Does Aston Villa run academy trials?
Bodymoor Heath, and Brookvale Inner-City Academy · Bodymoor Heath, Warwickshire, and Perry Barr, Birmingham
No open trials, but Villa has the most direct school route of any Category 1 club. It is the principal partner of Birmingham Primary Schools' FA, so academy staff watch district football across the city's seven districts every week, and district fixtures are played at Villa's own Brookvale inner-city academy. Under the academy sit a Pre-Academy for Under-7s and Under-8s, unsigned but coached to be registered at Under-9, and Emerging Talent Centres for players the club calls on the fringes, monitored weekly.
4 ways players actually get in.
Identified at district or grassroots level, then Pre-Academy or an Emerging Talent Centre, then registration at Under-9 or a trial at older ages.
- 01District football through Birmingham Primary Schools' FA
Villa's academy staff scout and coach district players across more than 300 primary schools. District boys' fixtures are hosted at Brookvale, so being selected for your district team puts a child in front of recruitment staff weekly.
Official page ↗ - 02Pre-Academy, Under-7 and Under-8
High-level coaching for unsigned players with the aim of registering the best at Under-9. Run across Bodymoor Heath and Brookvale by the academy's talent ID department.
Official page ↗ - 03Emerging Talent Centres
Weekly sessions for players on the edge of the academy. The club's stated aim is to identify and access a wider pool and to monitor and develop them over time. Invitation only.
- 04Aston Villa Foundation coaching
Community football development programmes across the West Midlands. Coaching, not a tiered pathway, but Foundation coaches can flag players.
Official page ↗
- Birmingham, all seven school districts
- Solihull, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield
- Wider West Midlands, and Villa has recruited from West Brom's area
- EPPP limit: 1 hour travel U9 to U11, 90 minutes U12 to U16
- Ask whether it is Pre-Academy, an Emerging Talent Centre, or the academy. Villa runs all three under one department.
- Get your child into district trials at school. In Birmingham that is the most watched route into Villa.
- Check the travel rule to Bodymoor Heath, which is north of the city near Tamworth. One hour at U9 to U11.
- Ask which site your child would train at. Brookvale is in the city, Bodymoor Heath is not.
WSL academy, PGA Category 1.
Girls' academies are licensed by the FA, not the Premier League. How the girls' pathway works.
Villa Women's academy is Category 1, with U16 and U21 age groups in the Northern Division. Birmingham and West Midlands ETCs are the usual step before an invitation.
Three things parents get sold.
- Birmingham Primary Schools' FA, Aston Villa partnership ↗
- Aston Villa careers, Pre-Academy and Emerging Talent Centre coaches ↗
- The Athletic, How talent drive aided Villa's academy overhaul, Sep 2020 ↗
- Premier League Youth Development Rules (travel limits, registration) ↗
Last verified 6 September 2026. Spotted a change? Tell us and we will re-check within a week.