About Academy Parent
Academy Parent is an independent guide that explains, club by club, how football academies recruit children, for parents in the UK and the US.
What Academy Parent does
We answer the questions parents ask when a child is good at football: does this club run trials, how do scouts find players, what happens at an academy review, and what are the real chances of a professional career. Each club page gives a short answer first, then the routes in, the dates and the sources. We also run free tools and a free football game that teaches children how to read the game.
What makes Academy Parent different
- Club by club, from the club's own pages. 112 academy guides so far: 85 in England and 27 in MLS NEXT, the academy league of Major League Soccer. They are built from 491 sources, mostly the clubs' own academy and FAQ pages. General parent sites such as Football Parent and Junior Grassroots Hub give good broad advice. We go one club at a time.
- A straight answer on trials. Only 17 of the 112 clubs we cover offer an open trial route. Every club page answers the trials question in its first sentence, so parents do not pay for a trial day that is not a real route in.
- No money from trial-day companies. Many search results for "[club] academy trials" are pages that sell places at paid trial events. We take no money from these companies, and we never list their events as routes into an academy.
- Every page dated and sourced. All 112 club pages show the date they were last checked and link to every source. Research figures name the study they come from, such as the Premier League's figures on how many academy graduates play league football.
- Free tools built on the rules. Four free tools: a birth quarter checker, a travel-time check based on the youth development rules (one hour for Under-9 to Under-11, 90 minutes for Under-12 to Under-16), an invitation checker and the Football IQ game.
Who uses Academy Parent
- Parents of players aged 6 to 16 in the UK and the US
- Parents whose child has been scouted or invited to a club
- Parents facing an academy review, a release or a scholarship decision
- Parents of girls looking at the girls' academy pathway
- Grassroots coaches who want to guide their players honestly
- Children who play the Football IQ game
- Writers and researchers who need sourced figures on academy football
The team behind Academy Parent
Academy Parent is run by a small independent team. We are not paid by any club, league, federation or trial company. We check club information against the club's own pages, the Premier League and EFL youth development rules, and, where a charity runs the pathway, that charity's own listings. If you spot a change, please send us the page so we can check it: hello@academyparent.com.
What we will never do
- Take money from trial-day companies or list their events as routes into an academy.
- Sell the email list.
- Claim a relationship with any club, league or federation. We are independent.
Our numbers
Every figure from our club data and the research we use is on one page, dated and free to quote: Football academy statistics 2026.
Get in touch
Corrections and questions: see the contact page. How we handle your data: privacy policy.