PREMIER LEAGUE

TALENT IDENTIFICATION AND RECRUITMENT
231. The Board may from time to time direct the minimum number of Academy Players to be
registered by each Club in each age group, and each Club shall comply with any such direction.
232. The maximum numbers of Academy Players registrable by a Club at any one time are as follows:
Age groups Under 9 to Under 14 inclusive: 30 in each age group
Age groups Under 15 and Under 16 inclusive: 20 in each age group
Age groups Under 17 to Under 21 inclusive: 15 in each age group
233. No Club shall be permitted to register any Academy Player in the Under 9 age group before the
third Saturday in April immediately preceding his Under 9 year.
234. A player in age groups Under 14 to Under 16 inclusive who resides more than one and a half
hours’ travelling time from the nearest Academy may be registered as an Academy Player at
the nearest Club which operates an Academy of the appropriate Category subject to the
following conditions:
234.1. an application for registration of an Academy Player under the provisions of this Rule
shall be accompanied by a written coaching programme which shall include full
particulars of any coaching the Academy Player will receive at or in the locality of his
place of residence;
234.2. the coaching programme shall be designed so as to ensure that it does not cause the
Academy Player to be absent from school;
234.3. in the case of an Academy Player registered under the provisions of this Rule at an
Academy, the Head of Education shall make enquiries of the Academy Player’s school
at least four times each Season during the currency of his registration so as to satisfy
himself that the Academy Player’s best interests are being served by the coaching
programme and that it is not adversely affecting his education; the result of each
enquiry shall be reported in writing to the Academy Manager who in the event of
an adverse report shall apply to the Board for the cancellation of the Academy
Player’s registration;
234.4. unless any other travelling arrangements have been submitted to and approved in
writing by or on behalf of the Board, on the occasion of each visit by the Academy
Player to the Academy at which he is registered he shall be accompanied on both
the outward and the return journey by his Parent.
235. An application to register an Academy Player shall be refused if:
235.1. the Academy Player is in age groups Under 10, Under 11 or Under 12; and
235.2. the registration of that Academy Player was held by another Club or Football League
club (“the former Club”) within the period of 12 months prior to the making of the
application; and
235.3. the former Club had given notice to that Academy Player under the provisions
of Rules 238.1 or 238.2 that it intended to retain his registration; and
235.4. the Club making the application had within the said period of 12 months registered two
Academy Players in age groups Under 10, Under 11 or Under 12 whose registrations had
been held by the former Club;
unless the Club making the application and the former Club agree otherwise.
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YOUTH DEVELOPMENT RULES