WHAT IS THE GLENN HODDLE ACADEMY (GHA)?

An alternative route back into professional football:
The GHA is Glenn’s own vision. He has been developing the business concept for a number of years. It will be the first independent, professional football academy, offering an alternative to the professional club system.

The primary goal of the GHA will be to offer a genuine route back into professional football for some of the youngsters discarded by the professional system. Each year football clubs across Europe release hundreds of talented young players. Glenn is absolutely convinced that the decision on their future is made too early and that many, given a further year or two, would develop into valued professional players.

Managers at top clubs, in almost all cases, prefer to buy rather than develop. With so much riding on their team’s results, it is not surprising that a manager will look to sign a foreign player with a track record, rather than risk his career by taking a chance on young home-grown talent. The GHA will in some part look to reverse this trend.

In 2008 up to 40 selected players will be invited to join the academy upon being released by professional clubs or having been identified by GHA scouts. They will receive top-class coaching at the state of the art facility from the very best professional coaches working alongside Glenn.

Glenn’s commitment:
Born from a desire to give back to the game that has made his name, Glenn is fully committed to establishing the GHA. In a career that has seen him play and coach at the very highest level he has rightly earned the reputation of being one of the shrewdest judges of football talent in the world. He is convinced that the academy will be able to develop a reasonable proportion of its players into professionals within two years.

This is not a famous football celebrity lending his name to a random, money-making scheme. The original concept was Glenn’s and he is committed to turning his vision into reality. He has invested his own money, time and passion into the project.

Glenn will personally select all of the academy staff. He will design, implement and oversee all player development programmes and be heavily involved in the running of the academy on a daily basis.