WATFORD Football Club have today announced plans to become the first English club to overhaul the workings of their academy - giving young English footballers the kind of learning opportunities that are commonplace in many European countries.

There has been considerable recent media coverage of the perceived failings of the system as it currently operates across the country so Watford are leading the way by giving the youngsters more exposure to technical coaching while also ensuring they receive a first-class education with the aim of producing not just accomplished footballers but also well-rounded young men.

Building on the existing partnership with local school The Harefield Academy which gives young players in the Watford system access to the state-of-the-art sports facilities at the school, players identified as 'talented and gifted' will become full time pupils at Harefield.

The school was granted 'academy' status by the Department of Education with the remit of providing specialised opportunities for talented young sports people, with the aim of producing a crop of medallists for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Lynn Gadd, Principal of The Harefield Academy, commented, "It was always part of our vision that young people would receive the best education and the best support for their sporting abilities at The Harefield Academy. What we are doing is personalising the curriculum to the needs of the young people no matter what their talents."

The new relationship between Harefield and Watford Football Club will see a group of approximately 40 children aged between 11 and 14 years old become full time pupils at Harefield following a specific timetable tailored to allow their football development to sit alongside their education.

Lynn Gadd and her colleagues at The Harefield Academy are already planning the details of the timetable that the young footballers will follow. Lynn said: "Our aim is that the pupils will leave The Academy site during the evening having worked hard, played hard and completed their homework so that they will be able to benefit from a very rich quality of life."

It is the result of extensive consultations and study that Watford FC has undertaken, particularly at Dutch club Willem II who very kindly gave Watford staff access to the way they produce such an impressive number of gifted footballers - who are, more importantly, well-rounded and well-educated individuals.

The key difference between the two systems was the Dutch children receive between 15 and 20 hours per week of specialised football coaching while in England boys of the same age get only 5 or 6 hours.

The special timetable will give pupils three times more contact time with specialised football coaches with the added benefit of a significant improvement in the quality of life for both the boys and their families.

Watford Academy Manager David Dodds commented: "It is essential for a club like ours to develop our own young professionals and the Harefield scheme will double, if not treble, contact time to maximise their talents."

The Hornets' boss, Aidy Boothroyd added: "It is time to review the whole academy situation.  There have been lots of plusses from the plans put into place by Howard Wilkinson's blueprint ten years ago but both society and the game have changed since then.  This move is essential for both Watford Football Club and English football as a whole."

The current system calls for parents and other family members to make incredible sacrifices in both time and money to support their sons' footballing ambitions but this ground-breaking scheme, which will surely be copied by other senior English clubs, will see Watford FC provide free transport to take the boys to school each morning and ensure they get home at a sensible time in the evening having had a full day of schooling, football training, homework done and proper healthy meals provided.

There has been a fantastic uptake in places available with an impressive response from both boys and their parents. The new intake will became pupils at Harefield in September 2007.