[johnny Cash]

List of Players from our academy or made their 1st team debut for us since 1989/90

Since 1989/90

If any have been missed then please add below.

Brian Talbot- Les Palmer, Ugo Ehiogu, Darren Rodgers, Neil Cartwright
Bobby Gould- Stewart Bowen, Roy Hunter, David Prichard
Ossie Ardlies- Scott Darton, Marc Sinfield, James McCue
Keith Burkinshaw- NONE
Alan Buckley- NONE
Ray Harford- Dean Bennett, Michael Rodosthenous, Chris Adamson
Denis Smith- Adam Oliver, Justin Richards
Brian Little- James Chambers
Gary Megson- Adam Chambers, Lloyd Dyer
Bryan Robson- Stuart Nicholson, Jared Hodgkiss, Rob Davies
Tony Mowbray- David Worrall, Chris Wood,
Roberto DI Matteo- George Thorne, Sam Mantom, James Hurst
Roy Hodgson- None
Steve Clarke- Isaiah Brown, Saido Berahino, Cameron Gayle, Luke Daniels
Pepe Mel- Liam O'Neil
Alan Irvine- None
Tony Pulis- Tyler Roberts, Jonathan Leko, Sam Field, Rakeem Harper, Kane Wilson
Alan Pardew- None
Darren Moore- Kyle Edwards, Kyle Howkins, Morgan Rodgers, Rayhaan Tulloch,
Slaven Billic- Nathan Ferguson, Jack Fitzwater, Saul Shotton, Dara O'Shea,
Sam Allardyce- None
Valerien Ismael- Alex Palmer, Caleb Taylor, Ethan Ingram, Tom Fellows, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Rico Richards, Toby King, Mo Faal, Reyes Cleary, Zac Ashworth,
Steve Bruce -(Gave 3 league debuts to Ashworth, Taylor & Palmer)
Carlos Corberán - Jamie Andrews, Jovan Malcolm, Josh Griffiths, Rico Richards

Gabbidon missing? Possibly the best from that list beside Ugo in terms of premier league career appearances other than Chris Wood. Undeniably a pretty poor return for the best part of 25 years.  We also let Ashley Williams go as a kid and he'd be up in the top 5 too. May be a few others we have let go before an appearance but none spring to mind.

It has been better in the last 10 years but it's still not been particularly good.

[SmethDan]

Haha. No problem mate, you won’t have heard of him but his name’s Jonathan (or Jono) Bland. He wasn’t offered a scholarship at Albion, had a few offers and has decided to sign for Barnsley.

He’ll obviously still be in touch with most of the lads in the 18s & I’m still in touch with the Dads so if I hear anything juicy I’ll keep you posted 

Congratulations to your lad and yourself Blandy, you must have been beaming.....

'Jonathan Bland has been named Academy Player of the Season for the 22/23 campaign.

Bland, who joined the academy a year ago from West Bromwich Albion, has featured heavily in our title-winning U18s side under the stewardship of Nicky Eaden.

A central midfielder by trade, the 17-year-old has been utilised at centre-half for large parts this campaign, demonstrating his versatility and tactical awareness in a different role.

Our U18s are currently in Tenerife on a visit funded by the Alan Turing Scheme, training and playing games against local outfits.

Eaden's side then take on the U18 PDL play-offs, where they will play a one-legged semi-final. If successful, our young Reds will then face off in a final in order to win the overall trophy.

Bobby Hassell, Academy Manager, said: "Jonathan has had a fantastic season," he began. "He has played in various positions and excelled in them all. When you consider that he is only a first year scholar, his accolades of manager’s player, players’ player and academy player of the year, speak for themselves.

"Truly well-deserved awards for a great player and a genuinely nice, well-rounded young man."

On winning the award, Bland added: “I’m speechless, to be honest, I don’t know what to say. It’s just nice to get a bit of recognition. I came here because I wanted a chance to prove myself and I’m just grateful that’s what the coaches have done for me.

“They’ve given me the chance to prove that I’m the player that I think I am.”

https://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/news/20232/may/bland-wins-accolade/

[Blandy]

Congratulations to your lad and yourself Blandy, you must have been beaming.....

'Jonathan Bland has been named Academy Player of the Season for the 22/23 campaign.

Wow. That's really kind of you Dan. I didn't expect anyone to have picked up on that!

It's been an incredible year for him in all honesty - picking up on that article, they won the semi final mentioned there against Millwall, then beat Charlton in the Final on Saturday to be crowned National Champions at Cat 2 level.
It really couldn't have gone better.

He's still very much in touch with the Albion lads and actually met up with half a dozen of them in Brum yesterday as it happens.

And yes, we're incredibly proud of how he's adapted to everything after 10 years at the Albion. Living away from home in digs in a new town, new coaches, new teammates etc.
Long way to go still but yes,a great year.

Thanks again 

[Standaman]

Generally I think we have been good at identifying and attracting our fair share of talent in the local pool and developing that talent to the first professional contract stage even allowing for some of our better prospects being poached (although many of those players haven't trained on which chimes with a broader point I feel sometimes overlooked that most 16 year old's don't make it.

If a 16 year old gets a decade long career as a professional (at any level) they are the exception rather than the rule and should be regarded as a success.

Nevertheless I feel we are poor at developing players from 16 to 21 and too few have broken through at the Hawthorns. Some of that is cultural (conservative coaches charged with short term goals) the processes within the academy and that has to be more to it than which entrance the academy players and coaches use.

Taking a slightly random game at Under 21 level (bear in mind 16 year olds are doing better than average to get to this stage) from October 2012 (i.e. long enough to see how things turned out)  when we played Arsenal.

The first thing to note is that while 14 out of the 15 players we fielded were products of our academy. Only 6 came from Arsenal's; the remainder had been plucked from the youth set ups across Europe and in the case of Martinez beyond. Their academy can claim no credit for the early development of those players. Such is Arsenal’s muscle the players had been poached from Barca, Dortmund and Stuttgart we are not comparing like with like here.

Of the 6 genuine academy products only one was playing professional football last season and only 2 Frimpong and Wilshire ever played for Arsenal’s first team both had careers plagued by injury and have retired.

The imports have fared better all at least are still playing. Bellerin,Gnabry and Martinez have all gone on to have successful careers although only Bellerin was ever a regular at Arsenal. Of the rest most have had modest careers which are probably not as good as they might have hoped for when joining Arsenal as teenagers.

Of the Albion line up

Let’s deal with the odd man out, the only player that was not an Albion Academy product El’Ghanssy. He has retired from the game after a career that frankly looked similar to many of Arsenal’s imports e.g. a journey through some of the more obscure parts of Belgium and the Netherlands with the odd sojourn in Scandinavia or further afield.

Of the remaining 14 only 4 played professionally last season Sawyers, Daniels, Palmer (yes on the bench as 16 year old) and O’Neil. As for the rest, most have had some sort of professional career.  7 made first team debuts but only Sawyers (via Walsall and Brentford) and Palmer have ever been first team regulars.

Like Arsenal two of the most promising academy graduates Brown and Thorne had careers greatly impacted by injury both have retired from the game in their 20’s.

Aside from those that have retired from the game most are still active in semi professional game often in the Midlands not unlike their Arsenal counterparts who have been playing the Southern semi pro circuit.

I am not sure what this proves. When you allow for the fact that Arsenal have the luxury of cherry picking talent the outcomes aren’t that dissimilar. The plain fact is any given cohort at any academy is unlikely to generate a plethora of genuine stars; one or two solid professionals is more likely and by and large that is what we are producing.

[SmethDan]

Wow. That's really kind of you Dan. I didn't expect anyone to have picked up on that!

It's been an incredible year for him in all honesty - picking up on that article, they won the semi final mentioned there against Millwall, then beat Charlton in the Final on Saturday to be crowned National Champions at Cat 2 level.
It really couldn't have gone better.

He's still very much in touch with the Albion lads and actually met up with half a dozen of them in Brum yesterday as it happens.

And yes, we're incredibly proud of how he's adapted to everything after 10 years at the Albion. Living away from home in digs in a new town, new coaches, new teammates etc.
Long way to go still but yes,a great year.

Thanks again 

No worries Blandy, it's good to know he's kept his focus and moved forward having taken a step back. Dropping a level isn't necessarily taking a step down if it allows you to take stock and progress at your own rate. Some stand out points for me were:

1. 'A central midfielder by trade, the 17-year-old has been utilised at centre-half for large parts this campaign, demonstrating his versatility and tactical awareness in a different role.......

.......Bobby Hassell, Academy Manager, said: "Jonathan has had a fantastic season," he began.

2. "He has played in various positions and excelled in them all. When you consider that he is only a first year scholar, his accolades of manager’s player, players’ player and academy player of the year, speak for themselves.

3. "Truly well-deserved awards for a great player and a genuinely nice, well-rounded young man."

On winning the award, Bland added:

4. “I’m speechless, to be honest, I don’t know what to say. It’s just nice to get a bit of recognition. I came here because I wanted a chance to prove myself and I’m just grateful that’s what the coaches have done for me. They’ve given me the chance to prove that I’m the player that I think I am.”

You picked up on a post I made earlier on this thread about players developing at different rates for a whole gamut of reasons, here's that post:

'Players mature at different rates physically, emotionally and in terms of tactical and general footballing know how. There are times when wrong calls are made.

There are also times when the stars align for those who are retained only for their sparkle to fade. Time, tide and finance provide for shifting sands.

For example, I'd be loathe to let Teixeira slip through the net as has been suggested may be the case earlier. But then I've no idea whether the coaching staff feel he may be blocking the pathway of someone they feel may have even more potential.

Either way we can't keep everyone'.

John's journey to date reflects what I was trying to convey. We can't keep hold of them all but your lad comes across very well. Humble, grounded and enjoying doing something he clearly loves doing.

Good parenting, good coaching at both clubs and tangible returns for a young man with potential and hopefully a successful future in the game. So long as he goes nowhere near the Vile or the Dings of course  .

Good luck to you both and what a story for Barnsley. Top of the level two academy table ahead of Sheffield United with a record points haul and the tour trophy in the bag. Here's hoping they don't beat us again next time we lock horns at their place though, it's getting a bit Stokish now.

[gazberg]

Joe Chapman
@ChapmanJ92

🚨 I gather #wba academy midfielder Jamal Jimoh is leaving for #avfc.

Albion did have a pre-contract agreement in place with the player and his reps, but Villa have agreed a fee. 🤝

Jimoh is an England U17 international. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿


That's 1m raised to keep us going.

[tambag]

Joe Chapman
@ChapmanJ92

🚨 I gather #wba academy midfielder Jamal Jimoh is leaving for #avfc.

Albion did have a pre-contract agreement in place with the player and his reps, but Villa have agreed a fee. 🤝

Jimoh is an England U17 international. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

That's 1m raised to keep us going.

1M for Lai more like

[SmethDan]

Joe Chapman
@ChapmanJ92

🚨 I gather #wba academy midfielder Jamal Jimoh is leaving for #avfc.

Albion did have a pre-contract agreement in place with the player and his reps, but Villa have agreed a fee. 🤝

Jimoh is an England U17 international. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿


That's 1m raised to keep us going.

Bad move for us. If there was an agreed pre contract in place it means we'd managed to persuade one of them to stay. But instead we sell him off down the road for £1M.

No development of the player to see how he progresses and how his worth may increase in terms of ability or fee. Very short term thinking which may lead others to not even agree on pre contract to drum up the compensation.

[gazberg]

Bad move for us. If there was an agreed pre contract in place it means we'd managed to persuade one of them to stay. But instead we sell him off down the road for £1M.

No development of the player to see how he progresses and how his worth may increase in terms of ability or fee. Very short term thinking which may lead others to not even agree on pre contract to drum up the compensation.

Lai's Albion.

[Atomic]

Bad move for us. If there was an agreed pre contract in place it means we'd managed to persuade one of them to stay. But instead we sell him off down the road for £1M.

No development of the player to see how he progresses and how his worth may increase in terms of ability or fee. Very short term thinking which may lead others to not even agree on pre contract to drum up the compensation.

It's a good move for us. Most of these kids never make it, Izzy Brown, Louie Barry, Tim Iregbuunum a few examples.

How many people have heard of this kid? Never been mentioned alongside the likes of Harry Whitwell for example. Not spied in the PL2 team. OK he's young, but he's hardly had the dogs barking. The likes of Cleary, much more spoken about.

1 mil for this kid. Snap hands off.

[Atomic]

Lai's Albion.

Nothing to do with Lai he has nothing to do with the day to day running of the club.

I'd bet good money he couldn't name our favoured starting eleven let alone academy kids.

[gazberg]

Nothing to do with Lai he has nothing to do with the day to day running of the club.

I'd bet good money he couldn't name our favoured starting eleven let alone academy kids.

I refer to the general short sightedness of the club since he took over. It will remain until he leaves.

Not individual deals. He wouldn't have an idea at all.

[Atomic]

I refer to the general short sightedness of the club since he took over. It will remain until he leaves.

Not individual deals. He wouldn't have an idea at all.

That's irrelevant to this particular deal though.

[gazberg]

That's irrelevant to this particular deal though.

Not when the short sightedness is consistent it's not.

[Atomic]

Not when the short sightedness is consistent it's not.

It's not shortsighted though is it?

This kid MIGHT make it, but it's long odds against, I'd suggest 25/1. Let Villa take the risk. With the backing and money they have, they can afford to. We are in pooh Street and need to generate every pound we can.

1 Mill for a kid who "probably" won't make it is a hell of a deal in our situation.

[gazberg]

It's not shortsighted though is it?

This kid MIGHT make it, but it's long odds against, I'd suggest 25/1. Let Villa take the risk. With the backing and money they have, they can afford to. We are in pooh Street and need to generate every pound we can.

1 Mill for a kid who "probably" won't make it is a hell of a deal in our situation.

I'm not talking about the kid Atomic. My comment to Dan was about Lai's 'strategy' in general.


This is just further evidence.

[Atomic]

I'm not talking about the kid Atomic. My comment to Dan was about Lai's 'strategy' in general.


This is just further evidence.

Lai doesn't have a strategy he doesn't run the club on a hands on basis. Make no mistake he (and whoever he's in bed with ,) wants out but wants maximum dollar.

How the club is run he couldn't give a Christmas turkey about.

[SmethDan]

It's a good move for us. Most of these kids never make it, Izzy Brown, Louie Barry, Tim Iregbuunum (spelling, daft name) a few examples.

How many people have heard of this kid? Never been mentioned alongside the likes of Harry Whitwell for example. Not spied in the PL2 team. OK he's young, but he's hardly had the dogs barking. The likes of Cleary, much more spoken about.

1 mil for this kid. Snap hands off.

I've heard of him. A lot. If you haven't then read this thread back a bit. We all know they can go either way, only an idiot would suggest otherwise but this looks plain stupid to me. The only proviso/caveat I would place against that is whether they think he'll ultimately fail because of attitude and application. The ability is definitely there.

There is a reason why other clubs have been sniffing around him for the best part of two seasons. Chelsea and Arsenal initially followed by Tottenham, Manchester United and now the Vile. And the reason isn't because they don't think he'll make it.

[gazberg]

Lai doesn't have a strategy he doesn't run the club on a hands on basis. Make no mistake he (and whoever he's in bed with ,) wants out but wants maximum dollar.

How the club is run he couldn't give a Christmas turkey about.

No he doesn't run it day to day, how many times have we seen him? His appointments do though so ultimately he is responsible.

[Standaman]

Where the club is at the moment it is a sale we can make without it impacting the first team squad. However the fee is a drop in the ocean. It might cover the wages of Jed Wallace for a year.

In an ideal world I'd rather keep the player and reap the benefit if he does develop. We keep losing players to the Vile and sooner or later one will develop and that is going to hurt.

[NJS]

Given that a lot of these youngsters were going to be seduced by a neighbouring Premier League team whatever we did, it's sensible to take the money in our present predicament.

Perhaps we could load the likes of Tim Iroegbunam back for a season or two or maybe the Vile don't want to lend to a local rival.

[OhBilics]

Another one gone (ish - nothing actually signed yet afaik). Potentially a(nother) terrible decision. £1M is peanuts in today's football world.

[Hunnington Baggie]

Bad move for us. If there was an agreed pre contract in place it means we'd managed to persuade one of them to stay. But instead we sell him off down the road for £1M.

No development of the player to see how he progresses and how his worth may increase in terms of ability or fee. Very short term thinking which may lead others to not even agree on pre contract to drum up the compensation.

to be fair, my understanding is that he told the club he wouldn’t sign anything and was going, part of the reason he wasn’t bumped up to the under 21’s.

[Hunnington Baggie]

Another one gone (ish - nothing actually signed yet afaik). Potentially a(nother) terrible decision. £1M is peanuts in today's football world.

it’s peanuts to the top leagues, it’s a decent wedge for EFL clubs nowadays.

[BalisPen]

Needs must unfortunately.

I read last week that it was Chelsea who were after him.

Hopefully, a big club will come in and pay more for him and he doesn't end up at the scum.