Hi all, Thought you might be interested in this article which sets out how Watford have punched above their weight over the last 2 decades to make it into the top ten list of clubs who have produced England regulars. http://hitrowz.com/2013/11/14/young-lions-which-clubs-have-done-the-most-to-boost-english-talent/ Ben
2 in twenty years? Doesnt sound that great. Though we have had quite a few more on loan here developing. We have aslo produced a very good amount of players who aern't quite "top" footballers.
2 out of 44 sounds a lot better especially when you compare it to the teams who aren't on the list but are do called big clubs.
As its for "England regulars" I takeit they are catagorizing Ashley Young as one, although his not a regular, but who else are they classing as a regular ?
I always thought we punched a bit BELOW our weight, despite the academy. We're excellent at producing loads of lower-league footballers but not that many genuine Prem or Champ quality, let alone England-level.
It would be difficult to work out what's been spent on the academy to any degree of accuracy. When would you start counting from? And what's a profit? Is Lloyd Doyley playing in two promotion sides more valuable than flogging him for a fixed fee? Ashley Young ended up bringing in £10m, Bouazza was over £2m, Britt a rumoured £1m and Mariappa £3m. So that's £16m just from selling players in the last decade. I'd have guessed that's a break-even, leaving the others who have at times contributed to key games (O'Toole, Jenkins, Hodson etc) as having cost us nothing.
That is impressive, all be it is only two players David James and Young. Only us and Leeds are in this list outside the top flight.
