The Nike Football Academy was an English

football academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

funded and administered by

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...

The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. The academy was based at St George's Park National Football Centre. The squad was made up of players scouted worldwide and drafted to the squad through Nike Most Wanted trials. Over 50 players have gone on to play professional football over the years. The programme was led by Manager Jon Goodman, with former

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

player Matt Murray who worked as Assistant Manager. The programme was also known for its collaborations with top class professional players, including

Sami Khedira Sami Khedira (; born 4 April 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid in 2010. In his five seasons i ...

Joe Hart Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) known professionally simply as Joe Hart is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic. He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury T ...

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played solely for A.S. Roma, Roma and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. He is often referred to as ''Er Bim ...

, Mario Gotze and others. Players such as

David Accam David Accam (born 28 September 1990) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Finnish club Inter Turku. He has won 11 caps for the Ghana national team. Club career Ghana Accam did not belong to a club during the first t ...

Tom Rogic Tomas Petar Rogic ( ; sr-Cyrl, Томас Петар Рогић, ; born 16 December 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for West Bromwich Albion and the Australia national team. ...

, Majeed Waris, Petar Golubovic and Kevin Salazar are graduates of the programme.Barcelona 0-3 Nike FC: is this a glimpse of football’s future?
by Barney Ronay on ''Ghe Guardian'' The academy regularly played exhibition matches facing teams like

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and others. The academy closed at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Technical staff

Notable participants

Dejan Pandurevic Dejan Pandurevic (/Дејан Пандуревић, born 17 January 1997) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Manly United. Born in Sydney, Pandurevic played youth football with the Nike Academy before makin ...

Dario Van den Buijs Dario Van den Buijs (born 12 September 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Dutch club RKC Waalwijk. He formerly played for Club Brugge, Heracles Almelo and FC Eindhoven. Club career On 30 August 2021, he si ...

Alvin Fortes Alvin Fortes (born 25 April 1994) is a Cape Verdean footballer who plays as a winger for Ratchaburi. Club career Born in Rotterdam, Fortes played for Sparta Rotterdam, UVS and Feyenoord's youth setups before joining SV Heinenoord in June 2013. ...

Josip Juranović Josip Juranović (; born 16 August 1995) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right wing-back for Bundesliga club Union Berlin and the Croatia national team. Club career Born in Zagreb, Croatia, Juranović went ...

* Conor Branson *

Sean Clare Sean James Kweku Clare (born 18 September 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for League One club Charlton Athletic. He has previously played for Sheffield Wednesday, Hearts and Oxford United and ...

* David Goldsmith * Jorge Grant *

Billy Ions William Greenwell Ions (born 11 March 1994) is an English former professional footballer. Ions was born in Ashington, Northumberland and played youth football with CD Tenerife, Newcastle United, and Leeds United. After being released by Leeds ...

* Alex Parsons * Jordan Rose * Bilal Sayoud * Ryan Sellers * Jordan Tillson *

Alex Whittle Alex Whittle (born 15 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for York City. He has played for Dunfermline Athletic, AFC Fylde, Southport, York City, Forest Green Rovers, Southport, Boston United, Gloucester C ...

Mark Gee Mark Gee (born 21 February 1972) is a British Biathlon, biathlete. He competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics, the 1998 Winter Olympics and the 2002 Winter Olympics. References External links

* 1972 births Living people British male bia ...

* Youssef Ezzejjari *

Fabian Senninger Fabian Senninger (born 25 January 1996) is a German-Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and ...

Abdul Majeed Waris Abdul Majeed Waris (born 19 September 1991) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cypriot club Anorthosis and the Ghanaian national team. Club career Born in Tamale, Waris started his career at the Ghanaian Right to ...

* Dimitris Komnos * Siriki Dembélé *

Evan Dimas Evan Dimas Darmono (born 13 March 1995) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga 1 club Arema and the Indonesia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an attacking midfie ...

* Muhammad Rafli *

Shazuan Ashraf Mathews Mohd Shazuan bin Mohd Ashraf Mathews (born 12 May 1992) is a Malaysian footballer who plays for Hanelang in Malaysia FAM League. His preferred position is as a winger or as a striker. Career Before signing to play with Perak in 2011, he was ...

* Saifeddine Alami * Ismail H'Maidat * Brahim Sabaouni * Alexis André Jr. *

Anfernee Dijksteel Anfernee Jamal Dijksteel (born 27 October 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Championship club Middlesbrough. Club career Born in Amsterdam, Dijksteel started his career in the youth team at Amsterdamsche FC ...

* Delvin Pinheiro Frederico * Lars Herlofsen *

Myer Bevan Myer Stefan Major Bevan (born 23 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward for Canadian club Cavalry FC and the New Zealand national football team. Club career Early career Bevan played in his native New Ze ...

* Kayro Flores Heatley * Jonny Hansen * Fernando Canales * José Guidino *

Matty Cash Matthew Stuart Cash (born 7 August 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Aston Villa and the Poland national team. Cash started his career at Wycombe Wanderers and later the FAB Academy before he signed his fi ...

* Maksim Boychuk * Artemi Ukomsky * Petar Golubović * Cameron Edwards * Reyaad Pieterse *

Moon Seon-min Moon Seon-min (Hangul: 문선민; Hanja: 文宣民; born 9 June 1992) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He became the first football player from South Korea to play in Allsvenskan, the highest leag ...

Pontus Almqvist Pontus Skule Erik Almqvist (born 10 July 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Polish club Pogoń Szczecin. He is also signed to Russian club Rostov, but that contract is suspended. He is deployed as a winger (most often on ...

* Apirat Heemkhao * Napapon Sripratheep * Gonzalo Balbi

References

{{coord missing, Staffordshire Football academies in England Nike, Inc. 2009 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 2009