How the watfordfc Academy is being guided by two Graham Taylor old boys to try and ensure his legacy lives on through homegrown players
There was a magical and entirely fitting symmetry to the fact that Tobi Adeyemo scored his goal against Blackpool in the 72nd minute on Saturday.
Luther Blissett, John Barnes, Nigel Callaghan, Nigel Gibbs, Lloyd Doyley. The names of those legends just trip off the tongue. A few days later Watford overcame the odds to beat Everton in the FA Youth Cup Fourth Round, and then on Saturday the spotlight fell on Adeyemo, and later Jack Grieves, in the win over Blackpool.
“To have all those lads involved and have that first-team experience was a great day for the Academy.” “So we had boys from Under-9s upwards who trained early so they could come and watch the Under-18s play Everton. Obviously a division separates Watford and Everton at senior level – and the gap is as wide, if not wider, at Academy level.
“Jimmy and I have tried to instil the culture and club values that we knew when we came through the ranks at Watford. We want to make sure the young players know the Watford ethos and how we feel about the club. “The facilities they have, the pitches they play on, the gyms they get to use. Everything is on another level which we currently can’t compete with.
Despite all those best endeavours, though, Johnson and Gilligan have seen highly-rated players move away from Watford “My remit, for the Academy, is to make it financially sustainable while developing players. When we do lose players, with the guidelines of the EPPP there is compensation in place for each year an Academy player is with us, and that increases with each year.
Of course, the obvious question in light of the recent achievements of the club’s young players is will Watford get a Category 1 Academy?“Jimmy and I have got a vision of where we’d like the Academy to go, but at this moment in time I understand where we are. “What’s happened to Tobi Adeyemo is a perfect example. He’s a grounded kid who comes in with a smile on his face and loves to work hard, he’s very polite and good to have around.
The club have also recently announced the signing of six young players to the Academy who were playing non-league football When Johnson and Gilligan arrived, they moved on many of the club’s Under-23 players which meant the club’s Under-21 and Under-18 teams featured many players who playing a couple of age groups above their own level.“We knew that was going to happen, and when you look at the results those heavier defeats were at the start of the season,” said Johnson.
“We fielded a lot of players on team sheets who were ‘triallist’. Those are the lads who we announced last week and they have been with us for some time on trial. Because they were non-contract players with their clubs we couldn’t announce they had signed until the January transfer window opened.
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