Hard work starts now for Academy, admits Burnley boss Sean Dyche

Sean Dyche knows full well that Burnley haven’t cracked it by any means at youth level, despite earning Category One status.

And, if anything, the hard work starts here for the club, as they look to get the conveyor belt going again at Barnfield.

The Elite Player Performance Plan youth development scheme was introduced by the Premier League in 2011, replacing the previous academy system, to improve the quality and quantity of home-grown players produced by top English clubs.

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Burnley failed the initial audit for Category 3, and narrowly avoided dropping to the bottom rung at a re-audit.

But since Jon Pepper’s arrival as Academy Manager in September 2016, and the completion of the Barnfield Training Centre, the club’s progress has been rapid, making Category 2 in 2017, before this summer getting the news they had worked towards, gaining the highest grading.

That means the Under-23s and Under-18s move up from the Professional Development League, with the Under-23s playing in the second division of Premier League 2, and the younger age group playing in the northern group of the U18 Premier League.

It is a huge boost for the club’s youth set up, to regularly play against better quality opposition.

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But as Dyche acknowledges, it isn’t as simple as that, and coaches have to have players of a certain level, to be able to help mould them into ones capable of breaking into the first team squad, or making the club money via sales.

He said: “It is not that easy. With academy systems, you still need the raw ingredients going in.

“You still need players of a certain level to then coach them and improve them further.

“You put the right system in, but it doesn’t guarantee the players come out.

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“There are lots of clubs with amazing youth systems who are not turning out players every year.

“There has been a lot of good work done here with the structure and the youth system, which it needed.

“But it does take time, and I think it will be a time-bound thing to see how it can continue to operate and what players come through.

“I think the status thing is purely a status, it is about delivering on the system and not just having the tag, so that will be the next question for us.”

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Burnley remain in as tough a catchment area for young talent as there is, sandwiched between the Manchester and Liverpool clubs and newly-promoted Leeds United.

And Dyche added: “It’s a tough catchment here, if you’re looking for elite youngsters, we’re not the shiny badge of Manchester United, City, Everton, Liverpool.

“I think the status hopefully gives you a bit more power, some of those young kids might think Burnley is a good concern, they like what we do here, we’ve got the facilities, and we can somewhat compete, but it’s not easy.

“You need the raw product. You can make an average player good, a good player very good, and a very good player a top player.

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“But you can’t make an average player a top player just like that.

“There’s a needed skillset, a personal skillset some kids have naturally, that edge to grow into a professional footballer, and some you nurture along the way.

“It’s not just the system, it’s about getting the right people into the system, including the right staff.

“You need good staff, all the things in place, and good young players who can get better and better.”

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While there has been a lot of good work from a lot of good people at the club, the rise to Category One status, on top of the building of a new state of the art training facility, and with the club about to embark on a fifth-successive Premier League season, it adds up to some legacy on and off the pitch for Dyche.

Dyche hailed those who have helped bring the academy up to the top level - remarkable progress from the time he arrived in October 2012: “I think a lot of the planning and work has been done by many here, not just me, has probably developed the club beyond where people thought it could go when I first got here, I’m sure of that.

“To have that in place, all these good things, is testament to so many people involved. There’s been a lot of good management on and off the pitch, and the club is in very good shape.

“The club is in very good shape financially, the good side of watching the pennies, if you like, is when Covid hit, we were one of the clubs that were assured of what the future is.

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“And all the planning that’s gone with that, the training ground I think, for a club like this, is fantastic, the pitches, the quality of everything we’ve tried to build has been very good, and long may it continue.

“And we want the Academy to continue building as well.”

In 2014, when Burnley were promoted to the Premier League for the first time under Dyche, the club put as much money in infrastructure as they did in terms of player signings.

And while the club were relegated, bouncing back immediately as Championship winners meant the gamble paid off.

Dyche had said, when interviewed for the job: “Where has all the Premier League money gone?” after their previous campaign at the top level in 2009/10, and he continues to look at what the club can do to improve off the pitch: “The first time we went up, it was a big gamble that didn’t pay off on the pitch, because we didn’t stay up that year, but it did pay off off the pitch with the development of the club and the training ground.

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“The idea then was to get back up, which wasn’t easy, but we did, and then most things were more in place .

“It’s just whether they can get that stand sorted out that I keep telling them to do every year! We’ll see!”

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