Football Academy Director

Develop the Next Generation

Take charge of an entire football academy, from the youngest age groups to the U19 side competing for league titles, promotion and cups.

Scout and recruit prospects, shape their development, plan future squads and build teams capable of winning now — while preparing the players who could become your club's future.

Every season brings new prospects, new decisions and another chance to raise the standard of your academy.

Scout and Recruit the Right Players

Build every generation before they reach the pitch.

Scout young players, run Youth Camps and identify the prospects who fit your academy. Compare ability, potential, personality and positional needs before deciding where to spend your recruitment resources.

Other academies are looking at the same talent. Interest changes, competition matters and Deadline Day forces you to make your final decisions.

Build Your Squads for the Future

Academy management is about more than your strongest XI.

Manage squads across multiple age groups and plan years ahead. Track where players are developing, where opportunities will open and which positions may need strengthening before those gaps reach your U19 team.

Use the Squad Planner to balance today's squad against the players coming through behind them.

Develop Players Your Way

Potential is only the starting point.

Manage training, playing time and individual development across the academy. Decide which players need regular football, which roles suit them and who deserves greater responsibility as they move through the age groups.

Some prospects will develop quickly. Others will stall, surprise you or force you to rethink your plans.

Set Your Tactics. Compete for Trophies.

Development matters — but results matter too.

Select your U19 squad, choose your formation and assign player roles before putting your academy to the test on matchday.

Compete through the Youth League pyramid, chase promotion and league titles, fight for cup trophies and take your best generations onto the World Youth Cup stage.

Every match is another test of the squad you have built.

Build a Stronger Academy

Turn results and long-term planning into progress.

Improve your facilities, expand your staff and strengthen the systems around your players. Better infrastructure gives you more tools to recruit, develop and prepare the next generation.

Your academy should not look the same after ten seasons as it did when your career began.

Produce First-Team Players

The best academy careers eventually lead beyond the youth system.

At the First Team Pathway Meeting, assess your leading prospects and decide who has earned the opportunity to step into senior football.

Graduation is not the end of their story — it is the point where your work as an academy starts being measured on a bigger stage.

Follow Their Senior Careers

Your graduates remain part of the football world after they leave the academy.

Follow former prospects as they move between clubs, establish themselves in senior football, earn international call-ups, compete for honours and eventually reach the end of their careers.

Over time, your alumni become a record of the players — and careers — your academy produced.

Build. Develop. Compete. Repeat.

Every season brings another intake, another squad to shape and another opportunity to improve.

Build better teams. Develop better players. Climb the pyramid. Win trophies. Strengthen the academy — and see what the next generation can become.

Key Features

Manage academy squads from U11 to U19

Scout prospects and compete with rival academies for signings

Run Youth Camps and build future recruitment classes

Plan future squads with the Squad Planner

Manage training, playing time and individual player development

Select your U19 lineup, formation and player roles

Compete for league titles, promotion and cups

Take elite generations to the World Youth Cup

Hire staff and improve academy facilities

Work towards board objectives and build your reputation

Guide prospects through the First Team Pathway

Follow academy graduates throughout their senior careers and through to retirement

Build new generations across a long-term managerial career