'We have to be a little bit different' — How Huddersfield Town are developing the next generation of players

Jon Worthington told We Are Terriers about the academy's recent expansion, the challenges ahead, the youngsters who have made an impact on the first team, and Jonathan Hogg's new role

In 2017, Huddersfield Town voluntarily downgraded their academy to category four status, effectively eliminating all academy age groups below U17s from the club’s youth setup.

Instead, they focused on finding talented older youngsters who had slipped the net at other academies, or who were ready to take the step up from lower levels but needed some time working in the academy environment to adapt to life in the Championship.

The move was innovative but controversial. There were success stories from that setup, some of whom ended up raking in transfer fees or compensation for Town over the years. These included Sorba Thomas, Jon Russell, Etienne Camara, Brahima Diarra and Nicholas Bilokapic. Others remain at the club today and have either broken into the first-team squad or are out on loan, such as Cameron Ashia, Dan Vost, Tom Iorpenda and Neo Eccleston.

But there was also an irony in the fact that Town had taken that decision in large part because they felt they weren’t getting enough return on their investment in younger players, only for the best homegrown player for years, Lewis O’Brien, to emerge as one of the final graduates of the old system.

More importantly, the policy didn’t sit right with many fans, who felt the club had cut ties with their local community. If you were the parent of a Town-supporting child talented enough to make it into academy football, you would have to send them to clubs in nearby cities like Sheffield, Bradford, the Manchester area or — heaven forbid — Leeds.

The moment Kevin Nagle took over at Town in 2023, he made it clear that he agreed, setting the wheels in motion for the reintegration of younger age groups. This project was overseen by then-academy manager Jon Worthington, who now holds the title of academy director.

Over the past two years, Town have built the academy back up and passed a strenuous auditing process to earn an upgrade, first to category three in 2024, and then to category two earlier this year. The latter status recognises that they are capable of offering 6-12 hours of high-level coaching per week to young players from under-9s to under-16s.

“We’re in a really good place,” Worthington told We Are Terriers. “There’s been a lot of work put in behind the scenes, from the owner all the way down to the academy staff.

“We’ve obviously gone through some significant audit processes to go from a category four to a category two. There’s a lot of work that goes into that and making sure that we’ve got the best staff possible who are going to work behind the scenes developing young footballers.

“A lot of effort was put in 18 months ago, or thereabouts, to bring in approximately 100 players for the under-9s to under-16s. I think, ultimately, it allows us to have a connection with the community, a connection with local players aspiring to play for Huddersfield Town.

“I think those things are fantastic to have back in place. That’s ultimately what it’s about: it’s about giving them the opportunity and experience of wearing the kit, wearing the badge, and going to play against other academies and beyond.

“Obviously the first point was to bring the schoolboys, which is U9 to U16, and also go through the process to be category three.

“We’ve then gone to category two, but now a lot of the focus this summer has been around the pre-academy, so six-, seven- and eight-year-olds — the local boys in the area — and basically trying to show them the programme, trying to entice them to come and play and be part of something that we believe is going to be special.

“That younger age is something we’re really focusing on at the moment.

“We’re in a fantastic catchment area in terms of being [located on] the M62, but that brings other challenges. There are other clubs as well, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re on the map.”

That was always an issue for Town before, and part of the reason behind the move to B-team status.

Huddersfield-born Fraizer Campbell, for example, was scooped up by Manchester United at an early age, while Kieran Phillips was poached from Town’s academy by Everton as an under-13 — the exact age at which the one-hour travel radius for younger players turns into a 90-minute radius.

So, with several Premier League and EFL clubs within Town’s catchment area, what makes them confident they can now compete and convince players and their parents that Huddersfield is the right place for them?