Chelsea top Academy Productivity Rankings for second time in a row

Chelsea have by far the greatest score for Premier League appearances (18.83) and finished almost 30 points ahead of Arsenal with their overall weighted score of 196.03. As in previous editions, weighting was given according to the league in which a player appeared, with more points given for a Premier League than Championship appearance and so on.

Points were also split evenly between Academies if a player attended more than one. 

Chelsea’s top spot seems particularly pertinent this season, because the architect of their modern Academy, Neil Bath, left the club in July along with his long-time assistant Jim Fraser. Combined, the duo had worked for the Academy for more than 50 years.

Bath joined the Blues as a part-time schoolboy coach in 1993, when the youth teams trained at Battersea Park on weekdays. He went on to become Assistant Academy Manager in 2002, Academy Manager in 2004 and Director of Football Development and Operations in 2022. Overall he worked for three owners and 25 first-team managers.

When Chelsea topped the 2021/22 Academy Rankings, former Premier League Director of Youth Ged Roddy MBE described Bath as the “stand-out practitioner in player development in this country” and “the fabric of Chelsea”. Following the departure of Bath and Fraser, Glenn van der Kraan was hired from Manchester City to become Chelsea’s Academy Technical Director, with Jack Francis stepping up to become Head of Academy Operations.

Francis has been with the club for almost 14 years, mainly in Player Care roles, before being appointed Academy Manager for the U9s to U16s in December 2022. 

All of the clubs in the top 10 of the Academy Productivity Rankings are Premier League and Category One, with the honourable exception of Category Two Sheffield United, who have jumped from 18th in the last edition of the rankings (2021/22) to 10th this time.

In fact all of the top 20 are Category One, except for Sheffield United and fellow Category Two side Charlton Athletic. The League One Addicks are in 12th position, up from 16th in 2021/22. Earlier this month, their Academy Director Steve Avory announced he was stepping down from his position after 23 years at the club.

Elsewhere, Liverpool have jumped from 10th in 2021/22 to seventh in this edition. They had 56 players playing in England’s top-five leagues last season – 20 more than two years ago. ‘Klopp’s kids’ were hailed for their Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea in February 2024 and have now achieved their highest placing in the rankings since 2017/18. 

Newcastle United are another notable riser, going from 27th in 2021/22 to 18th this time. Their former Sporting Director Dan Ashworth, who is now at Manchester United, had made Academy productivity a key priority during his time at the club. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s near neighbours Middlesbrough have also risen significantly, from 20th to 15th.

Crewe Alexandra are the biggest fallers in this year’s rankings, dropping from ninth in 2021/22 to 25th for 2023/24. Bolton Wanderers have dropped from 22nd to 35th, and Plymouth Argyle from 31st to 45th. 

Only two Category One Academies – Wolves (32nd) and Stoke City (47th) – are outside of the top 30 in the rankings, again showing the pulling power and productivity of the top tier. Exeter City lead the way for the Category Three sides, in 31st place, edging out the likes of Wolves, QPR, Stoke and Burnley.