For those of you who have an interest in youth development at elite European clubs visit: http://www.ecaeurope.com/Global/Research/ECA%20Report%20on%20Youth%20Academies.pdf

The report is quite comprehensive and extremely informative. I learned a lot more about the set-up at my club and how it compares to those of others. If you have the attention span of a fly, you could (if you want) just skip to a specific case study of interest. Please comment on anything you find noteworthy or which system you seem to prefer. Enjoy.

Thank you so much!
Its great..

Very interesting stuff. Crazy some of the teams policies. Altgought I don't get some of the recruitment. They have to see you play in a team then they select you?

@raimondo: Basically, theyrely on their networks with community clubs and various other scouts abroad to streamline operations. i guess it's a way of preventing every young fan from applying. 

@footaholic ohh that makes sense, thanks for clearing it up for me.

LOL, the Bayern section is the one that stands out the most. Their description of their academy is scary. Clockwork efficiency, mental strength, no room for improvisation, etc, etc. How stereotypically German.

no real madrid :( ... may be coz our youth management has rusted since last 10 years !

thanks for sharing .... downloaded the .pdf

talking about youths ...... arsenal has one of the best youth system ...... this pic not really depicts their youth system but it surely depicts their backup strength !!