Burnley legend Andy Payton on board as FA Sports Management look to find players ‘lost’ in the cracks

A study showed of the 4,109 former Category One academy players, 70% did not even win a professional contract at a Premier League or EFL club, while only one in 10 went on to make more than 20 league appearances in the top four tiers of English football.

So many players fall down the cracks, but FA Sports Management's Football Academy Programme aims to get those 'lost' players back into the game, at whatever level they can.

Clarets legend Andy Payton is on board, using his vast knowledge from 588 games north and south of the border, where he was a prolific goalscorer with Hull City, Middlesbrough, Celtic, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town, his beloved Burnley and Blackpool.

Payton has since gone on to earn his UEFA A Coaching Licence, and will join the team which also includes Darren Finch, who has over 30 coaching qualifications from 30 years in the business, at clubs including Burnley, Preston North End and Bury, as well as in the USA and in Australia.

Also on the staff are David Hobson, founder of the Professional Football Scouts Association, and former Preston scholar, and now UEFA C Licenced coach, Hafy Rahman.

The company, based on Deepdale Road in Preston, a stone's throw from North End, already have a tie-in with Morecambe, where operations director Finch was a coach, and are about to host a football academy programme in Burnley from this September to the end of July 2023.

For players between the age of 16-19, the course will include work towards an NCFE in Sports Management, alongside developing your ability on the pitch.

Based at the Prairie Sports Village and Soccer Burnley, the programme is fully funded.

Finch explained: "We're an agency, first and foremost, a players' agency, but it's a unique company - I'd stick my neck out and say we're probably the only agency who have academies within their books, so we're promoting players within.

"We have an international academy, we're linked in with Morecambe, where we've made good progress.

"And we're also based at the Prairie.

"I know the Burnley Shadow Squad is there, and I'm not stepping on people's toes, but it's a great facility, we have a deal with the Oaks Hotel - there will be three 10-week blocks a year, so there will be 50 players from all over the world coming in.

"I'm hoping, further down the line, Burnley see what we're doing and there could be potential to link with Burnley.

"A few clubs have got in touch with us already, and word is getting out quickly.

"For a club, it makes sense - if they do a service agreement with you, they can just let you get on with it, and they will get a financial kickback as well.

"That is the beauty of that."

Finch is also keen to address the under-representation of British South Asian heritage players in the game: "We are aiming at 16-18s, a lot of kids get released at that age, and in an ideal world, it's for them, but a lot that age will want to go to other clubs, which I understand.

"But it's there, it's a full time programme, and we're looking at the Asian market as well - I've always said if you get an Asian player in the first team at any of our local clubs, you'll get 3/4,000 on the gate.

"It's for everybody, but it's giving that community the chance as well.

"We've had 18,19 kids showing up, with Somalian, Indian, Pakistani, British backgrounds.

"The talent is out there, there's a niche in the market and we have funding for it, education - level 3 sports diploma qualification, which is worth a couple of A-Levels."

Payton tops an impressive roster of coaches involved: "Every coach is UEFA A licenced, there's over 2,000 Football League games among the staff - I want us to be the best.

"I've run academies, I know the criteria, and it's refreshing, all the lads are in it for the right reason, to get players into, or back into, the game at whatever level.

"Everyone has a different pathway, but if we can be part of that, it's a success.

"All football clubs need an exit route for players, with EPPP they have to show an exit strategy and there is funding out there from the EFL.

"We have a player welfare officer, a care officer, in place.

"Lots of players leave academies per summer, which is good for us.

"I've been round the block a long time and people know, I'd like to think they'd know if I spot a player, they know he's going to be a player, like with Carlos Mendes, I saw him at The Manchester College, took him to Morecambe,and 18 months later he went for £600,000 to Luton.

"So they are out there, it's just they've been overlooked, and it's for us to find them.

"If we can get some at that level, brilliant, North West Counties, brilliant, whatever level, we just want players to be playing football.

"It's not just aimed at that top player, it's just giving people that opportunity.

"It's a dream come true for me, I've had this up my sleeve for a long time, and no one has really taken me on. Certain clubs have downplayed it, but I've come here and it's all hands to the pump now.

"And I've got a good group of contacts I can trust."

For more details, go to www.fasports.co.uk, email [email protected] or call 01772 203520.