Everton chief calls for full review of England academy talent funding

Everton technical director Nick Cox, one of the most respected figures in the academy world, has questioned the Premier League’s model for investing in youth development.

Cox, who worked at Manchester United’s academy for nine years – six as its director – before joining Everton last year, believes big clubs receive too big a slice of the pie.

While more than 80 per cent of England’s 26-player squad were signed to Premier League academies by age eight, Cox argues that statistic gives a misleading impression of the youth development landscape.

“The Premier League’s vision for youth development is to create ‘more and better players’ who contribute to the ‘most competitive and compelling league in the world’,” Cox wrote on LinkedIn.

“To achieve this, it has invested more than £1bn into the youth development system since 2012 – an amazing investment that sets our clubs apart from the rest of Europe. 

“But that £1bn will have impacted just a very small percentage of the boys playing football in this country, with the investment directed primarily towards the bigger Premier League clubs on the basis that they played the biggest part in generating the Premier League’s revenue in the first place.

“I often wonder whether the real vision for youth development in this country should be ‘to create the strongest football ecosystem in world football’.”

A significant number of players in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad have spent time on loan outside the Premier League. 

Captain Harry Kane, for example, had spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before breaking through and becoming England’s record goalscorer. 

Other clubs that contributed to this England squad’s development include Blyth Spartans, Weston-super-Mare and Exeter City.

“The launch of the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012 saw a radical change in the landscape of youth development in England,” Cox added. “Much of the change had a hugely positive impact on the approach to player development across the country.

“There has been a huge amount of societal change since 2012; yet the academy system has remained largely unchanged. Is it time for a full-scale review? 

“Does the system promote an unrealistic linear journey to success? Do we educate parents and players about the realities of talent development environments well enough?”

When the West Ham United Supporters’ Trust made a proposal at the Football Supporters’ Association AGM on Saturday for “a level legal playing field for football fans”, the premise behind the idea was sound.

They argued that football fans are treated more harshly than those of other sports, pointing out that entering a stadium without a ticket is a criminal offence only at a football match – not when attending the same venue for a different sport.

They also claimed the Home Office publishes “misleading” statistics on football-related offences, highlighting that in the 2024-25 season there were 1,932 football-related arrests, reported as 4.2 per 100,000 attendees. By contrast, the 54 arrests among 273,526 attendees at Royal Ascot in 2024 were reported as 0.2 per cent – not 19.7 per 100,000.

They believe the distortion of data makes football fans appear worse behaved than other sports, encouraging politicians to pass laws against them. Their motion called for “all prejudicial practices” to be “repealed”.

The problem? The FSA’s National Council said the blanket measure would effectively put the body in the position of campaigning for the legalisation of racist and discriminatory chanting, throwing missiles in stadiums, and pitch invasions, among a raft of other areas unwanted by fans in the game.

The motion was not put to a vote and has instead been remitted to the National Council for further work.

As part of the Raising The Game initiative, the England and Wales Cricket Board is spotlighting 53 women and girls reshaping the sport, marking 53 years since the first Women’s World Cup. 

One of those selected has used hers to call for more diversity among cricket’s decision-makers.

Sara Yasin grew up around cricket but never felt the game was for her, until she discovered Wicketz, a cricket programme for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

She became the first girl to play in Southampton and has since dedicated herself to increasing participation among Muslim girls as a coach, umpire and youth adviser.

The ECB’s State of Equity in Cricket report, launched in the wake of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal and published last November, criticised first-class counties for failing to improve diversity in senior leadership roles.

“It’s massively important,” Yasin told City PM. “You’re never going to understand what someone’s going through unless you ask them. So I think it’s really important to have as many different, diverse backgrounds and perspectives on those boards where the decisions are being made, but also people of influence, people that are involved in the programmes.

“People that coach, people that play, people that see young people and people that are involved in cricket on a daily basis, so that they’re able to share not just their opinions on cricket, but the opinions of those around them, and those that shape and influence them. 

“So when decisions are being made surrounding sport and cricket, they’re made for everyone, and not just those people that are sat in those rooms.”

If you are not familiar with the lower tiers of the EFL and non-league football, you are unlikely to have heard of Lenell John-Lewis – but you may be about to over the summer. 

The 37-year-old has never made it above League One, plying his trade for teams including Grimsby Town, Newport County and York City.

The striker, currently at National League Boston United, was a runner-up in League Two with Bury in 2011, a runner-up in the FA Trophy with Grimsby in 2013 and an EFL Trophy runner-up in 2018 while at Shrewsbury Town.

Now, a long-running fan chant that has followed him around the country – “His name is a shop!” – has landed him one of the biggest deals of his career: becoming the face of John Lewis’s TV and sound range.

During the World Cup, John-Lewis will appear on the retailer’s social channels as its at-home viewing expert, offering advice for fans watching the exorbitantly-priced tournament at home on the best set-up.

One season, a supporter even mocked up a John Lewis Christmas advert starring John-Lewis. The joke has now become a reality.