In response to popular demand, 1.4 brings Youth Academies into the world of FML, meaning you can now get ahead in the race for bright young players by setting up an infrastructure all of your own. Read on for more.
THE SYSTEM
The academies you build can be differentiated (a) by location and (b) by quality.
Building in a particular country means your club will receive a flow of players from there throughout each season. The size of your academy, meanwhile, will not affect the quality of regens coming through (i.e. the % that are very high PA), but will impact on the numbers of players you get, and therefore your chances of uncovering stars.
A 1* academy will bring you around 4 players a season, whilst a 5* could deliver up to 16. The youths who come through your system will be paid base regen wages (£200-£400 or so), and can be placed on normal youth locks. Will you pay extra wage and construction costs for extra player volume, or take your chances on a smaller academy?
CONSTRUCTION
Everyone is entitled to build one academy regardless, but if you want to specialise in this area then you have to invest the time by learning the relevant skills (see below).
It takes anything from 2 days to build the lowest level academy, to 10 days for a 5*. Once your academy is up and running, it can take up to a week for your youth network to work its magic and deliver the first players.
You can make improvements to existing academies once construction is finished, meaning that when upgrading to a better academy, you only pay the difference. If day-to-day running costs are proving too high you can also downsize, although there will of course be no refund of construction costs previously incurred. Note however that academies will only expand, downsize, or close at the end of the season, so long-term planning is crucial.
COSTS
The cost system is very simple, and revolves around two factors: the price of building an academy, and the expense of running it thereafter.
Costs do not vary from nation to nation, but do change according to the type of academy you build. To build a fledgling (1*) academy you will have to pay £200,000 construction costs with an upkeep of £3,600 a day; for an expansive (5*) academy, £800,000 with a daily upkeep of £14,000 a day.
As a result, managers will need to think carefully about exactly how many academies they wish to run – too many could mean alot of great youths, but a heavy daily cost alongside that.
PLAYER QUALITY - STRATEGIC CHOICES
In-built controls ensure players are likely to have higher potential if they originate from certain countries. Brazil, for example, will produce more high potential players than Tunisia. However, if 500 managers are in Brazil and you are the only guy in Tunisia then you may actually have a distinct advantage! A new screen (see) below will allow you to assess your competitive advantage!
Some countries (such as Brazil) are also set up to produce more regens than other, smaller nations (such as Tunisia), but fear not, Tunisian academy fans; tilting of player generation levels will occur in response to demand generated by academy construction. Note also that one effect of youth academies is that high potential players are more likely to show up in someone's academy than be left on the free agent list.
GET SKILLED!
To assist in your Academy construction programme you will be able to use the Infrastructure Skills learnt for stadiums. These can reduce the cost and time of construction - useful if you're embarking on a multi-academy programme!
You will also need to learn some of the new Youth Academy specific skills added to the area in 1.4 (see pic, below). The most important thing to know is that to unlock any of the new skills you must have Scouting:Level 5 and Youth Coaching:Level 5.
At the fullest extent, completing these skills will allow you the chance to become a true youth guru, giving the ability to open a maximum of 15 extra academies, each with an extra 35% productivity compared to other academies in the same country. It'll take a lot of learning to get that far, but the potential rewards are significant!
IN SUMMARY
The youth academy system opens up a whole new world of opportunity for youth managers, but there are tough choices involved. Will you build an academy in a major nation or escape the rat-race and go for a smaller country others clubs have no presence in? Will you spread your resources over several smaller academies or concentrate on fewer, larger academies? And will you sacrifice the learning of things like Physio and Coaching skills to take the long road down the Scouting/Infrastructure path that will enable you to arrive at the forefront of youth development?
We hope you make the right choices in 1.4!
