Development side or U18s Football – what is best for young players and their progression? – Severn Sport

Across the county a number of our sides run Reserves, 3rds, 4ths and so on as a way to ultimately bring through players into their First Teams, ideally. Some sides run U18s sides in leagues like the Cheltenham Youth Floodlit League and some simultaneously run a Development side, but how do you get the best out of young players?

This question is something I have thought about for a while now and the reason for it is a number of Development sides tend to field a number of younger players and after a tough 2022/23 season, two Development sides have subsequently folded to try and encourage player development through another means.

Earlier this week, the Wiltshire Senior League confirmed that Cirencester Town Development had folded following a tough season, which saw them relegated from the Hellenic League Division One – winning just one game and ending the season with a -126 goal difference.

Speaking to Cirencester Town’s Scott Griffin, he informed us that the decision to fold the side was to encourage the players to develop through U18s football, where the players will see more of the ball, compete in the games and ultimately do more that just defending for most of the match.

“As most of the team were effectively U18s (most players were aged 17 or below), we have decided that they would be better off playing U18s football and therefore there wouldn’t be enough players or a need for a Development team,” Griffin said.

“Last year’s players have had a season under their belts in men’s football and we feel that playing U18s football will allow them to express themselves on the ball, rather than having to deal with the physicality of senior football for long spells of the game.

The players will have more chance to progress into the First Team having already had the experience from last season in the Hellenic League, combined with the development we hope to see in the U18s,” Griffin added.

Cirencester’s decision may not be one that everyone will agree with, but it poses the question of whether a Development team is the best way to bring players through, especially when you know you have a young side, who could end up getting beaten heavily week in, week out.

In the Hellenic League Division Two West last season, all of Tuffley Rovers, Longlevens, Bishops Cleeve, Shortwood United, Malvern Town and Cheltenham Saracens registered sides in the division to go hand-in-hand with their U18s side in the CYFL – with Tuffley the only side who won more matches than they lost.

In fact, Tuffley finished highest of the sides, finishing 6th but also finishing 24 points off the league leaders, Feckenham – who themselves only lost one game in the league all season.

Now whilst not every player registered to those sides were U18s players, a good number of the players appeared for both the U18s and Development sides this season.

So would players in Development sides benefit from being a different environment in this situation? Luke Kavanagh, who plays for Longlevens and has previously Managed their Reserves side believes that prioritising U18s football could be more beneficial for young players coming through.

“From personal experience I would says U18s. I personally think that the Development league sides are either too competitive, with proper First Teams trying to almost bypass their way up the leagues or they aren’t competitive enough as sides are too young or inexperienced.

At least with U18s football, you’re playing against peers and if you’re good enough you’ll filter through the adult sides and into a First Team,” Kavanagh said.

Longlevens First Team Manager raised a good point, which was that in the professional game promising young players get loaned out to other sides, which gets them used to adult football at a lower level.

Slimbridge Co-Manager Adam Coyle used to manage the Swans’ U18s and Reserves sides, and he agrees that due to the difference in quality and experience levels young Development sides will encounter.

“I would always say U18s football is the best for any U18s player to apply their trade, but it is important to have a sprinkling of adult football somewhere.

This is why we are lucky to have the midweek U18s league in Gloucestershire, as it gives the lads that flexibility of adult football at the weekends – even if in some cases at a lower level.

Young Development sides who enter adult leagues can find it tough, as they lack the game management and nous of what it takes in senior football to get through games.

This can cause a lot of bad results and whilst people will say “oh, they’re learning,” if players are getting heavily beaten week in week out as they are in the wrong league, then are they really learning?” Coyle asked.

“Development sides are usually placed lower in the pyramid than their clubs’ First Team, so the jump is then too big for players to actually make the progression, so you see the 1 or 2 good players in a Development side getting beaten every week go and play for another club in between the levels in the pyramid – then the Development side struggle more as their better players have gone.

I always say, especially to young players, that players will always find their level no matter where they play,” Coyle added.

But what about players themselves? How do they view it? Well, Niall Priday was top goalscorer whilst at Tuffley Rovers U18s and having gone on to experience First Team and Development football, he admits that being able to express himself in U18s football set him up for that progression.

“For me U18s football [is the more beneficial], but don’t get me wrong, in that first year of football, no matter the level, you will always learn a lot.

But for me, in U18s football you get the freedom to express yourself more in those games. Although, it is important to try and play adult football alongside it.

It’s not just for the football aspect, it’s also for the social side of developing. Seeing the physical side and wanting to improve is also important,” said Priday.

Sides are starting to change their approach to player development and the argument on how best to assist young players in bridging that gap to the First Teams will always differ based on the club, based on the level their First Team play and ultimately based on the players themselves.

Cover photo copyright with Graham Hill. To view the full album please click here