Bristol City and Bristol Rovers will benefit from Southampton’s academy decision

Bristol City and Bristol Rovers could benefit from Southampton’s decision to close their old academy center in Bath when it comes to signing young talent in the South West.

According to the Southern Daily Echo, Saints confirmed to parents this week the decision to close the famous satellite site, which has helped the south coast outfit, renowned for its youth development, snap up talents such as Gareth Bale. The facility is based in the University of Bath student village with access to university facilities.

Although FA rules dictated that youth players must live within 90 minutes of their team, Southampton received special dispensation from the Premier League to open a satellite site in Bath due to the city’s coastal location- port, the sea occupying half their space. capture radius.

However, after pressure from the Premier League and EFL to close the center due to it being outside their catchment area, which intensified following the Saints’ relegation from the top flight in 2023, the closure was completed, without more young players. taken on.

Those already enrolled in the program will go full-time to under-16s from Beechen Cliff School in Bath until they complete their studies. Players also receive support for moves to other academies, which could be City or Rovers.

In terms of recent success stories from the Bath centre, 18-year-old Kamari Doyle was sold to Brighton and Hove Albion last summer after making his Premier League debut for Southampton at the end of the 2022 season /23, that deal could be pocketed. Championship play-off winners up to £2.5m. Additionally, 18-year-old Tyler Dibling made five appearances for Russell Martin’s side last term after coming through the programme.

Southampton have long recruited from the area, with the lure of Premier League football and an excellent training ground at Staplewood, and the Bath center has helped give them a base in the region.

The son of Gloucestershire head coach Mark Alleyne Max now plays for Manchester City, having been snapped up by Saints via Bath center and eventually sold, while Portishead’s Will Armitage is still at the club, having been sold by Cheltenham Town.

City boast one of the south’s most impressive training facilities with the High Performance Centre, but have been one of many clubs affected by Southampton’s position in the south-west when it comes to youth employment.

The Robins currently boast a second tier academy, with the nearest club also with the same credentials being Cardiff City, while Swansea City are tier one.

City owner Steve Lansdown made his feelings about the center public as early as 2014 in a fans’ forum, where he said it was “a Premier League club that does what they want and I don’t like it. They are cheating but what can we do about it. This one?”

As for Rovers, despite having a third tier academy, eventually reaching the first tier has often been dictated as one of the key ambitions for the club by the Kuwaiti hierarchy since their investment in Gas was confirmed last August.

Executive vice-chairman Abdualltif AlSaeed spoke at length about improving the club’s sustainability in a fan Q&A in February, with plans to expand The Quarters to accommodate academy teams as well as the first team, alongside the introduction of an under 21 years old. after removing Gas’s development team in 2021.