Leaving the academy system is challenging. How can you put yourself in the best position moving forward?
The chances of becoming a professional footballer are slim, particularly in the Premier League, with over 99% of young footballers in England never playing a minute in the top flight.
The end of the football season is nearing, meaning academies across the UK will be finalising their retain and release lists. For young goalkeepers who are released in the next few weeks, we have spoken to a series of experts to gather their advice on the best ways to move forward.
They discussed a range of potential next steps for released goalkeepers, including exit trials and the importance of leveraging social media to find new connections in the game.
Rob Shay, who is the Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Reading FC, also believes that experience and playing time above everything else is the most important thing for released goalkeepers. He admitted that it can be “really difficult initially, but can you see this as an opportunity to take ownership of your football path?.
"Look for where you can create a bank of game experience for yourself. Play as many games as you can to build experience. Learn about the physical requirements, pick the brains of experts in each area (s and c, nutrition psychology etc.), there are lots of people willing to help and social media is a powerful tool to access this information these days.
“Work with goalkeeper coaches you trust to be honest on how together you can develop your game. Self-awareness is vital, study the game, look at what top goalkeepers are doing when they play, look at what young goalkeepers in the professional game are doing and young goalkeepers in the non-league game.
“Try to understand what you need to do to get into the positions they are in, if you are able to do that you will find your path towards playing at the highest level your potential allows you to.”
Exit trials are popular events for released academy players to showcase their skills to scouts in the hope of finding a new club. These typically take place for under-16s and first-year scholars, who have just been released.
Dan Tumelty-Bevan, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Birmingham City FC, explained that "[Exit trials can be] difficult, you’ve got a lot of other lads that are in a similar position to you. The best thing you can do is show what you’re capable of within the framework of the team that you’re in. So, there is no point in being the hero that is going to go and do everything outrageously with the ball, without the ball. You don’t need to try and do too much, you don’t need to try and find moments to show what you can do.
“The games will allow you to show what you can do. There's a hard balance to strike. The worst thing that you can do in these moments is probably go and try to be a hero, make a really poor decision and people go no, he’s not for us. But then the same exists on the other side. I wouldn’t just go in and be really safe. When the opportunity arises for you to show what you can do, turn down those moments in fear almost of getting it wrong. Try and calculate the risks you're taking."
Paul Wavell, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Swansea City, added: “Whenever we've given someone a decision, our support for that goalkeeper doesn't stop. So, whether they go to exit trials or they end up trialling at another club, our job is to make sure that the moment you step into another club, we know that we have given you every opportunity to go and perform.”
Another thing to consider for released goalkeepers is creating a playing CV. Tumelty-Bevan believes this is important for young players, so that they can establish their own pathway. He said:
“If you are released from an academy, and you don’t get another opportunity in an academy, that does not mean that your career is finished. It’s now about building your CV to make your way back up the leagues. For example, a really famous one is Nick Pope who didn’t get offered a scholarship in this country, went and did a college programme. and then he’s come through and played for England.
“I think being able to work your way through and take opportunities you get given or take opportunities that you earn are really important. Not just decide that you’re too good for something. You will end up at the level that you deserve to be at. So, whether that’s lower leagues to build yourself back up or whether that is a higher league to come back down, you will end up at the level you’re at if you are persistent with your application and your identity.”
Wavell also discussed some of the more atypical approaches - though increasingly common - to finding your next club. He believes that, today, social media can be used by young players following their release, as a valuable tool to use in search of opportunities elsewhere.
“Everyone, rightfully or wrongly, is accessible via social media, so you do get a lot of players come to you. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing because players are just trying to do the best for themselves.
“I've had one or two people that have messaged me and I’ve passed them onto other people. It might not be right for us, but I might go ‘You know what, someone here might be interested’ and pass it on to someone that I know within the game.”
There can be upsides and downsides to this direct approach. Graeme Smith, who now works as Goalkeeping Performance and Coach Education Manager for the Scottish FA, was also Rangers' Head of Academy Goalkeeping for six years between 2018 and 2024.
When asked about how young players should use social media following their release, he explained that social media can only give coaches half the picture.
“Everybody's got these platforms and every game you can see they can put their good bits in. But the biggest thing for me in my experience was when I always used to get stuff sent through and everybody sent you all their good stuff. But what about the last few goals they've conceded?
“I'm not saying that they'll concede goals because they're bad goalkeepers or they're good goalkeepers, but you can see stuff right away in terms of what their balance looks like, what their decision-making process looks like. And again, that just comes from my experience of how I see a goalkeeper and how I would want a goalkeeper to look in a range of situations. Everybody's different. Again, you look at the Premier League in England, tall, short, explosive, reach, it's how you make that effective. It's how you become effective.
“That's the most important part is that you're effective in what you do. You're effective with your decision making, your positioning, your execution, whatever that may be. There is far more out there in terms of networking and stuff, but I would have confidence in yourself let your ability do the talking rather than young goalkeepers trying to text their way into teams and talk their way into teams."
“The way you get in a team is by training hard and showing that you’re one of the best goalkeepers and you show it to the managers after, and when you get your chance to perform, you perform well. And if it doesn't go your way, it’s not because of the grass. It's not because the pitch was bumpy. It's not because of the wind or it's rain. It's just because you had a bad day, or you had a bad game, and you just go again.”
