Academy chief Greg Miller reveals Portsmouth thoughts on financing Category Two status

The Scot arrived in April challenged with injecting fresh impetus into the Blues’ youth system.

However, at present, ambitions do not involve either the creation of an under-23 side or elevating themselves from a Category Three Academy.

According to the head of Academy, both would require substantial financial resources presently out of Pompey’s reach.

And while Miller doesn’t rule out the Blues’ youth set-up achieving Category Two status in the future, he prefers to focus on raising standards in their existing system.

He told The News: ‘Becoming Category Two is very financial and regulatory driven.

‘So, for example, you would need an indoor training complex which meets certain measurements, such as the diameter and length of the pitch. That costs a considerable outlay.

‘Let’s take Fleetwood, who are moving to Category Two this summer and are building an indoor dome costing them in excess of £1m.

‘That’s the type of money we are looking at and it would be foolish of myself and the football club to suddenly say “Let’s go Category Two”.

‘We would only go to Category Two if it delivered a benefit to us and if it was financially viable.

‘Similar to the ramping up of staff to have an under-23s side, additional full-time staff would have to be appointed to go to that level.

‘Although we are currently employing more (staff) than Category Three necessitates at present, we are not quite at Category Two level with our staffing.

‘That’s further down the line in my thinking.

‘My focus – and the staff’s focus – is to make our current Category Three offering as good as it can possibly be to support the development of young people.

‘Certainly over the next 12 months that will remain the case, but you will appreciate we now have a new CEO and it could be he wants to sit down and investigate the potential of that.

‘My opinion at present is first and foremost to enhance our Category Three offering before we consider any alterations in the future.’

Miller acknowledges that achieving Category Two status would enable Pompey’s youngsters to test themselves at a better standard of football.

Yet he also believes it wouldn’t necessarily improve coaching standards within their Academy.

He added: ‘Ultimately, they would be coached by the same staff – and our staff are highly qualified and highly competent.

‘They would be coached on the same coaching curriculum we employ here because we believe in that curriculum and will continue to evolve that curriculum.

‘We look to embrace some best practices of what’s going on in other academies in Europe, what’s going on in other sporting entities, what our staff are learning when they are going to FA coaching courses and bringing new ideas back into the Academy.

‘So that’s where our focus is, as opposed to looking at Category Twos or under-23s.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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