tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/stoke-city-28743/articlesStoke City – The Conversation2017-12-04T08:51:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/882652017-12-04T08:51:49Z2017-12-04T08:51:49ZSelling homes for £1 gives local authorities the power to revive deprived communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197306/original/file-20171201-10124-13lpkvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/row-boarded-terraced-houses-760438531?src=Eh2AfKU_ETLFxuHbs-Gehg-2-1">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the city of Stoke-on-Trent, England, the council is offering 25 homes for sale for just £1 each. The houses are mainly two-bedroom Victorian terraces, in a deprived area of the city where there are a large number of empty properties, and which has a reputation locally for <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2013-10-18/1-house-neighbourhood-previously-had-drug-problem/">high levels of disorder</a> and <a href="http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/idmap.html">antisocial behaviour</a>. Clearly, the city council hopes the “Reviving Communities Scheme” will do just that. </p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that Christmas has come early for private landlords or property developers in Stoke. These properties must be renovated and lived in, rather than demolished or rented out, and there are <a href="https://www.stoke.gov.uk/info/20006/housing_and_neighbourhoods/274/reviving_communities_housing_scheme">strict criteria</a> which applicants need to meet. </p>
<p>Would-be £1 home owners must have a local connection and earn no more than £27,000 each year if they’re a single person (up to £60,000 if they’ve got a family with children). This scheme includes a loan of up to £60,000 – repayable over 15 years – which funds renovations carried out by the council before new owners move in. This way, new owners can avoid the stressful process of organising the renovations themselves.</p>
<h2>The big issues</h2>
<p>Faced with ongoing austerity measures, Stoke-on-Trent City Council <a href="https://www.stoke.gov.uk/news/article/158/public_to_be_consulted_on_budget_refresh_proposals">has had to</a> make £172m in savings since 2010 and will need to find a further £34m by 2020. So one might wonder why the council doesn’t simply renovate the properties to rent them out and generate much-needed income in the process. The answer is that – rather than being a money-maker – this scheme sets out to address some of the deepest social issues facing Britain today. </p>
<p>It is estimated that there are more than <a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN03012">589,000 empty homes</a> in England and Wales – more than 200,000 of which have been empty for six months or more. Against the backdrop of severe housing shortages across the UK – and an anticipated <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536702/Household_Projections_-_2014_-_2039.pdf#page=2">need to build over 210,000 homes per year</a> – the £1 scheme can put disused homes back into use, providing short-term relief from some of the pressure on the housing market and freeing up extra rental spaces in the city. </p>
<p>The scheme has been introduced at a time when many young people are struggling to buy a home. <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/10188">Incomes are stagnating</a> and, on average, house prices are <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/housingaffordabilityinenglandandwales/1997to2016">7.6 times the average UK salary</a>, up from 3.6 times earnings in 1997. <a href="https://www.cml.org.uk/documents/home-ownership-or-bust/20161017-home-ownership-or-bust.pdf">The Council of Mortgage Lenders</a> recently revealed that less than 50% of people under 35 believe they are likely to buy a home within 10 years. </p>
<p>While there have been calls for young people to <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/estate-agent-says-londons-millennials-should-stop-buying-sandwiches-holidays-and-nights-out-in-order-a3690481.html?amp">spend less and save for a deposit</a>, the reality is often that young people – who are far more likely to <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7706/CBP-7706.pdf">live in private or social rented housing</a> – routinely pay more in rent than they would for a mortgage.</p>
<p>The uncertainties of living in rented housing – exacerbated by short-term lets – have recently spread to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/04/pay-to-stay-uncertainty-leaves-tenants-too-little-time-says-council">council tenants and other social renters</a>. The £1 homes scheme offers residents, and especially younger people, an affordable way to buy their own homes and escape these uncertainties. </p>
<h2>Small but successful</h2>
<p>Schemes like this have been tried before – in Stoke back in 2014, and in cities as far afield as Liverpool in the UK, Roubaix in France and Abruzzo in Italy. The previous scheme in Stoke proved remarkably popular, attracting <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22507248">hundreds of applications</a> for just 35 homes. </p>
<p>There is evidence that they work, too – Stoke’s <a href="https://www.stoke.gov.uk/news/article/154/weve_launched_the_second_phase_of_the_award-winning_empty_homes_project">first £1 homes scheme</a> led to reductions in disorder and anti-social behaviour, as well as improvements in local health outcomes and housing conditions in the local area. Meanwhile, <a href="http://theportlandinnproject.tumblr.com/">The Portland Inn Project</a> has encouraged local organisations to work together to turn the former Portland Inn into a community centre. In working to breathe new life into the former pub, they have helped local residents develop a stake in the community.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BR5TfN0A2lu","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Schemes such as this can work in tandem with other initiatives to deliver real benefits for local people. For example, Stoke has been shortlisted for the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-towns-and-cities-shortlisted-for-uk-city-of-culture-2021">UK City of Culture 2021</a> contest. The ambition to revive declining communities and support local cultural and heritage industries formed a key part of the bid. </p>
<p>In this sense, the £1 scheme can be seen as part of the broader plan to encourage and sustain the city’s long-term cultural revival. It has given the council a means to encourage and maintain stable inner-city communities, while delivering benefits for residents by creating a sense of safety, belonging and ownership. It can also encourage younger residents to make a long-term commitment to the local area, helping places to become communities that survive and thrive long into the future.</p>
<p>On their own, small projects such as £1 houses won’t give all residents a chance to own their own home – nor can they alleviate the insecurities of renting or make up for the nation’s housing shortages. Only the national government has the power to solve problems of this scale. But they do give local authorities the means to encourage a sense of ownership in their local communities. And for Stoke – and many other post-industrial centres across the UK and Europe – that commitment from residents is what helps cities thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88265/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Kearon is affiliated with the Labour and Co-operative parties in Staffordshire and has been involved in helping a local authority in Staffordshire (not Stoke on Trent) to develop policies and procedures on community cohesion and support for homeless and other vulnerable people. As a District and Parish councillor he has been involved in supporting residents to develop a neighbourhood plan for the community in which he lives (which is not in Stoke on Trent).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Mahoney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Only the national government can solve the housing crisis – but local authorities can make a big difference in their communities.Ian Mahoney, Lecturer in Criminology, Liverpool Hope UniversityTony Kearon, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Co-Director of the Keele Policing Academic Collaboration (KPAC), Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/649882016-09-09T09:37:12Z2016-09-09T09:37:12ZBio-banding is football’s big idea for developing young talent – and why it might not work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136739/original/image-20160906-6110-1mxufhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'All for one ...'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-71499067/stock-photo-belgorod-russia-august-21-unidentified-boys-embrace-before-football-game-on-august-21-2010-in-belgorod-russia-the-final-of-chernozemje-superiority-football-kinder-team-of-1996-year.html?src=23e-VYM7xeUqX6YMCZdgEw-1-78">Olga Dmietrieva</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Now that the summer football transfer window has closed, a new record has been set for spending in England. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37230202">A total</a> outlay of more than £1 billion on Premier League players sounds astronomical when you think that Trevor Francis <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/nottingham-forest/4560618/The-day-Trevor-Francis-broke-footballs-1m-mark.html">became</a> the first £1 million player as recently as 1979. Yet despite this spending record, the finances clubs have at their disposal still <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36412394">appear to be</a> increasing unabated. </p>
<p>In a sport with such huge transfer fees, the youth systems of clubs take on more and more importance. The benefits of academies should be twofold: recruiting players before they become too expensive and then a source of income if they are sold for a profit later in their career. </p>
<p>Predicting which children will be successful in the adult game is difficult, however. You can <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35054310">see this</a> from the number of youngsters who are released and signed each year from professional academies. Being signed at 12 years of age is no guarantee of being offered a professional contract.</p>
<p>Clubs have been employing various tactics to tackle this problem, one of which has been to experiment with tournaments that categorise young players based on their biological rather than chronological age. Known as bio-banding, it aims to make competition fairer by assessing technical proficiency rather than physical prowess. Players compete against peers of similar maturity and physicality rather than age.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.afcb.co.uk/news/article/matchday-feature-afc-bournemouth-bio-banding-3022841.aspx">AFC Bournemouth</a>, Southampton and Stoke City <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/how-bio-banding-aims-to-stop-bigger-children-running-the-show-a6733916.html">are among</a> the Premier League clubs who have been experimenting with youth tournaments that use bio-banding. Some <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37054941">clubs in Scotland</a> are doing likewise. So will this approach help clubs select, develop and retain the most promising young players?</p>
<p>The first problem is determining the player’s biological age. It is easy to determine someone’s chronological age – assuming you have a legitimate birth certificate – but biological age poses more of a challenge. The most valid method is to <a href="http://www.aspetar.com/journal/viewarticle.aspx?id=218#.V8_qX1dlmRs">X-ray the wrist</a> to determine skeletal age. Subjecting youngsters to X-rays for something that may or may not benefit them however raises ethical questions – not to mention the associated expense. </p>
<p>Of the various surrogate markers proposed, the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam_Baxter-Jones/publication/11432300_An_assessment_of_maturity_from_anthropometric_measurements/links/0deec53209707abe0e000000.pdf">most popular is</a> an equation that uses mass, stature and seated stature to predict what is called the maturity offset. Yet like all measures, this calculation has an inherent degree of error and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221805238_Interrelationships_among_invasive_and_non-invasive_indicators_of_biological_maturation_in_adolescent_male_soccer_players">may actually</a> be unsuitable for grouping players by maturity. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136740/original/image-20160906-6110-1e12fx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">“Mon the kids.‘</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-318996482/stock-photo-kids-soccer-team-celebrate-goal-and-victory-defocussed-blur-sport-background-image.html?src=23e-VYM7xeUqX6YMCZdgEw-1-34">Igor Stevanovic</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>No panacea</h2>
<p>An important philosophical issue around bio-banding is its intended use. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37054941">Some tournaments</a> have used it for players already attached to a club academy as opposed to those on trial. This prompts an important question: is bio-banding better used for identifying talent or for developing it – or neither?</p>
<p>Tournaments that use bio-banding would typically categorise players by recording their vital statistics to calculate biological age before the first game (despite the uncertainty around maturity offset). The trouble is that doing this increases the margin of error and prevents any assessment about how rapidly a player is growing, for example. One may question whether this is any more useful than categorising players by chronological age. </p>
<p>When it comes to developing players that have already been signed, clubs would be in a position to track their growth over time to calculate biological age more accurately. This would give them the necessary information to develop individualised programmes for players who were large or small for their age, negating the need to categorise players through bio-banding. </p>
<p>Players that are mature for their age might for instance be given instructions that limit how much they can use their physicality, such as only allowing them to regain possession by interceptions and not tackling. This should encourage better positioning and less reliance on physical duels. In conjunction, you could give them short spells playing with older players of comparable size. These strategies would allow the coach to differentiate between their physical and technical attributes and devise a training plan that addresses their weaknesses rather than reaffirming their strengths.</p>
<p>For players who are too small and unable to impose themselves in training and matches, clubs could use their biological age to assess how close they are to their growth spurt and how much development is yet to take place. This may prevent players being released before they have realised their physical potential. </p>
<p>Bio-banding also raises the question of why we are so often preoccupied with physical prowess among young players. Perhaps it is because physical attributes can be measured easily. Aspects such as mindset, resilience and ability to learn and take instruction might be equally or even more important – just more difficult to assess. Despite the challenges, there may be a case for young athletes being categorised in future according to their emotional <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-win-the-euros-with-a-little-help-from-neuroscience-60679">and cognitive development</a>. </p>
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<span class="caption">‘Pheep!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-61755235/stock-photo-football-or-soccer-ball-at-the-kickoff-of-a-game-outdoors.html?src=tCcsyS3wCLJYYf1CL4WwBw-1-33">Andresr</a></span>
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<p>So there are numerous question marks around bio-banding. Using it to identify talent raises issues about accuracy while for developing signed players there are more useful and robust, albeit subjective, ways to assess their ability. That said, clubs may benefit from using biological age to help interpret players’ progress over time, especially when assessing physical attributes such as speed and fitness. </p>
<p>When it comes to spotting and nurturing talent, however, and without discouraging anyone from coming up with something better, there may be no substitute for experienced scouts and coaches seeing past the size and shape of young players and recognising their ability to play the game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Gibson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bio-banding is all the rage as youth football seeks to make the most of young talent. Here’s why we shouldn’t get carried away.Neil Gibson, Director of Sport, Performance and Health, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/615262016-06-24T15:35:49Z2016-06-24T15:35:49ZMaking young children give everything to football is a bad idea – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127896/original/image-20160623-30289-3peqt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jossie's juveniles. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=child%20footballer&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=299163980">matimix</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of the players at Euro 2016 will have been recruited to football clubs as children. Football has become such a big business that top clubs are under great pressure to ensure they recruit the next Cristiano Ronaldo before their nearest rival. As a result, they are taking on players very young. </p>
<p>British clubs <a href="http://talksport.com/magazine/features/2011-07-06/child-football-prodigies-man-uniteds-rhain-davis-barcelonas-kai-fifield-ajaxs-sonny-pike-and-more">commonly</a> take advantage of the fact that they can sign players on schoolboy terms from the age of nine. And the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062101/Manchester-United-sign-Charlie-Jackson-5-Future-football-star-talent-spotted-age-3.html">clubs invite</a> even younger children to their development centres and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35054310">have been known</a> to scout five-year-olds. </p>
<p>When a youngster signs for a big club, they and their parents <a href="http://www.footballexchange.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-developmental-activities-engaged-in-by-elite-youth-soccer....pdf">sometimes have to</a> agree not to play other sports or play for other football teams for fear of injury. This helps explain why British players who go on to become professionals <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239794492_Developing_football_expertise_A_football-specific_research_review">tend not</a> to participate in other sports. Yet the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28254123">average age</a> of World Cup winning teams is as old as 27.5 years. So is this early specialisation necessary? </p>
<p>Many specialists like myself would say it looks more like a by-product of the current talent development system rather than the most effective route to expertise. Research <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265688271_The_developmental_model_of_sport_particiation_15_years_after_its_first_conceptualization">suggests that</a> in sports like football where players reach their peak well into adulthood, you needn’t specialise before the age of 13; and you’re more likely to keep playing and to become an elite performer <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2012.721560">if you take part</a> in a range of activities between the ages of six and 12. </p>
<p>One of the main arguments in favour of early specialisation is the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07303084.2010.10598522">hypothetical positive relationship</a> between the amounts of time you spend practising a sport and the level of achievement you go on to attain – the idea that 10,000 hours of practice makes perfect. But this has been <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malcolm_Collins/publication/224846985_What_makes_champions_A_review_of_the_relative_contribution_of_genes_and_training_to_sporting_success/links/00463538f3d5f2b20f000000.pdf">widely contested</a> within sports research – and, even if this is true, it’s not necessarily an argument for concentrating on one sport. </p>
<p>For example the Stoke City and England goalkeeper Jack Butland, who is missing Euro 2016 through injury, played rugby alongside football until he was 16. He <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/jack-butland-stoke-citys-goalkeeper-on-missing-the-rough-and-tumble-of-rugby-a6698416.html">strongly believes</a> the rugby helped him develop as a goalkeeper. The research evidence <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239794492_Developing_football_expertise_A_football-specific_research_review">suggests that</a> related team sports with similar rules, movement, dimensions and strategies to football have the most transferable benefits. Playing darts may not be quite as beneficial, in other words. </p>
<h2>The impact of specialising early</h2>
<p>At top UK football clubs, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32064842">only one in 200</a> of those under nine make it to the senior team. There are obvious psychological effects on young footballers having to cope with not only the time demands and pressure of being part of a professional club but often the brutal rejection following years of commitment. </p>
<p>It also takes its toll on the body <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/45/9/702.short">by subjecting</a> young players to more frequent and intensive loads. Between 10% and 40% of football injuries among children and adolescents <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-013-0061-x">are from</a> playing too much. Players under 14 <a href="http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/34/6/928.short">incur</a> more training injuries than older players and they develop growth-related disorders linked to overplaying because their skeletons and tissue are still growing. The <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2012.721560">evidence indicates</a> that children are better off not training intensively, yet the UK has <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2016.1173221">recently adopted</a> an Elite Player Performance Plan that focuses on early specialisation and increases the number of on-pitch hours for youngsters per week. </p>
<p>For all these reasons, the compromise for numerous continental European football clubs is to engage players at a young age but not to make them overspecialise. For example FC Barcelona is Europe’s largest multi-sports club. It has four professional sections besides football – basketball, handball, roller hockey and futsal (a variant of five-a-side football). There are also six amateur sections – athletics, rugby, volleyball, field hockey, ice hockey and figure skating. Another example of this approach is Sporting Clube de Portugal, home to Sporting Lisbon. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127898/original/image-20160623-30267-1yb91tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Messi need not apply.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/okfotos/17175741191/in/photolist-saLasP-rRuprB-saLsnF-azLXHx-azPQ5L-saEyKd-saEPX7-s8wjZE-re1C86-rdPohd-rTne5i-rRuoJ4-rRuw3T-rRusQa-s8vV3G-rTdWkS-s8w2AG-rTmVDr-saEXGL-s8wzz1-rTdz2j-rTeUdL-s8wsiC-s8wwDb-saF5v5-rTdSaY-rdP7rL-rTnfGr-s8w39L-saP44p-rRugdn-rRtTMr-saEETW-s8wo9L-rTeTrf-rTn51r-s8w4g5-saEqhG-rTfefJ-s8wvBG-s8wftA-rdPeuy-rTdLdh-saEYtL-saKPJR-rdP82y-saF3qU-saEL6j-saEXk3-re1TEt">OK Fotos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there are clubs such as Belgium’s Standard Liége, which are not multi-sports clubs but do provide coaching support <a href="http://www.ecaeurope.com/Research/ECA%20Report%20on%20Youth%20Academies/ECA%20Report%20on%20Youth%20Academies.pdf">that develops</a> general skills and abilities, such as agility and coordination, that can be transferable to numerous sports. </p>
<p>These clubs approach youth football in these ways because the reality is that early specialisation is not the most effective route to the top. Countries whose clubs operate in this way are surely more likely to end up with the better players in the long run. The UK <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2009/sep/09/chelsea-fifa-premier-league-academies">has long</a> had a reputation for producing very few top players from club academies. If Euro 2016 ends up being another campaign where England falls short, it needs to take this into account.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Pinchbeck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many clubs sign players as young children and make them agree to not play anything else. The evidence suggests they’re making a big mistake.Jessica Pinchbeck, Lecturer in Sport and Fitness, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.