Representations

This double page spread from a feature in FourFourTwo magazine is similar to what I am aiming to replicate in my own sport magazine. It is clear from the running head that youth team players and youth academies are being represented in quite a negative way, because of how much money is distributed in football. Smaller, lower league clubs are questioning whether it is worth them having youth academies because they are wondering is there any value in creating their own stars, because fundamentally top prospects from smaller clubs will just be snapped up by the bigger clubs because they have more financial muscle and pulling power, players from a smaller club will be wanting to upgrade clubs. Youth academies are being represented badly when they should be represented positively, because youth academies are meant to lay the foundations of the football club, in particular for teams with not a lot of money, because youth academies may be their only way of developing talent.

In my own magazine, a potential idea of mine is to do a piece about Grimsby Town’s Youth Team, which is similar to what FourFourTwo have done, but they have spoke about the negativity that finances in football have brought to youth teams. However, it seems at Grimsby Town, their youth team is looked at very positively. A lot of funds put into the club is then funded into helping the needs of the youth team, because Grimsby obviously see a lot of hope in their youth. For example, this season two youth team players that were coming to the end of their youth contracts (Josh Venney and Josh Sunter) were rewarded with professional terms, which is obviously very positive for Grimsby and their youth system that they are able to develop players with enough ability to be rewarded with a professional contract. Then at the start of this season, second year youth team player Harry Clifton was rewarded with a professional contract a year early, which again is positive for him and the club, that youth are being rewarded and trusted within the professional game. Grimsby clearly know that due to their lower league status and limited finances, their youth academy needs trusting, because they haven’t got the money to go and buy any player they need.

Within the English game, youth academies need to be represented more positively than they sometimes are, because if you look abroad to successful nations like Germany and Spain, they do put trust into their academies and home grown players, which has reaped the rewards. However, in England, a lot of emphasis is put on finance and foreign talents, which hasn’t benefited the young talents in England.