In the second part of his look at Aston Villa’s impressive academy set-up, Brian Halford finds out the biggest obstacle to discovering and developing fresh footballing talent.

THE 134 youngsters within Aston Villa’s academy at the moment are all viewed as potential first-team players.

That’s why they are there. A professional football club does not waste its time, money and expertise on boys who have no chance of making it through.

The academy is a business and, like every business, is ultimately judged on results – in this case, players who reach the first-team squad.

So after a boy arrives in the academy, no effort is spared to shape him as a person and improve him as a footballer.

Villa’s academy director Bryan Jones would not have it any other way.

But, in terms of the football side of the equation, the task has become much more difficult since the decline or, in many cases, disappearance of organised football in schools, insists Jones.

In times past, almost every boy had his appetite whetted by a taste of their chosen sport, properly coached and organised, coming through primary school.

By the time any of them linked up to a professional football club, they were already on the learning curve.

But no longer. And that state of affairs is seriously holding back youngsters, not just in football but all sports in this country, reckons Jones.

“Academies were created to produce players for England and my job at Aston Villa is to produce players for our first team,” he said.

“But it would be so much easier if we were not starting from scratch because boys have received no qualified coaching before they come to us.

“I don’t think we have got the grass roots right in this country.

“Youngsters have to have the experience of playing football, cricket, athletics and other sports from very young and until we get qualified people in the schools at that age group I think we will struggle to produce top-level sports people.

“One of the major problems for football academies is with the grass-roots game.