Cardiff City F.C. Academy

The Cardiff City F.C. Academy is the youth academy currently set up at Cardiff City in order to discover and nurture young talent. The academy has a range of players from ages seven to 21. The Under-21 league team compete in the Professional Development League 2.

Information

The youth academy was set up in 2003,^[1] the youth team however has taken part in several FA Youth Cup and Welsh Youth Cup competition before 2003.

Cardiff City House of Sport

The Academy uses the Cardiff City House of Sport (HOS), which is an indoor football centre and multi-sport facility. It is also used by the wider local community in Cardiff.^[2] The first phase of the building was opened in November 2010 and it was expended in the second phase (House of Sport 2) in April 2013.^[3] The third phase of the building (House of Sport 3) was opened on 18 January 2016.^[4]

According to the official Cardiff City FC Website:^[5] "An Academy is not just a building. It is not just a group of young players and coaches. It is not just a scheme. It is all of these things, but more importantly it is a philosophy, a culture and a way of doing things. Cardiff City Football Club has always been centred around the local community. The great players and teams throughout the Club's history have been built on local boys and local talent. We have a proud history of nurturing young stars of the future and continue to maintain our commitment to youth development by doing it The Cardiff Way. Cardiff City Football Club is fully committed to the Academy and recognises the importance of developing youth. As the Football Club develops, we at the Academy will ensure we continue making the great steps we've been taking in recent years".

Cardiff's scouts currently concentrate on searching South Wales, Hereford, Worcester, Swindon and Oxford. Now looking towards other areas of the United Kingdom including Scotland, As well as Ireland and with the recent appointment of scouts in these areas by Neal Ardley^[6] Cardiff scouts are also based in foreign countries such as Austria, France and Guinea, with players coming to the academy from these countries.

On 1 July 2013, Kevin Nicholson was named Under 18s Head Coach, replacing Lee Skyrme. Nicholson joined from Exeter City FC and recently received the FA Elite Coaches Award.

Malaysia Grassroots Academy

As a result of their Malaysian ownership, Cardiff City also have an academy in Kuala Lumpur.^[7]

Notable graduates

Those in bold have been capped at full international level. Those marked * progressed prior to academy status confirmed.

Personnel

• Academy Manager
  • James McCarthy
• Head of Coaching
  • Tom Ramasut
• Academy Operations Manager
  • Gavin Reen
• Player Development Manager
  • Craig Bellamy
• Education Manager
  • Steve Ellis
• Under 23s Coach
  • Jarred Harvey
• Under 23s Coach
  • Andy Legg
• Under 18s Coach
  • Jarred Harvey
• Under 16s Coach
  • Matthew Bloxham
• Lead Development Coach (12–16)
  • Dane Facey
• Lead Foundation Coach (9–11)
  • Lawrence Hallett

Under 18s

The under-18s team plays in Group B of the FA Premier Academy League. Players with squad numbers have appeared in or are part of the senior team but regularly return to play for the under-18 team.

As of 6 August 2018

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

No. Position Player — GK Jordan Duffey — GK George Ratcliffe — DF Joel Bagan — DF Connor Davies — DF Jac Davies — DF Trystan Jones — DF Ben Margetson — DF Samuel Parsons — DF Ryan Reynolds — DF Adam Sharif — DF William Warnock

No. Position Player — MF Rudy Andrew-Knott — MF Sam Bowen — MF Ruben Colwill — MF Kieron Evans — MF Kennan Patten — MF Henry Pinchard — MF Sion Spence — FW Isaak Davies — FW Dan Griffiths — FW Henry Smith

Under-23 Squad

As of 6 August 2018

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

No. Position Player — GK Warren Burwood — DF Jack Bodenham 36 DF Cameron Coxe 37 DF Ciaron Brown [8] — DF Paul Mckay — MF Tyrone Duffus — MF Mark Harris (on loan at Newport County)

No. Position Player — MF Lloyd Humphries — MF Jamie Veale — MF Laurence Wootton — FW Jack McKay 27 FW Ibrahim Meite — FW James Waite

References

Coordinates: 51°28′16″N 3°12′02″W / 51.471°N 3.2006°W / 51.471; -3.2006