The Brooke House College Football Academy is an association football academy in

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...

History

The Brooke House College Football Academy was formed in 2008, with eleven initial players on the course, led by manager Ben Watts. The students, who now number over 150, study at the Brooke House College during the mornings, with a focus on football in the afternoons. Initially only accepting male applicants, the college opened its footballing programme to female footballers in 2019. Though the fees for the college can be upwards of £40,000 per year, the college offers scholarships based on footballing ability. The Brooke House College FA has links to a number of other academies across the world, most notably the

Pepsi Football Academy The Pepsi Football Academy is a Nigerian association football academy. History The Pepsi Football Academy was established in November 1992 by Kashimawo Laloko. Originally based in Lagos, the initiative secured the total backing of Pepsi in 1994 and ...

in Nigeria and the

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in Ghana. They also have a link with former footballer

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and ...

's academy, taking one student per year. Due to the nature of the academy's recruitment process, most of the players are unable to play in FA-affiliated leagues due to their non-UK resident status. Therefore, the academy play in friendlies against the academies of professional teams, as well as in international friendly tournaments. In 2020, the academy entered into a partnership with the local government of

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in Nigeria, giving full scholarships to a number of young Nigerian footballers. The academy launched a football and education scheme alongside professional side

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in 2022, offering "full time elite football" at Coventry City's under-23 side, as well as offering a degree in Sport and Exercise Science with Management. The college offered a scholarship to Thai footballer Duangphet Phromthep, who had notably survived being trapped in the

Tham Luang cave rescue In June and July 2018, a junior association football team and their assistant coach were rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old ass ...

of 2018. However, Duangphet died just a year into his studies in England, in February 2023. The academy has seen a number of players go on to play professionally, internationally, or both. Following the youth international debut of Brooke House College student Deniche Hill for Bermuda under-20s, who went on to join the academy of

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, four other Bermudian footballers were enrolled into the academy. In February 2023, five members of the Bermuda under-17 squad for the

2023 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2023 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (20th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted by Guatemala between 1 ...

were alumni of the Brooke House College.

Staff

The college is led by former footballer and manager

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...

, who works as technical director and has helped the club form links with his former club, Leicester City. Other notable staff members include Norbert Farkas and Mike Edwards, while former footballer

Kirsty Linnett Kirsty Ann Linnett (born 24 September 1993) is an English former professional footballer who last played as a forward for Liverpool. Linnett also played for Birmingham City, Notts County and Reading at club level, and she represented England on ...

studied for her UEFA B licence while working at the academy.

Notable former players

*Note: Players highlighted in bold are full internationals for the nation indicated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke House College Football academies in England