What a football club's academy is
The academy is a club's youth setup: the place where it develops its own players from a young age until they are ready for the first team.
In football the academy is both pride and business. A club that develops well does not need to spend fortunes on signings and, when a youngster explodes, can sell him for a lot of money. In manager games it plays the same role: a long-term investment that costs money and patience but can hand you top-level players without paying a fee.
In ELDT the academy starts with the scouts, who bring youngsters on the 1st and the 16th of every month. The kids grow every week at the training ground, play the Youth Tournament on Thursday and Saturday mornings and, when they are ready, you promote them to the first team. The training ground speeds up the growth of all your youngsters (up to +50% at level 5) and adds places, from 15 at level 1 to 25 at level 5. The academy has costs: the wages of scouts and youngsters are paid every week, and what you invested in it costs 2% a month in maintenance.
Developing also pays later: when a player who came through your academy is sold on the market while at another club, your club collects 3% of the final price as the training club.
See it in the game: the manager's guide.
Related terms
See also: online football manager · guides on the blog