British clubs scouting Irish kids

**Risteard** · 28/05/2007, 11:56 AM

Didn't know where to post this.
I suspect people involved in junior clubs might be able to help me.

British scout approaches manager of under12s and tells him he is interested in two players (12 or 13 years of age).
Gives under12 manager phone number to ring him during the week to talk about it.

So, what does this involve?
What happens next?

**passinginterest** · 28/05/2007, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Risteard

Didn't know where to post this.
I suspect people involved in junior clubs might be able to help me.

British scout approaches manager of under12s and tells him he is interested in two players (12 or 13 years of age).
Gives under12 manager phone number to ring him during the week to talk about it.

So, what does this involve?
What happens next?

Young lads get free trip to 'big' UK club. Come back with fancy new tracksuit and huge ego. Five years later they're junkies.

**DmanDmythDledge** · 28/05/2007, 12:16 PM

Probably should be in kids soccer section.

The DDSL is the strongest schoolboy league in the country as not only does it have all the best players from Dublin players travel from around the country every weekend to play for the top teams (Belvedere being an example). Scouts start to look at players when they are around 12 or 13. Usually managers nominate players to go on trial when scouts from Britain come over and are encouraged to go over. If they (the club) are impressed they begin to take a look at the player more frequently and eventually sign them.

When this happens the player does not always move across the water immediately and may stay at his schoolboy club with an agreement to sign at a later date. When this happens the club that the player will play for in future forbids him playing in any match in case he gets injured. By the time teams reach U-17 level almost all their players that would have a future in football have moved to England. However it's not all doom and gloom as a considerable number of players from St. Joseph's Boys, who look set to win the DDSL U-17 Premier, have signed for Bray Wanderers U-21 (don't know if many had previously gone to England though). Unfortunately this seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

**Thunderblaster** · 28/05/2007, 8:38 PM

Players cannot move until they are 16 years of age.

**superfrank** · 29/05/2007, 8:50 AM

I know of a 12 year old at St. Joseph's Boys who has been offered trials to join the football academy at Newcastle United in September. So I say that covers the 16 year old bit. He wouldn't be joining the club, just their football academy.

I know another kid whose just turned 17 and he's joining Derby in the summer on a six-month deal. He also turned down the chance to join the Bray Wanderers U-21's a while back. So he could very well be back, though for his sake I hope he does well enough to earn a longer deal.