From the Academy Manager

Ipswich Town Football Club has a long tradition of developing young footballers that progress through the ranks to attain first-team status at the Club.  There have been a large number who have moved on to play at the top level at Premiership clubs and achieved international status.

Ipswich Town Academy

Our purpose at the Academy is simply to identify and recruit young footballers of outstanding ability, coach and educate them to reach their maximum potential, thereby giving them the best chance of a career in football.   In an environment that is both friendly and challenging, we offer high standards of coaching, educational and pastoral support together with first class facilities.

Since the Club attained Academy status in June1998 we have worked on improving every part of our performance allowing us to build our reputation and attract even better young players.  Our staff have a reputation for providing expertise in the necessary areas to give the young players a holistic view of the requirements needed to reach the top.

The facilities at our Training Centre provide an excellent environment for the players to develop their technical, tactical and physical skills as well as a superb education package to back up their football development.  We have approximately 20 full-time apprentices who play in the U18 Academy Premier League and in our reserve team.

We also have approximately 110 schoolboys between the ages of 9-16 being coached and playing for our Academy teams.

The main strength of the Academy is the continuity of staff; both full-time and part-time re-emphasising the `family' feel as well as the policy of selecting the best young players and challenging them to fulfil their potential by playing them in older age groups.

Tony Humes
Academy Manager

Academy Mission

* To continually identify, recruit and develop talented youth players through the Academy into the first-team squad.

* To adopt a comprehensive recruitment policy in East Anglia, Home Counties and Europe.

* To save Ipswich Town's expenditure in the transfer market as the Academy generates its own quality players.

* To provide top class coaching by qualified staff so each Academy player has the best opportunity to maximise his potential.

* To provide excellent playing surfaces, training facilities and equipment for the benefit of our players.

* To teach responsibility, discipline and mutual respect to all players whilst promoting a safe, enjoyable training environment.

* To constantly monitor and review the performances of all Academy players during training and matches.

* To build good working relationships with schools to monitor the progress of the players' academic education.

* To provide continual support and advice for Academy apprentices with their chosen further education courses.

* To provide a caring welfare system where players can discuss any personal problems that may arise in complete confidence.

* To uphold the highest standards of integrity, honesty and performance.