Cardiff City F.C. Academy
| Full name | Cardiff City |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Bluebirds |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Chairman | Mehmet Dalman |
| Manager | James McCarthy (Academy Manager) Kevin Nicholson (U21) |
| League | Professional Development League 2 |
The Cardiff City F.C. Academy is the youth academy currently set up at Cardiff City in order to discover and nurture young talent. The academy has a range of players from ages seven to 21. The Under-21 league team compete in the Professional Development League 2.
The youth academy was set up in 2003, the youth team however has taken part in several FA Youth Cup and Welsh Youth Cup competition before 2003.
The Academy uses the Cardiff City House of Sport (HOS), which is an indoor football centre and multi-sport facility. It is also used by the wider local community in Cardiff. The first phase of the building was opened in November 2010 and it was expended in the second phase (House of Sport 2) in April 2013. The third phase of the building (House of Sport 3) was opened on 18 January 2016.
According to the official Cardiff City FC Website: "The Cardiff City football academy, is not simply a scheme, or a group of young players and coaches. It is all of these things; but most importantly, it is a philosophy and a culture. The club has always been dependent upon, and focused around the local community. The great players and teams throughout the clubs' history have always been built on the foundations of local boys and local talent. Cardiff City has a fantastic and proud history of nurturing young talent and are committed to continuous development of youth teams in future years. Cardiff City Football Club is fully committed to their fantastic academy, and recognises the importance of youth development".
Cardiff's scouts currently concentrate on searching South Wales, Hereford, Worcester, Swindon and Oxford. Now looking towards other areas of the United Kingdom including Scotland, As well as Ireland and with the recent appointment of scouts in these areas by Neal Ardley Cardiff scouts are also based in foreign countries such as Austria, France and Guinea, with players coming to the academy from these countries.
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