Tony Pulis column: Why the academy system needs an overhaul

One of my favorite moments of the season came last week, watching ArsenalMax Doman ran from his team’s penalty area to score a goal that sealed his team’s victory in the English Premier League Everton.

Homegrown young talents are always appreciated by their club’s supporters, and from what I’ve seen so far from the 16-year-old, Arsenal fans will be enjoying more special moments from him in the years to come.

But while Max Doman has emerged from the academy system and fulfilled his dream of working in the professional game, thousands of other boys and girls don’t make it through the various stages, and have to deal with crushing rejection at an early age.

These players leaving football academies are what I’m worried about, because I don’t think the current system is doing enough to inform them of their chances, or look after them when they are dropped.

It needed an overhaul, and when I retired from management in 2020, I compiled my own report into the academy system, including proposals for how to improve it, and then spent almost a year filming a Sky Sports documentary series on the subject, called Chasing the Dream.

I looked at the pathway into the men’s game, with our research showing that 91% of young players in academies never play a professional game.

While I was working on the series, I traveled the country speaking to people at all levels of the football pyramid about their experiences within the academy system – the good and the bad.

Through many moments of seeing success and failure, I experienced the tragic situation of a young boy, Jeremy Westin, who was released by Manchester City and took his own life in 2020 at the age of 18.

He wasn’t alone in his inability to deal with an unbearable situation, and his mother was very open and honest when talking about his journey on the show.

We also met young people who had fallen into the drug trade or had significant mental health care issues, brought on by the rejection they experienced when they left football – and also the void of not waking up to any other job opportunities.

The facilities I saw when I visited different academies were amazing, but I still didn’t feel like the balance with education was right. It seems to me that we have a responsibility not only to produce elite players, but also to produce good people as well, including those who don’t make it.

This means taking better care of them than we do at present, especially when they are told they are not good enough, which is what happens with the vast majority of these children.