| The football
academies were instigated by Howard Wilkinson,
the FA Technical Director, to allow clubs greater
access to young players from an early age with
due consideration to their welfare and education.
The concept
is quite common on the continent where clubs take
boys from eight or nine years old for training
and later competition - limiting the time they
can spend playing games up to the age of 16. The
emphasis is on excellence of course and there are
restriction on the number of boys in the various
age group.
Clubs - like
Crystal Palace - which have gained Academy status
are closely monitored according to FA guidelines.
These include mandatory staff requirements and
the younger age groups playing on reduced size
pitches with reduced size teams.
Currently Palace
operate two teams, under-17 and under-19, with
the possibility of an under-21 team in place for
the 1999/00 season. These teams compete against
other club's academy on a league basis.
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