He's in North London. Needless to say the quality of the kids we come up against is unbelievably good. There are a couple in his current team that could, if planets align, go all the way.
One of his ex-team mates joined Arsenal youth and it was interesting to get his dad's take on the whole thing. It sounded brutal and they took him out before he was 8. He then joined Barnet and although the quality wasn't quite as red hot, the regime was almost as ridiculous (training 3 times a week + match on Sundays) and so he was taken out of there too after 3 months. At least he got in the team; our kid had a trial there which cost us £40 (!) but didn't get the gig (no reason given). One of their team mates got signed by Man Utd, so the 8 year old and all his family moved up to Manchester over the summer!
Another of my son's ex-team mates just got snapped up by Ridgeway Rovers (David Beckham's & Harry Kane's old team in Chingford) and that all sounds more sensible, so we might try out for them next season. In short we've been advised to stay away from the Academy system for now as it's as I describedpreviously.
I’m just north if north London and my boys have just started out. I’ve already witnessed the intensity of the parents and kids. It’s too much.
Good advice. Hopefully my boys are good enough to use it. Haha.
Amazon have already delivered that book. I’m totally in.
Good luck.