It has been a busy few weeks for the Academy at Watford.
The new first-team coaching staff, consisting of Tom Cleverley, Armand Kavaja, Damon Lathrope and Jimmy Gilligan, is made up of four people who have strong links to the youth set-up, including those who have started both their playing and coaching careers there.
Cleverley, who moved over from Lead Coach of the Under-18s to assume the role of first-team Interim Head Coach last month, named the Hornets’ youngest line-up in 13 years, and a wider travelling squad including six Academy graduates, in his first game in charge, a 1-0 win at Birmingham City in the Sky Bet Championship.
However, that is not the only reason to celebrate. It has been a successful season throughout the age groups, with a group of Under-9s, Under-10s and Under-11s going to Lithuania, the Under-14s winning a tournament in Poland and the Under-17s reaching the final of the Premier League Professional Development League Cup, where they will meet Fleetwood Town next Tuesday (April 16).
Acknowledging the achievements at every level of the Academy is something that Richard Johnson is very keen to do.
Watford fans of a certain vintage will remember the midfielder from his stint at the Golden Boys between 1991 and 2003, when he featured 278 times for the Hornets.
The former Australia international returned to the club in 2018 as a Senior Business Development Manager, before moving across to the Academy in February 2021, firstly as Head of Academy Partnerships. He then moved into his current role of Academy Director three months later.
Johnson understands why some fans think the Academy just operates at the Under-18 and Under-21 level, but explains: “There is a whole eco-system below that. It is a massive machine with lots of moving parts.
“In terms of the younger age groups, getting that life experience, experiencing different cultures, being away from their parents, not relying on their parents for things, at such a young age is a massive learning curve and something that we try and promote here within the Academy.”
When he took control of the Academy three years ago alongside Gilligan, another club cult hero who scored Watford’s first European goal, Johnson admitted a lot of work was needed to reach where things are today.
“My role is a little bit different now, because things have settled down a little bit compared to when I first came in,” he said. “Lots of changes, both on and off the pitch, were needed, in terms of staffing and getting the education programme right.”
One thing which is important to both Johnson and Gilligan is familiarising themselves with every player at every age group.
“For the first six months myself and Jimmy were at training every night and got to know the boys quite well,” Johnson said. “You get to know their names, which is quite difficult with the number of boys in the Academy.
“Jimmy and I wanted to be open and visible and be around for parents and players to see us.”
The Australian is happy with the changes he has seen since 2021, saying: “We are settled, and in a really good place in terms of the staff we have got in the building, the programme that we are running, and my job I suppose now is just to facilitate the staff.”
Cleverley was one of those members of staff. At Under-18 matches, Johnson would sit at the far end of the pitch on one of the kit boxes, out of the way and not too overbearing, and only offering advice at the interval if he was asked for it.
“Tom has come in off the back of retiring, so he has got ideas fresh in his mind, and he understands what players need, which the players have responded really well to,” he said.
“It is not a secret that Tom aspires to go on and be a manager, and being thrown in at the deep end like that is going to offer a great opportunity and learning experience for him. It is about opportunities, and coaches want to progress.”
However, Johnson didn’t just want to focus on the big-name coach in his set-up, adding: “Tom is at the top end of that, but in the younger age groups with the Academy, we have got some really good coaches who are developing the players to get up to that scholarship age.”
Development is a key theme of what Johnson wants to achieve in the Academy, and he feels the changes he has made in his role reflect this.
“Academy football is all about development, it is not results-driven, or not here anyway,” he said.
“Yes, everyone wants to win and that’s what you try and instil in players, but here, when I first came into the club, we had a lot of players in the Under-23s age group especially that were just comfortable playing Under-23s football.
“Lots of those players moved on, and now we have got really young age groups throughout the Under-18s and Under-21s, where we are trying to push players and challenge players, to make that jump.”
The fact that making that jump into the first team seems more achievable in recent years is something else Johnson is proud to have impacted, with the number of Academy graduates in the squad at Birmingham a prime example.
“It is amazing,” he said. “In the three years Jimmy and I have been in we have had quite a bit of success with that; I think there have been eight or nine debuts, with over a combined 49 appearances between Academy players.
“Ryan [Andrews] got the opportunity with Chris Wilder at the back end of last season, James Morris has made the progression across, Tobi [Adeyemo] scored on his home debut and Jack Grieves has been in and around it.
“From an Academy point of view, and a pathway point of view, I think this last three years has really changed perception, that we have got some players in the Academy that can go over to the first team and stay there.”
Making sure the players have a smooth transition from Academy football to the first team is also an imperative part of Johnson’s role, with loan moves playing a key part when bridging the gap to men’s football.
“Loans are important for us as an Academy, especially being in Category Two, where the games programme probably isn’t quite as strong,” Johnson said.
“You are asking players to come from Academy football straight into first-team football, and sometimes that doesn’t marry up in terms of the challenges Academy football offers, so what we try and do here is get our players out.
“We have got good connections with lots of local clubs, so we try and look at the individual and what the individual needs. For example, we have got all three of our young goalkeepers out on loan, experiencing men’s football, but also what it means to be in an environment where results matter.
“For example, Dan Phillips’ first loan was Hemel Hempstead, then he had a great spell at Gillingham in League One. He has left the club now but has played games up at St Johnstone in Scotland.
“Another is JJ McKiernan, who went over to Bohemians in Ireland, which opened his eyes up to being away from home in a challenging experience. Then he had a great loan at Eastleigh in the Conference and now he is playing league football at Morecambe.
“They didn’t make it here, but the development both had through the Academy and the loans have been brilliant for them.
“At the moment, we have got Shaq Forde, who has been here since he was eight or nine years old.
“He hasn’t really established himself in the first team here, but physically he was ready for men’s football. He had a spell at Kings Langley, then he had a great experience at York City, and now he has come back and been a regular at Leyton Orient this season, scoring goals in League One.
“His development and the loan system has really benefitted him, and hopefully he might come back pre-season and start with the first team and see how that progresses for him.
“I think for us in the Academy, where we are not playing in a Category One games programme, the loan system really benefits our players.”
However, this is not to say development is limited to progressing from the Academy to first-team football. Both Johnson and Gilligan are passionate about developing the Academy players as people, which is no doubt influenced by the fact that both played under the great Graham Taylor during their spells with the club.
“Looking at myself and Jimmy, we’re sort of cut from the same cloth in terms of what the game means to us,“ Johnson said.
“Jimmy played under GT in his first spell here, I played under Graham when he came back to the club, so the DNA of the club, or the club values, what it means to the community, has not changed in my view and we try and instil that in the Academy players.
“The scholars, with their life skill programme, go and do community projects, visit schools, go to hospices, things like that which is important to me and Jimmy, because that is how we grew up here with GT.
“We are trying to instil that in the players, so they get an understanding of the club, and the badge, and what it means to wear the shirt.
“If the boys go over from the Academy, and the fans can see that, then it gives a lot of credence to the Academy, but also the players going over there from the Academy know what it means to play for the club.”
Providing a good education in the Academy is also important to Johnson, as he is aware of the significance of offering something for the players to fall back on.
“It is part of our mission statement that we want the boys to do well in their education, and it gives them a back-up and a grounding if football doesn’t work out,” he said.
“We try and run a bespoke education programme tailored to the individual needs of the player, so Andy Griffiths, our Head of Education, does a lot of work around that, including finding out what the players’ interests are.
“I think we are the leading club in terms of offering A-Level opportunities, and there are also business management courses and personal training courses.
“Football is a brutal industry, and an unforgiving industry really. Just by the nature of it, not every player is going to make it.
“We are hoping we are giving these younger players every opportunity if football isn’t for them, or if it doesn’t work out here at Watford, so they then have the best opportunity to go and prove themselves somewhere else.”
Looking forward to the future, Johnson hopes to be able to continue the good work and upward trajectory he feels the Academy is on since he took over in 2021, while aiding the development of the players into well-rounded footballers and people.
“We have seen a lot of growth and progression in the three years we’ve been here, certainly in terms of the infrastructure and the staffing behind the scenes,” he said. “I suppose from mine and Jimmy’s point of view, we see a lot of potential within the Academy and the football club.
“From the Academy side, everybody wants players from the first team here, and I think the more players that we can develop that are prepared and ready to make a difference or be able to stay within the first team, then that’s our goal.”
