Despite what football clubs say, the support for rejected boys is not there | David Conn

Football club academies are taking in boys as young as five but ‘just throw them on the scrapheap’ further down the line according to one parent
• Tell us about your experience of football academies

The response from football people to the Guardian’s report about the industrialised disappointment delivered to young people by the game’s “academy” system has been dispiriting and alarming. Both the Premier League and Football League, whose clubs have 12,000 boys in intensive training from the age of eight, many more in “development centres” from – preposterously – the age of five, pride themselves on providing a “holistic” experience for the children. Undoubtedly the “elite player performance plan” (EPPP) does incorporate child protection procedures, welfare provision and sophisticated coaching policies, and there are many dedicated staff who care and do their best.

Related: ‘Football’s biggest issue’: the struggle facing boys rejected by academies

Related: Howard Wilkinson calls for review and overhaul of academy system he designed

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