Luton Town last night got the go-ahead to build a new academy base, which boss Nathan Jones believes will make them more able to compete with Arsenal, Tottenham and other bigger clubs when it comes to developing youth players.
The Hatters were finally granted planning permission by Luton Council for an artificial pitch and domed training facility for their youth set-up, at Cutenhoe Road.
The decision had been deferred last month but was yesterday voted through by four votes to three, which will set in motion the club’s plans to develop their academy from Category 3 to Category 2 status, allowing them to play in the Premier League’s under 23 development games programme, hopefully from the start of next season.
Speaking to the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust podcast, prior to the planning consent, Jones said of the prospect: “It adds a real games programme, against other Category 2 sides, where the best ones for the under-18s and in the under-23 year groups, with one or two of the first team squad, can get game time. That’s a real good thing.
“Plus, if you are Category 2, with the facilities you have, it’s far easier to compete with Tottenham, Arsenal and so on.
“In a lot of cases, we are more attractive than those, because it’s interesting to see how many academy graduates get through and get into the first team and play regularly.
“It’s happening a lot more now, especially in Arsenal and Tottenham. Arsenal have had a few lately, but that’s what we preach here.
“So, it is important, on a number of levels. One, to take the club forward. Two, to attract players and to keep those players. Three, the games programme will enhance those players and give us another group so that we’re able to invest a bit more time in players that are coming through, so yeah, it’s vital.”
The planning application, submitted in July, said that ‘only by being able to develop local and home-grown players can the club hope to compete with richer clubs.’
Town have a history of developing players, with homegrown James Justin coming up through the ranks and last season signing for Premier League Leicester City in a multi-million pound deal.
While that move was made with the club and supporters’ blessing after he helped Luton to the League One title, the club, which spent five years in the non-league, had to put up with their youngsters being tempted elsewhere.
Indeed, Justin played in an under-11s side that beat Bayern Munich to the Aarau Masters European title in 2009, as part of a squad that contained Jamal Lewis, who recently signed for Newcastle United from Norwich, while the Canaries’ other full back, Max Aarons, is reportedly wanted by Barcelona.
But soon after the youth team’s David-versus-Goliath triumph the Hatters first-team was relegated out of the Football League after 89 years and in the intervening seasons, a succession of young Luton players were snapped up by richer clubs, such as Cauley Woodrow (Fulham), the Dasilva brothers Jay, Cole and Rio (Chelsea). Tarum Dawkins (Arsenal), Dave Moli (Liverpool) and Janoi Donacien (Tottenham).
During a discussion about recruitment in another recent episode of the Supporters’ Trust podcast, chief executive, Gary Sweet, said: “The next thing for us, is really to add numbers into that under-21 category, that group slightly below (the first team), so that when we become an EP2 Academy and we can play in the games programme, which will now unfortunately be, hopefully, next year, so 2021/22 season when that happens.
“So, we’re adding one or two at that level and that’s where the investment is coming. Hopefully, one or two of those, within 12 months may be ready to knock on the door of the first team too.”
And Jones, who handed Justin and a number of other youngsters, their professional debuts, during his first spell in charge of the club between 2016-2019, is fully behind the project.
“I believe in young players, I always have,” he said, adding: “I’ve always done it. When I was at Yeovil as assistant manager, myself and the manager took young players like Andros Townsend, Ryan Mason, Steven Corker, Alex McCarthy, who all made their league debuts for Yeovil at 16, 17, 18. We took real gambles on them and they went on to play for England.
“Academies are so important in all the clubs I’ve been at. In Charlton with Paul Hart, for example, that was probably a big reason why Charlton survived because they academy produced so many players that were rolling out.
“Some even got sold before they got in the first team, and that really did help the club to move forward.
“My belief in an academy is you have to give the opportunity. You have to do the work with them, but if talent and opportunity meet then that’s when you can do really good things.
“With our academy, we’ve produced players and given them an opportunity, but the first thing you have to do is try to produce players for your first team.
“If, for some reason, they don’t get into your first team, you have to prepare them for life in football, so that they get a career in football.
“In some clubs, people move quicker than the team and they get sold. Others, the team moves quicker than the players and they move on for other reasons, but we’ve given them an education.
“Here, there were a lot of impatient ones who wanted to play in the first team, but weren’t ready. We’d given them a taste and they felt that they wanted to be regulars, but we were trying to win leagues and get promoted, while still developing young people.
“So, we moved slightly quicker than they were keeping pace. So, what we did was give them an education, give them opportunities and now they’re earning a living elsewhere.
“Others that got into the first team, that got developed, or we bought and developed, moved slightly quicker than us. We shake their hand, pick the best club for them, advise them on their next move and they go and do good things.
“Here, we have an academy, that’s just started to get an under-23 team. We want to go Category 2 and all the time the club is moving forward, so the academy, the players have to keep pace with the first team.
“At the minute, we’re not quite moving at the pace that we were from League Two to League One. We haven’t plateaued, we’re still moving forward, but the margins are so different now, so everyone has to step up.
“It’s so important, the academy. We believe in it, we want to enhance it, we want to give young people opportunities but they now have to step up because the margins are so different now.”
Luton preserved their Championship status last season on the final day of the season, despite have the lowest wage budget in the division against clubs that were spending more than they earned.
With the rise in Coronavirus cases seeing plans scrapped last week to get supporters back in stadia for the first time since March, there is talk of government or Premier League bailouts for EFL clubs whose viability is threatened because of the disappearance of their chief revenue stream – match day tickets.
Asked if developing young players will be even more important in the wake of the Covid fallout, Jones said: “It’ll aid the fact that clubs will have to be reliant, because, one, finances are not so vast, and two, under-23s don’t quite count in terms of the budget.
“With the sheer finances, people will have to be given opportunities. Now, if you can only afford 16-18 players, and one or two picks up an injury, you are forced to play a younger one.
“I never understand managers that just put four or five subs on the bench, just to make a point that they are decimated. I would always put a young one on there.
“You see some people put three or four and a lot of them have different agendas, so I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I never understood that, because if you’ve got a space on the bench then, rather than not fill it, give a young person an opportunity and there might be an opportunity in that game to give them game time, which is invaluable.
“Covid may have an effect on the amount of players that get into first teams, and play games and if that is the case, and they are good enough to do that – not getting in through default – then the world’s a better place.”
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