TOM VERNON has stepped down as CEO of Right to Dream after 25 years and will now take on a Senior Advisor role as Executive Vice Chairman.

MORE and more Premier League clubs are signing Right to Dream graduates, as we've seen with Mohammed Kudus at West Ham and Simon Adingra and Ibrahim Osman at Brighton. What makes the Academy so special?

RIGHT TO DREAM have expanded into the MLS after San Diego were awarded the league’s 30th franchise. The global not-for-profit group already owns clubs in Denmark and Egypt, as well as Academies in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

IN Episode #47 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast, Tom Vernon tells us about the origins of Right to Dream, its objectives and what the rest of football can learn from the group.

RIGHT TO DREAM are poised to launch a club and Academy in the United States, according to their Founder and Group CEO Tom Vernon. He tells Training Ground Guru that the idea is to combat the pay-to-play system, which “is excluding a lot of kids of potential from making it.”

RIGHT TO DREAM founder Tom Vernon makes three recommendations for dealing with the owners of want-away clubs, including making a commitment to the English football pyramid a key part of the fit and proper person test.

RIGHT TO DREAM is planning its first foray into the English market after the Mansour Group, owned by Africa’s seventh richest man, agreed to invest $120m in the global academy.

DR PIPPA GRANGE, the former Head of People and Team Development at the Football Association, has joined the Right to Dream Academy to lead on cultural strategy.

EVERY year, 25,000 children try out for a place at the Right to Dream Academy near Accra. With its links to FC Nordsjælland in Denmark, the Academy offers unique opportunities to youngsters in West Africa.