ECA News
On Thursday 17 April, an ECA delegation including representatives of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Brøndby IF, FK Teplice, FC Honka Espoo, FC Banants and The New Saints FC, gathered together with representatives of FC Schalke 04, in Gelsenkirchen, to exchange views on the most efficient ways to manage a Youth Academy.
The discussions, taking place in 'Knappenschmiede', the FC Schalke 04 Youth Academy revolved around some key questions. "Should the academy be part of the club's football department or should it be independent?" "How should the academy be represented within the club's management?" "What are the successful mechanisms of cooperation between the first team and the academy?" were some of the main issues successfully discussed by the ECA delegation.
The Management theme is the last of the three areas covered by the ECA Youth Working Group alongside Transition and Education. These 3 subgroups were created to specifically tackle the key recommendations of the ECA Report on Youth Academies in Europe (click here to download).
The information gathered from this visit, together with the output coming from the previous visits at Athletic Club and Borussia Dortmund, will soon be presented in a detailed report.