Southampton F.C. Academy

Southampton Football Club Academy or Saints Academy is the youth organisation run by Southampton Football Club to encourage and develop young footballers in the South of England. There are currently 9 squads at the Academy.

• Under 18
• Under 16
• Under 15
• Under 14
• Under 13
• Under 12
• Under 11
• Under 10
• Under 9

International players

Amongst the players who passed through the Saints Academy and went on to represent their country are:

• Chris Baird
• Gareth Bale
• Leon Best
• Dexter Blackstock
• Wayne Bridge
• Arron Davies
• Adam Lallana
• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
• Tim Sparv
• Jake Thomson
• Theo Walcott

In the past, prior to the establishment of the academy, the Southampton youth system has produced other international players, such as Terry Paine, Mick Channon, Matthew Le Tissier and Alan Shearer.

Four former Saints academy players featured in the England Under-21 match against Montenegro on 7 September 2007: Martin Cranie and Theo Walcott both started (with Walcott setting up the second goal) whilst Dexter Blackstock and Andrew Surman came on as second half substitutes, with Surman scoring the final goal in a 3-0 victory, tapping the ball home in stoppage time from a knock-down by Blackstock.^[1][2]

Present structure

The academy manager is Matt Crocker (who served an apprenticeship at Cardiff City), assisted by Terry Moore.

The aim of the Southampton academy is to "...produce Premiership class players..."^[3]

Currently Southampton's academy set up is one of the best in the country and they have regularly reached the latter stages of the FA Youth Cup, as well as being successful in the FA Premier Academy League championship. In season 2010–11 the U18s were only just "...Pipped to the Title..." by one point on the last day of the season of the Group A league. Southampton had to win and Fulham had to draw or lose for Southampton to come top. After winning 1–3 away to Coventry City the U18s were dismayed to discover Fulham had come back from being 0–3 down versus Leicester City to win 5–3.

The academy has joined up with local college Sparsholt College to try to give those footballers who have missed out on a scholarship the opportunity to remain in the game and train and play matches with the Southampton Academy.^[4]

In May 2013, Andre Villas-Boas, manager of Tottenham Hotspur praised the Southampton Academy for its ability to produce star players, describing it as "a great school of development" and comparing it to Sporting Lisbon.^[5]

Youth squad

Academy 2nd Years 2013-14

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK James White (DoB 09.10.95) DF Tom Leggett (DoB 04.02.96) DF Isaac Nehemie (DoB 01.07.96)

No. Position Player MF Charlie Higgins (DoB 19.10.95) MF Jake Hesketh (DoB 27.03.96)

• Professional contracts

Academy 1st Years 2013-14

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Harry Isted (DoB 05.03.97) DF Joshua Debayo * (DoB 17.10.96) DF Will Wood (DoB 29.11.96) DF Kyle Clinton (DoB 09.12.96) DF Colm Deasy (DoB 04.01.97) MF Niall Mason (DoB 10.01.97) MF George Mells (DoB 23.05.97)

No. Position Player MF Armani Little (DoB 05.04.97) MF Josh Sims * (DoB 28.03.97) MF Mark Irvine (DoB 25.10.96) MF Harley Willard * (DoB 04.09.97) FW Marcus Barnes * (DoB 01.12.97) FW Dan Demkiv (DoB 26.12.96) FW Chris Regis (DoB 11.11.96)

• Professional contracts

References