English youth football undergoes reform

While the success of the Premier League is undeniable, it is also clear that two-thirds of the players in the elite teams are foreigners. Gary Southgate, the former Three Lions manager, recently expressed concern about the low proportion of English players playing in the domestic league. This is due to the financial windfall attracting the most proven talents to the Premier League, but this comes at the cost of less exposure to general technical training, preventing most young English footballers from competing. This observation, made at the highest levels, is pushing the English FA to rethink its youth training architecture. The first of these changes to take effect will be from the start of the 2026-2027 season with the overhaul of the current U7, U9, U11, and U13 training formats (see elsewhere). As a result, the U7s, who until now play "5 against 5", will move to "3 against 3", the U9s will switch from "7 against 7" to "5 against 5", the U11s will move from "9 against 9" to "7 against 7" and the U13s from "11 against 11" to "9 against 9". The transition to 11-a-side football will only take place from the U14 category.

Temisan Williams (former Arsenal Academy coach): "It's about time!"

Such a planned transformation has delighted many coaches across the Channel. Temisan Williams, former coach at the Arsenal, Tottenham, and Fulham academies, did not hesitate to punctuate the news with "it's about time!" When asked about the benefits of the reform, the coach clarified: "Smaller formats mean more contact with the ball, more play, an increase in the time spent on the pitch—in short, more opportunities for development for each child on the pitch." Another argument put forward by the coaching staff was the relevance of the increasingly complex rules of the game to the level of maturity of the young players: "The most complex rules of the game only become apparent when the child enters secondary school and has mastered the other rules. These are very positive points that could help improve their overall level while enhancing the conditions for children's motivation and engagement over the long term." To what effect? ​​See you in 10 years and we’ll have the answer!