Many of the players who are in the pro club academy system in the UK get picked up from a very young age. The pro clubs have good contacts in the local schools and the grassroots clubs, and in younger age groups it is often quite easy for good players to stand out. You get some players who can run through a whole team. So, when it is a fairly young age group, it’s relatively easy to pick out the outstanding players in their year group as they stand out. Look at the early videos of Beckham or Messi. They won games on their own!
Where do players get scouted from at this very young age?
The answer to this question is that early on, a young player can be scouted from almost anywhere. Scouts will mainly attend school football matches and grassroots matches. They will watch the district teams or watch the Sunday league teams. The Junior Premier League or JPL teams are of interest because they contain some really good players. Some players will come in from open trials which are obviously open to anybody, some will come in from community projects that the local football club might run, and some will come from private academies and private coaching groups.
It is important for all young players to understand that you never know when a scout may be watching you play. Scouts can literally be anywhere. One of the scouts who comes regularly to our UK Football Trials, famously scouted a player on a beach in Spain, who was playing keepy uppy with his dad!
Also, it’s important to understand that with these younger age groups, scouts are looking to bring in lots of players to fill the academies and development centres, so it is relatively easy to get picked up and scouted. Some clubs have staff at their development centres who go out and do coaching sessions locally, to try and find and identify talented young players.
Here at UK Football Academy Finder, we hope you understand now how young players get scouted at grass roots level by local pro clubs.