Ireland U21 boss makes Government plea on Academy funding

Irish Daily Mirror

22-05-2025

Jim Crawford believes the potential is there to turn Irish football into a powerhouse of player production - once the funding is there to invest into academies nationwide.
The Ireland Under-21 boss yesterday named his squad for the June friendlies against Croatia and Qatar in Zagreb, and included were 16 players that currently play or have played in the League of Ireland or the EA SPORTS LOI Academy.
Up to now, however, investment has been piecemeal, and has mostly come from private coffers, as opposed to the state purse.
Crawford's former club Shelbourne yesterday announced a major development in their academy structure when they secured an 18-year lease at the AUL Complex in north Dublin.
The deal will see major redevelopment work undertaken, including four state-of-the-art pitches, the construction of a new all-weather pitch, and the addition of multi purpose meeting spaces for homework for young players, team meetings, analysis sessions, and coach education workshops.
The money for the project will come from a €500,000 grant from the Community Sport Facilities Fund, along with investment from the League of Ireland champions' shareholders.
Speaking to MirrorSport, Crawford hailed the work being done around the country - and said that structured investment in clubs nationwide would transform the fortunes of the game here.
'That's what we need - investment. There are no two ways about it,' he said.
'There has got to be investment and there has got to be a plan at each club when money becomes available.
'I'm sure if the Government are going to give money to clubs that there has to be an audit to say here's where the money went and here's the by-product of that.
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'I've got to give full credit to League of Ireland clubs and academies, they are working exceptionally hard around the clock to develop players.
'I have certainly seen them in action and they work exceptionally hard, and that's brilliant.
'But could you imagine how successful we could be in developing players if we had the resources?
' What I mean by that is, if you have the resources, you can create an industry here.
'Whereas now you have got good coaches with these players, working with them, (you could give) them more contact time. And It has got to be quality contact time.
'I know it has been up for debate before - you'll hear stories of coaches and technical directors from different countries saying, we've got x amount of contact hours with the players, but how many of them are quality contact hours?
'I think we have shown that with limited resources that if we had more time with the players, we would certainly have a different product, if we could create an industry.
'You are just hoping that the Government will row in and give us that investment that we need to help our players reach their potential.'
The League of Ireland is playing an increasingly important role in the national team at all levels, as evidenced by Crawford's latest squad.
Mason Melia, the Tottenham-bound St Patrick's Athletic striker, became Ireland's youngest ever goalscorer at Under-21 level during the last window.
His move to north London next January will break the League of Ireland transfer record - and Pat's will likely earn much more than the initial €1.9m fee agreed with Spurs.
Cork City's Cathal O'Sullivan is wanted by a host of Premier League sides. He also gets his first call at this level, as does 20-year-old Drogheda United forward Warren Davis, who has already scored six goals this season.
Shamrock Rovers' 19-year-old defender Cory O'Sullivan, another first-time call-up, has already played 13 times in the Premier Division this season.
He also featured in Rovers' historic Europa Conference League tie with Molde in February.
Crawford believes the likes of Melia, Davis, the two O'Sullivans, Sean Grehan - on-loan at Bohemians from Crystal Palace - and Sligo Rovers' Jad Hakiki are all in a good place right now.
'I think (the League of Ireland) is excellent for their development, playing these games,' he said.
'It's a great environment for you to develop in terms of big games, something at stake.
'Some of the players here have played in Europe and that is only going to help their development even further.
'But because it's a performance space, you can't neglect the development side of the player.
'Somebody like Mason, and I'm only using Mason as an example because I do know that Mason gets exceptionally well looked after from a coaching perspective at St Pat's, sometimes when you are in that performance space, you have got to win, win, win, and the development piece is put on the backseat.
'But if you have got a good coaching team who understands player development, okay, you have got performance space, but let's work with this player, whether it's in a classroom where you are going through clips of, how can we make this player better, how can we make him reach his ceiling, that has got to be incorporated into a club programme.
'I have no doubt it is at Rovers, Cork, Drogheda, Pat's, Bohs, and I do know that because I talk to players and coaches.'
Those coaches, and those working in academies around the country, just need financial backing.
'The clubs have done unbelievable work,' Crawford said. 'If they were given that financial support and assistance, where could we go next?
'We have got some excellent coaches in our system here who can only go and help players even more.
'You'd like to think that clubs have got their house in order with regards to administrators, so if the money comes in it can be used wisely. I think there is real potential here in this country.'