I would have to do another search on Walsall's Cat 3 academy but remember at the time thinking that Cat3 was pretty good actually with quite a huge subsidy from the FA/PL and something like Walsall contributing around 200K and when we are contributing 760K that is a huge difference which would have allowed more money for the first team while still attracting youngsters to their local club. I have yet to be convinced Cat 2 would have attracted better local kids when we have no evidence that they have even gone to the PL Cat 1 academies although there may be the odd exception.
The problem essentially was Dario who was part of the FA committee that came up with all the rules and categories of the new system and so why he wanted the highest he could get. And has he was a significant figure in academy coaching that sounds reasonable in a way. I remember asking him one time why the club didn't go for Cat 3 and he said it was so the youngsters could get to play more PL academy matches although not in their league and probably more significant was he said Cat 2 was 'cost neutral' but we know that was at the time when we were still paying upwards of 500K for RH per year and so cost neutral compared with what would be accepted today. I couldn't quite figure how the RH costs didn't come down significantly when we had bought all the fixed assets?
The club will surely know the minimum figures while still retaining an academy but as I said many clubs in L1 don't have or have got rid of their academies while still having local kids coming in like we did when we had Shavington many moons ago..
Its the same old question about how many coaches are needed when it was only a couple including Dario when we were quite successful and concentrating on older ****s and incoming transfers. Cat 2 means we have to have x number of coaches and need to coach very young kids which is way beyond our size in my humble opinion at least..