Spain, the monetary opportunities there completely trump over here, and there you feel like a player, not just a number.”

“I support what Crystal Palace is doing – do I think it’s enough, no. We’re at a point where football academies are over-scouting and hoarding talent, they’re bound to disappoint 98% of them if we just become realistic with the number of players you have in your academies and the rate you pay them especially when they reach the age of 16 maybe we can start to see some real progress.”

MP Tracy Couch has held a similar attitude on the number of players recruited into Premier League football academies citing how 99% of players are released before even being given a scholarship.

It begs the question of why the official Premier League panel permitted clubs to have 30 eligible players per age group when only 11 players are required on a pitch.

“It’s bad enough that the life you’ve envisaged for years is gone to have had no financial and mental support after such a traumatic event is just brutal!” Said Harlem Bouchez, a former academy graduate who decided to take his talents to America.

“I feel like this is just the minimum required to leave that kid with a solid financial base and give him a chance to get educated and everything, I felt like I would hold more value elsewhere you know, a place where I still go to college and get educated in the US whilst also developing my talents to potentially get signed over there or come back and receive a contract that pays.”

“At the end of the day not all of us are going to make it, not all of our dreams are going to be realised. I play football because I enjoy it and it could potentially leave me with a good future where I can look after my family, the least they can leave released players with is a good future ahead of them.”

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