Whats The Alternative To The Academy?

This "50 mile radius" thing got me thinking.

Presumably if we withdrew from the FA Academy programme we would then be free and able to sign up young players from any part of the country, no restrictions?

Attraction of facilities and the coachin available etc would still be there.

Would not being part of the "Academy League" be a severe drawback as the price to pay for not being in it?

Are league games against Academy youth sides from other clubs worth the Academy status, or would games against local teams be just as worthwhile?

Pros and cons to being in and out I would think, sonder what others thought-but this only being able to sign players from Scroby Sands or a few villages here and there is somewhat restrictive-and if you go 50 miles south of Norwich, then, at some point, our "territory" and Ipswich's converges anyway, so we're up against them for those players.

Posted By: Martin Peters, Feb 2, 11:01:19