• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

Tranmere Academy set to close

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
Reported in the Liverpool Echo and seemingly confirmed with tweets from the likes of Max Power.

Very depressing.
 
Joined
1 Oct 2005
Messages
5,691
Player
Alan King, Barry Dyson
If so, this is indeed depressing. But I think we need to hear more about what is proposed and why. Will it depend on whether we get promoted or not.
 

Ian

Super White!
Admin
Joined
21 Sep 2005
Messages
12,019
Player
Aldo
Manager
Kingy
Yes this is true. One of the lads got a phone call on Wed to tell him not to bother coming in because the academy has closed down.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,870
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
Probably inevitable now we have been down here three years, with only a fair-to-middling chance of winning promotion this season. It's sad, but I would rather we cut costs than pretend we are a League club and end up like Dagenham or Hartlepool.
 
Joined
1 Aug 2017
Messages
262
Player
Mungy's Hairdresser
I thought this might be on the cards, not so much from a financial
standpoint but because when MP was talking on Radio Merseyside he seemed disillusioned that being non league status other clubs can step in to steal any player they see fit from a very young age.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,870
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
It will be the absence of League funsing that has forced the closure. Palios has funded it personally for the last year apparently, but that obviously could not continue indefinitely.

When / if we get promoted it will re-open I would imagine.
 

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
The timing is odd though, why close it mid-season? While I get that we cannot afford it and it’s unlikely to yield any benefit while we remain at this level, we still seem to be funding more live music concerts, despite last year’s debacle and the China/Mongolia venture, with little tangible benefit so far.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,870
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
The China venture is bringing us benefit already, in the form of fees for the coaches. It seems that we have reduced our financial risk on the concert this time round, acting as a venue rather than a promoter.

Unless you sell a player - which we have not for several years - the academy is a drain on resources with no short-term return. The cost of running it is £500,000 a year, which I would guess would dwarf our expenditure on the China programmes for example.
 
Joined
1 Aug 2017
Messages
262
Player
Mungy's Hairdresser
Palios spoke of the increased risk & accessibility to the poaching of youngsters as a result of our status & this vulnerability suggested to me that whilst we remain non league it's not financially viable to run the various age groups. Ironic timing with the creation of Solar Campus though.
 
Joined
24 Jul 2017
Messages
4,185
Player
aldo
it is a shame but we have to look at the bigger picture . mp has to make cuts to keep a 2m budget . but the annoying thing is look at macc who have one of the smallest budgets . and so sutton and bromley we need to be using it better . one worry is that there is loads of players out of contract in summer . and cookie who they prob would be able to sell if they wonted . gonna be interesting to see wat goes and who
 
Joined
1 Aug 2017
Messages
262
Player
Mungy's Hairdresser
I think Palios was reflecting on the fact that we had a better youth set up than most lower league teams, yet the rules limit us more than those with inferior youth set ups in the football league so what's the point. Did anyone else hear the interview? He rightly sounded pissed off about the whole situation! In other news, at least the Wirral FM team have joined forces with the club, I was hoping it would have knocked Andy Doyle out of contention but apparently he's still gonna be a part of the extended team
 

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
If the plan was to restore the academy should we get back in the FL, then surely we would wait to see where we are at the end of this season? Think the reality is it's gone, if not for good, at least until there's a drastic change of fortune.

I raised the China/Mongolia issue, because when Nicola addressed the Trust meeting early in the season, the suggestion was when everything was up and running, it would be bringing a significant amount of money into the club, think around a million was mentioned. Not quite sure how that figure was reached, but I'd suggest the monies from the coaches would only raise a small proportion of it.

There is a lack of transparency and communication from the club at present, some things which have been happening suggest the financial situation is grim and they should put supporters in the picture as to exactly how bad. What frighetens me is it could get a lot worse next season. Even if we retain the same number of season ticket holders, which is highly optimistic, we're likely to lose the Chester games and at least one of Macclesfied/Wrexham, which draw some of our biggest crowds and associated benefits. The likely replacements are cash rich fan poor sides like Salford/Harrogate. None of the sides likely to drop out of the FL are likely to compensate for this. We will be in a weaker position in a stronger league, with the prospect of mid-table mediocrity at best.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,870
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
I don't want to go round the houses on the academy issue, but whatever reservations I have about Palios, he will know whether the figures add up. Whether the closure was planned months ago or has been forced by recent events, if we can't afford it, we can't afford it. The China programme and other initiatives obviously cost peanuts compared to running Solar Campus, which is a lavish facility for a club of our size.

However, I agree completely with Boz about communication, or the lack of it. Good communication does not just mean reporting the good news to show yourself in a good light, which has been the tendency of the current owners. Supporters will only trust owners who are transparent when things are going wrong.

In the summer our recruitment, the match programme and the pre-match entertainment were clearly affected by budget cuts, yet we had no proper explanation of what was going on and why the cutbacks were necessary. The closure of the academy is of even greater significance but, again, there has not been a word from the club and rumour has filled in the gaps.

In a sense, the club are not obliged to communicate any of this stuff. However, if you pride yourself on supporter engagement, and love-bomb the fans every time you have a positive story to tell, people will naturally be suspicious when negative news is met with a deathly silence.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,870
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
If the plan was to restore the academy should we get back in the FL, then surely we would wait to see where we are at the end of this season? Think the reality is it's gone, if not for good, at least until there's a drastic change of fortune.
I don't think that is true, because in the Football League the academy would be subsidised almost in its entirety. Hence, if we went up we could afford to reopen it.
 
Joined
1 Oct 2005
Messages
5,691
Player
Alan King, Barry Dyson
I don't think that is true, because in the Football League the academy would be subsidised almost in its entirety. Hence, if we went up we could afford to reopen it.
True, but we'd be starting from scratch again. Most of the coaches and the students would have gone elsewhere. It could take years to get it back to where it was. I doubt MP has any intention of restarting it soon.

However, I think there are other possible reasons for its demise - the lack of talent coming through and our inability to hang onto the few that do. Since the trio of Power, Kirby and Stockton broke into the first team, only Eddie Clarke has made the breakthrough. Gumbs and Pilling are the only others to even get a game (apart from Maidstone last season). Power and Stockton left on Bosmans and we got nothing for Cole. A few years ago, Ash Taylor left and we got nothing.
 

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
True, but we'd be starting from scratch again. Most of the coaches and the students would have gone elsewhere. It could take years to get it back to where it was. I doubt MP has any intention of restarting it soon.

However, I think there are other possible reasons for its demise - the lack of talent coming through and our inability to hang onto the few that do. Since the trio of Power, Kirby and Stockton broke into the first team, only Eddie Clarke has made the breakthrough. Gumbs and Pilling are the only others to even get a game (apart from Maidstone last season). Power and Stockton left on Bosmans and we got nothing for Cole. A few years ago, Ash Taylor left and we got nothing.

I'm afraid you're right, BBTC and if it is to be an immediate mid-season closure, it will tarnish the reputation of any future set-up for prospective trainees and their parents.

You can add Mitch Duggan to the list of those coming through and getting playing time.
 

Ian

Super White!
Admin
Joined
21 Sep 2005
Messages
12,019
Player
Aldo
Manager
Kingy
The longer we stay in this dreadful league the worse these problems become. We simply have to get out otherwise all these initiatives and plans will be dead in the water with nothing to fund it.
 
Joined
24 Jul 2017
Messages
4,185
Player
aldo
i can see the thinking behind doing it . if you are gonna get are young players poached and get nothing back . and with other teams doing the same thing . shame on the greedy big boys will f%&$k the english game up
 
Joined
24 Jul 2017
Messages
4,185
Player
aldo
great listing to mp . great to hear what he had to say with regard to the kids . and about the team .
 
Top