Brentford promoted to Category Two Academy status
Written by Training Ground Guru — June 25, 2024
Brentford have been promoted from Category Four to Category Two Academy status following an audit by the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC) in April.
This is the first time a club has been promoted two Academy categories in one go. The Bees closed their Academy in 2016 and re-opened at Category Four level at the start of 2022/23. Their aim now is to go Category One.
The promotion means Brentford will introduce age groups from Under-9s to U16s, as well as a U21s side, while continuing to run their U18s and B Team. The Head Coach of the U18s is Lydia Bedford and the B Team, which was launched when the Academy shut down in 2016, is led by Neil MacFarlane.
Academy Director Stephen Torpey said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received confirmation of our Category Two status. This represents the hard work from our dedicated staff and really highlights the rapid progression we have made since reintroducing our academy.
"Since arriving at the club, I have maintained that I want us to push boundaries and this news is another positive step in the right direction to where we ultimately want to be.
“As we also welcome new members of staff and players across various age groups, we are excited to grow the Brentford family. Even before I arrived, the club had been committed to providing the best pathways to its young players, whether that be in the first team or at Football League clubs.
"We are convinced that progressing to Category Two will only help us further in developing the best young talent. We are really excited at what lies ahead.”
Brentford Academy Director Stephen Torpey will be presenting at TGG Live 2024 at George's Park on September 10th.
To find out more about this industry-leading two-day event and to buy tickets, click below,
Brentford are in the process of recruiting a number of Academy roles, including coaches, analysts and a Game Programme Co-Ordinator. These were all recently advertised on TGG.
The club are also making a considerable investment in their Jersey Road Academy, with seven new outdoor pitches and a building that will house classrooms, changing rooms, offices, medical facilities and a gym. The project will be completed later this summer.
Brentford Director of Football Phil Giles explained the thinking behind the decision to reopen the club's Academy on the TGG Podcast in January 2022. “The facts have changed, with Brexit and with us getting promoted,” he said. "We are in a fundamentally different place now than we were five-and-a-half years ago, so you’ve always got to look at that.”
The Premier League also subsequently introduced rules that all their clubs had to be at least Category Three from 2024/25, while clubs competing in Europe need to have an Academy under new UEFA rules.
READ MORE: Brentford launch recruitment drive in bid to build world-class Academy
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