Huddersfield Town have been granted Category Two status for their academy under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).
And Head of Football operations Ross Wilson says it’s a significant step forward for the club.
“First and foremost this categorisation is a significant achievement,” Wilson told the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. “Category Two has many areas that make it really attractive to us as a club.”
“For example it allows our academy to recruit and coach players from a younger age (category 4 clubs can only coach in the professional development phase).”
“We want to recruit players that we can develop to at least Championship standard. This becomes significantly more difficult if we can only recruit older age levels when many of our competitors in this region have been recruiting from the foundation phase (under 11).”
“We will then have a longer period to coach and develop these players. We also want our young players to face the highest quality of opposition that they can, and under the EPPP, will play clubs at the same level.”
“While compensation is also determined by categories, it is not in our plan to transfer players unless our hand is forced.”
