Watford drop down to Category Three after pulling U21s out of league

In a statement on their website, the club said it “does not believe fulfilling the U21 fixture programme is in the best interest of its young players and their prospects”.

They added: “The club will focus its efforts on the Under-18s and creating a smoother and more realistic pathway to first-team football. This key group of young professionals will either train with the first team and/or gain experience out on loan at a much earlier stage in their Professional Development League journey.

“The fast-tracking of the club’s best young players, some of whom have been with us since the age of nine, has been taken to enhance their prospects of a long-term future in the game.”

The club added that they are very committed to continuing to play in the FA Youth Cup – a competition they won twice in the 1980s and in which they have reached two semi-finals in the past eight years.

Reports say that Academy Manager Richard Johnson and Head of Academy Coach Development Micah Hyde will stay on, while Paul Furlong and Adrian Mariappa will work with the remaining Under-21 players, who will still play some friendly matches.

‘Financial demands’

Watford are not the first team to downgrade their Academy from Category Two to Three. 

In April, Crewe Alexandra, who have a reputation for producing top players, announced that they are doing the same thing from next season, having been at Category Two since the Elite Player Performance Plan started in 2012.

They said “increasing financial and operational demands” had led to their decision.

Both Crewe and Watford, at 34th and 35th respectively, ranked reasonably well in TGG’s 2024/25 Academy Productivity Rankings.

They came above Premier League sides Bournemouth, Brentford and Ipswich as well as nine other Championship clubs, including Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City.

All clubs with Category Two Academies have to run an Under-21 side, but fewer clubs are continuing to operate at that level. The bigger ones want to be Category One, while some smaller clubs are deciding they don’t see the point of continuing to have an Under-21 set-up.

With Brentford moving up to Category One, that only leaves 17 Category Two Academies for next season and that number could fall again if Bournemouth are successful in their bid to follow the Bees in moving up a level.

QPR have also signalled their intent to try to progress to a Category One Academy by the middle of next year.