Konoplyov football academy

Yu. Konoplyov football academy (Russian: Академия футбола имени Юрия Коноплева) is a Russian youth football academy based in Togliatti.

The academy was founded in 2003 as SDYuShOR Krylia Sovetov. In 2007 the name was changed in honor of its founder Yuri Konoplyov, a local businessman who died in 2006 aged 39. Since then it is sponsored mainly by Abramovich's National Academy of Football.

The academy comprises age-group teams ranging from Under-8's up to Under-18's. Team of Under-18's plays in the Amateur Football League, 4th level of Russian football, under the name of Togliatti-dubl. Russian Second Division's FC Akademiya Togliatti was also fed on the academy players, as was FC Togliatti, now defunct. As of 2015–16 season, the academy is feeding FC Lada-Togliatti.

The best known alumni of the Konoplyov academy are Russian international midfielder Alan Dzagoev and 2006 UEFA U-17 Championship winners Anton Vlasov, Yevgeni Korotayev, Denis Shcherbak, Igor Gorbatenko, Dmitri Ryzhov and Roman Savenkov. Another player was Ilya Kutepov who is a Spartak defender.

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