Under-16s given green light to return to Academies
Written by Training Ground Guru — February 25, 2021
ALL players under the age of 16 have been given the green light to return to Academies for training from March 8th and in matches from the weekend of 27/28th March.
In early January, the training and games programme for the foundation and youth development phases was halted because of the national coronavirus lockdown.
However, with Boris Johnson announcing the return of schools and of outdoor after-school sport from March 8th, the Premier League and EFL have decided all ages can return to their clubs. The games programme will be extended to 27th June.
The Covid-19 Lateral Flow Testing programme for the PDP (U17s to U23s) age groups will continue, although it is not being proposed that this should be extended to the U9 to U16 age groups.
In an email to Category 2 Academies this morning, EFL Youth Development Director David Wetherall wrote:
“In regards to registration matters I can confirm the following are currently proposed (although not confirmed):
- The retain/release date for U9 to U14 players to remain as third Saturday in May.
- Registration extensions to be available to clubs as per last season but to run until December 11th (with Players to be informed of retain/release decisions by November 27th).
- Leagues to further consider options to register an additional number of Players in the U15 age group for season 2021/22 and consequently in the U16 age group for season 2022/23.
- The Scholarship offer “deadline” to revert to December 31st for season 2021/22.
