‘Over our dead body can anybody go to Bournemouth, Southampton or Brighton’ – Danny Cowley's Portsmouth’s academy stance

Speaking on the latest edition of the PO4cast, the new Blues head coach said a strong youth set-up would be key to the club’s long-term success.

Pompey have proven time and again they can nurture young talent and give them the opportunity to succeed at Fratton Park.

Jack Whatmough, Ben Close and Alex Bass have all featured regularly in the first team in recent seasons.

Meanwhile, Charlie Bell, Harvey and Alfie Stanley were among the 11 youngsters handed senior outings in this term’s Papa John’s Trophy campaign.

Many former players, such as Adam Webster, Matt Ritchie, Jed Wallace and Conor Chaplin, have used their grounding in the Blues’ youth system and subsequent first-team opportunities to go on and forge successful careers elsewhere.

But Pompey have also been on the receiving end of losing out on precocious talent, with current England internationals Mason Mount and James Ward-Prowse among those to chose other clubs for the footballing education.

Cowley wants to avoid that type of scenario, though, as he focuses on the future – despite at present only signing a Blues contract until the end of the season.

‘If we want to be a successful football club, we need an outstanding academy,’ he said.

‘We need the ability to produce our own players and we will not be able to get sustainable success unless we achieve that.

‘What we have to do as a football club moving forward is to make sure that no player leaves Portsmouth without playing for Portsmouth.

‘No way, over our dead body can anybody go to Bournemouth, Southampton or Brighton.

‘To do that, we have to have really intelligent recruitment.

‘We have to make sure our identification and recruitment is outstanding.

‘Then, the provision we provide to those players has to be outstanding.

‘If we can get those two things right, nobody ever dreams of leaving Portsmouth.’

Pompey’s Category Three academy status is behind the Category One set-ups Brighton and Southampton currently boast, with the current Premier League clubs able to provide more advanced training facilities and coaching structures.

Bournemouth operate a Category Three youth operation, but have made plans to invest £35m into their training facilities, which are currently on hold.

Cowley estimates there are 20,000 under-16 grassroots footballers in Hampshire alone, and he aims to attract them and others to the club with the help of a clear and obvious route to the first team.

He added: ‘If you look at Portsmouth, we are in a very fortunate position in the respect that we have a number of players who have come through the academy.

‘The likes of Jack Whatmough, Ben Close and Alex Bass have all come through the academy and are regularly playing in the first team.

‘Straight away, we have a pathway for the young players.’

Cowley and his assistant, brother Nicky, have visited the academy to watch and take part in training sessions from all the age groups – from the under-eights to the under-14s.

The new boss said some of the Blues’ highly-rated youngsters have subsequently trained with the first team over the past couple of week.

He said a stronger connection between the two set-ups will improve the academy moving forward.

‘In the short term, we need to get some alignment and some joined-up thinking to try to create that unity which is so important to Portsmouth,’ said Cowley.

‘There is absolutely a huge will from everyone at the club to really drive the academy.

‘This is a huge part of the job and the football club that we have to get right and get right really quickly, to ensure that in the long term we can develop our own players.

‘If we can do that, then that puts us in a really good position moving forward.’