As Birmingham continues to rise, one of the avenue’s that was an absolute lifeblood for both survival on the field and off the field over the years was the Academy. In fact for a period the Academy was easily one of the best things about the club producing a series of fantastic players that were able to keep up up as we threw the youth in at the deep end before being sold off for profit to keep the club afloat.
Players that stand out when you think of the academy are of course the Bellingham brothers but they’re not the only produce from the club. You think of Nathan Redmond, Jordan James, Demarai Gray and more from over the years, these lads really did showcase how good the academy was even with a poor team on the pitch so it surely made sense to keep investing in this but the old owners wanted to scrap it. In fact it was suggested a few years ago that Jude basically forced the owners to keep the academy going, even if they did just leave it to rot then.
The news is a huge boost to Blues overall ambition, not just to be a force on the pitch in the professional men’s game but to be a home of sporting excellence as is the ultimate ambition through developing the sports quarter. It does also offer alternative income route which is essential to be able to manage FFP, not just that but it should be an incentive for young players to develop at Blues as well as their academy of choice, if there is a route to the first team and we’re genuinely developing quality players it also saves the club on transfer fees.
The announcement was met with many positive statements from Dale, Gardner, the academy Technical Director Mike Rigg and the Academy Manager Louisa Collis. It’s very in keeping with the theme of Birmingham on the Rise and I would even suggest it is something we as fans should get excited about as well. I’ve spoken a couple of times in recent weeks about the ambition of these guys but it’s not just words there’s genuine action behind it with this another stepping stone on the path to success. Great news!
BRUM IS BLUE! 
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