Bristol City’s excellent academy set-up has been highlighted further with a recent study finding the Robins’ set-up to be among the 10 best in British football.
According to OLBG’s best academy index, City’s system is the sixth best in English football placing above Premier League clubs like West Ham United, Brentford, and Everton.
To grade each club’s set-up OLBG has examined the number of academy graduates in current squads, the value of those players compared to the total value of the playing squad, and how many league appearances former academy players have made to assign each team a score out of 100.
Liam Manning has had six academy graduates in his squad this term with the likes of Zak Vyner, Max O’Leary, Cam Pring, and Sam Bell establishing themselves as consistent members of the first team.
Between them, those six former academy stars have played 499 League matches and OLBG’s index has valued them at £7,702,909 which is 18.9 percent of the Robins’ total squad value.
With all things considered, City ended with a score of 87.3 out of 100, marginally lower than Brighton and Hove Albion and six points adrift of Swansea City who are adjudged to have the best academy in Britain.
It’s a testament to the work going on behind the scenes both at Ashton Gate and the High Performance Centre that South Bristol has proven to be such a successful proving ground for young talent.
Although Manning hasn’t quite relied on the academy set-up in the same manner that his predecessor Nigel Pearson did, the Robins boss has continued to put faith in young players where possible.
Elijah Morrison was handed his Championship debut in last season’s final-day win over Rotherham United at Ashton Gate and has impressed in two cameo appearances off of the bench.
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Away from BS3, the likes of Seb Palmer-Houlden, Jamie Knight-Lebel, and Ephraim Yeboah are all gaining vital experience while out on loan with Dundee, Crewe Alexandra and Doncaster Rovers.
Partner with the fact that graduates of yesteryear such as Tommy Conway, Alex Scott, and Antoine Semenyo have all impressed having completed moves away from the Robins in recent years and it is clear the current system at the HPC is producing plenty of talent.
The top 10 academies in British football
Graded out of 100 by OLBG’s index
- Swansea City – 93.3
- Blackburn Rovers – 93.2
- Manchester United – 90.9
- Liverpool – 90.8
- Brighton – 87.4
- Bristol City – 87.3
- Middlesbrough – 87
- Millwall – 86.4
- Wigan Athletic – 85.7
- Reading – 84.8