Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy

Crewe Alexandra F.C. gained a strong reputation for its youth policy, achieving official status as a FA Youth Academy in the late 1990s. By concentrating on developing its own players the club remained profitable (a rare thing in lower-division football at the time) by selling them on after they have gained experience with Crewe. The Academy is known to stress technical excellence, which accords with the aim to have the first team play attractive, passing football. Most of the club's achievement in youth development have come from former manager Dario Gradi, who now serves as manager of the Academy.

Players who passed through the ranks at Crewe include the England international players Geoff Thomas and David Platt and Welshman Robbie Savage, and Northern Ireland internationals Neil Lennon and Steve Jones (Platt was the most successful, totalling more than £20 million in transfers and captaining the England team). All these were youngsters signed from other clubs, but Gradi also had considerable success in nurturing Crewe's own trainees - notably full England internationals Rob Jones, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson and Dean Ashton and Wales international David Vaughan.

More than 80 former youth players have also made it into the first team at Crewe. In April 2013, in the team's final game of the season, manager Steve Davis fielded a team whose starting 11 were all Crewe Academy graduates[1][2] - a feat repeated by Davis's successor David Artell on 5 May 2018.[3]

Current Academy players

Nat. Player Place of birth Position International caps Previous club
2nd Year Scholars
England Liam Matthews Brighton GK - – Brighton and Hove Albion
England Connor Smith Crewe GK - –
England Joe Kearns Liverpool DF - –
England Jon Moran Crewe DF - –
England Joe Howell Chester MF - –
England Toby Mullarkey Warrington MF - –
England Michael Pino Chester MF - –
England Andre Brown Birmingham FW - –
England Chris Speed Alsager FW - –
England Liam O’Neill Warrington FW - –

Graduates

Players highlighted in bold have gained international caps for their countries. Players who were signed straight to the first team from elsewhere are not included (such as former internationals Neil Lennon, David Platt, Robbie Savage, and Geoff Thomas).

References

  1. ↑ "Crewe 2-0 Walsall". BBC Sport. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Scott, Ged (24 April 2013). "Crewe Alexandra: Dario Gradi's academy dream set to come true". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Cheltenham Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

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