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What To Know Ahead Of Signing A Scholarship As An Academy Goalkeeper
Coaches and ex-players put forward things to think about about as you enter the scholarship phase of your goalkeeping career.
The transition from academy football to signing a scholarship—or even a professional—contract is a huge step in a goalkeeper’s career. This stage isn’t just about honing skills on the pitch; it’s about balancing your training, education, and personal development while managing the mental challenges that come with the game. We spoke to experts from the top levels of the game to help figure out what’s required.
When a goalkeeper is signed onto a scholarship contract, most tend to leave full time ‘traditional’ schooling and move onto an education programme within the football club. It is important to remember that there is still a way to go to the top when one of these contracts is signed. You must remember that your life as an academy goalkeeper isn’t all about training - school doesn’t end.
In England, children must stay in some form of education or training until they are 18, though the formal school leaving age remains 16, meaning they must continue in education, employment, or training until their 18th birthday
“It’s the start of the player’s journey in full time football” explained Rob Shay, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Reading FC.
“On average players will train four times across a week alongside gym and analysis programmes. As well as this the players will have education blocks timetabled into their programme as they continue to study across the two year scholarship. The U18 games program takes place generally on Saturday mornings while youth cup fixtures tend to be midweek evenings.”
Paul Wavell, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Swansea City FC, explained how their scholars ‘have education two days a week: Monday morning and all-day Thursday. Some of our lads are based in-house and our education people deliver a B-tech qualification to them. We also have some very smart individuals that take on A-Levels. There’s a variety - some even do a barbering course.
"On Thursdays, they're away for the whole day for education, and on Friday, they’ll train in the morning, prepare for their game on Saturday and have Sunday off. Sundays are their full day completely off football and education.”
In-house workshops on life skills and potential career paths are also provided by Swansea’s player care and safeguarding teams.
Graeme Smith, now Goalkeeper Education and Performance Manager at the Scottish FA, was formerly Head of Academy Goalkeeping at SPFL giants Rangers FC. He added that the education side isn’t just about academics; it’s also about learning the basics of sports science and getting a feel for life in full-time football:
“Friday was their matchday at Rangers, so the scholars would do school during the day. Saturdays and Wednesdays would be days off. Sometimes on a Monday and a Tuesday afternoon after football, they would do their education…we gave them a lot of sports science stuff and an introduction to the gym, which was great. It would get them ahead of the curve if they were coming in full-time.”
Smith noted that scholarship programmes do place pressures on a goalkeeper's schedule, and that when it comes to academia, a balance has to be found.
"What you maybe find is, in my experience is somebody who's really academic wants to do four Scottish Highers (A-Levels) and sign a scholarship. I think that's a lot. But again, the way around this may be knowing what you want to hone in on and then doing one or two or per year of the scholarship, or something alike.
"Balance is the most important part because when you're trying to become accustomed to full-time football. Your body's trying to become a accustomed to full-time football and your prehab, activation, and gym work and everything that comes mentally and physically with being a full-time player in pre-season means that being in all day helps players understand why these things are important.
There is a clear recognition, however, that academies need to protect players for the future."It was sometimes difficult for the more academic players to fit their studies into the schedule with the school, so we would then try and get them tutors. We have to think about the statistics of how many people are going to be professional footballers; I think we've got to look after the person first.
"First and foremost it was always the parent's and the player's decision. We would never discourage that. But we would also give them a little bit advice in terms of where we thought they were from a football point of view.
By combining structured academics with intensive on-pitch training, clubs aim to develop better players and well-rounded individuals prepared for life beyond the pitch. The schedule, however, can be demanding. When you transition from a schoolboy schedule to a full-time scholar setup, everything changes. The demands of the schedule require goalkeepers to begin taking accountability for their preparation and conditioning.
“When you’ve gone from a day at school, home, straight out in the car, into train, warm up etc. and you’re almost not even thinking about what you have to do before the session - you just turn up and you play - that goes well out the window at scholar”, described Daniel Tumelty-Bevan, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Birmingham City.
“The big thing that I notice around training schedules is that some of the lads don’t realise now how important their prehab is, how important their activation is, how important it is to manage their time in the morning. We try to instil the importance of this in them.”
“They'll have had double sessions in the younger age groups, but the next thing to be aware of within training is there’s a higher level of demand, you’re closer to the Under-21s. In a lot of places you'll train physically closer to the U21s or the first team, and nearer to their standard. There’s a higher level demanded of you now that you are in the eye line all the time.”
“Upping your awareness of who’s around you and upping your preparation time is massively important”, said Tumelty-Bevan.
Signing a scholarship brings changes to the personal life of the goalkeeper, as well as their life on the pitch. Goalkeeper.com’s very own Sam Guthrie spent two years as a Scholar at Huddersfield Town after leaving school. He received four U18 Professional Development League 2 medals, and was offered a professional contract after the second year under goalkeeper coach Nick Colgan.
He moved away from home to live with a ‘host family’, as is common practice for players entering the post-16 stage of their professional footballing journey.
“I was very lucky when I first moved away from home that my host family were brilliant. One thing I would give as advice would be to not just go and sit in your room. Go and speak to your host family, go and find out about them because it's always good - especially for young people moving away from home - that you have that balance between a home life and a football life.
“My host family used to take me out for meals, take me to different places. I'm really grateful for that because it meant I had a home away from home. Don't take the mick and not offer to wash up or anything else like that! Make sure that you're still doing everything that you should be doing. It's not a hotel, it's a house!
Tumelty-Bevan noted that moving in with a host family is “down to each individual.”
“My thoughts around it is that it's better if you move into a host family because your scholarship is preparing you for life as a professional footballer. Your life as a professional footballer won’t be in mum and dad’s pockets or, for example, the first time you go away shouldn't be the first time you go and move city, for example.”
“I’d still recommend taking as much ownership of your lifestyle away from the training ground as you do at the training ground. You’re now on a full time programme. Clocking off at 2pm to go on the PlayStation or go and play XBox isn’t acceptable anymore! You have to dedicate everything to make sure you’re on top of everything in your game - and that included your education.”
It’s important to ‘zoom in’ and ‘zoom out’, as one of Guthrie’s former managers Mike Williamson used to say to academy players, from your life as a footballer. Maintaining social relationships during a unique phase of any person’s life is important.
“The lads who you're in the squad with or the girls who you're in the squad with, make sure you have those friendships with them, and make sure you maintain your relationships outside of football, too” says Guthrie.
“In a way it’s helpful to have people who aren’t so bothered about what happens on your day to day life on the training pitch, to maintain that life away from football. At the end of the day, you are still a 16 to 18 year old who has just left school and trying to do something with their career; having people around you who have a variety of interests is good.
“Don’t go home and just sit by yourself in your room. If you make a mistake or something, you're gonna be thinking about it, it's gonna compound and then you're gonna turn that into two bad days, three bad days, four bad days.
And, importantly: “There’s also always support that you can get from the club.”