FAW National Academi
Unearthing talent and connecting football
The Football Association of Wales’ vision is for Wales to become a leading football nation at both global and local levels. We aim for football to be the most successful sport in Wales, consistently competing with the very best in the world.
The National Academi has been established to identify and nurture the best talent from grassroots football. This high-quality, professional youth development structure harnesses potential and provides opportunities for players to progress. Our National Academi supports the development of a thriving football ecosystem that offers clear and accessible elite player development pathways.
This will help Cymru produce world-class players for our national teams while also improving the quality of players within our domestic leagues. We are committed to ensuring that the most talented players, wherever they are in Wales, can access the support they need to reach their full potential.
National Academi (Boys): Impact Update – 2025
Unearthing Talent
The FAW National Academi (Boys) continues to play a vital role in developing Cymru’s footballing talent, strengthening our domestic game, and preparing young players for the international stage. As the 2025/26 season gets underway, we are already seeing the impact of this long-term investment in youth development.
Five players from the FAW National Academi representative pathway recently took part in the Men’s U15 National Team Training Camp in August — a clear reflection of the quality being developed across the Academi system. During the 2024/25 season, eight players progressed through the National Academi pathway to represent Wales Men’s National Teams from U15s to U21s, accounting for 7% of all National Youth Team players.
While the FAW recognises that only a small percentage of players will progress from the National Academi into national teams, there are valuable secondary benefits. For example, during the 2023/24 season, 19.3% of players (96 in total) went on to play senior football within the JD Cymru Leagues. A recent report by the European Leagues highlighted that, in the 2024/25 season, Wales ranked 10th in Europe for minutes played by U21 players (18.7%) — evidence that the FAW National Academi system is strengthening our domestic game.
Former National Academi graduate Louis Lloyd has been recognised as the ninth most decisive U21 player in European leagues. The same report named JD Cymru Leagues player James Crole as the second most decisive U21 player in European leagues — both examples of the talent emerging from Wales.
These achievements reaffirm the FAW’s commitment to building a world-class development infrastructure that gives talented players across Wales the opportunity and support to reach their full potential.
Quality Assurance and Support
The National Academi model is designed to establish a strong reputation for high-quality provision. Through ongoing assessment, 17 clubs are licensed to operate National Academies in 2025/26 — a 43% reduction since 2021/22, ensuring quality over quantity.
To strengthen quality assurance and club support, the FAW has launched the National Academi Performance System. This bespoke licensing portal supports clubs in meeting the National Academi Regulations and enables continuous tracking of progress throughout the season. Rather than submitting evidence only at the end of the campaign, clubs can now upload documentation, receive real-time feedback, and maintain an ongoing dialogue with the FAW. This approach promotes greater transparency, consistency, and shared responsibility in delivering high-quality player development environments.
To ensure accessibility, each National Academi is required to offer scholarships and financial assistance to remove cost-related barriers. Since 2022/23, the FAW has further strengthened this commitment through the National Academi PAWB Fund, which supported 19 players across Wales in 2024/25. In 2025/26, a further 31 players will receive support — meaning a total of 50 players will have benefited from the scheme since its introduction.
As the programme enters its fourth year, the FAW will conduct a full performance review during the 2025/26 season. This review will evaluate the Academi’s impact against the FAW’s long-term strategic principles, with a detailed report on stakeholder engagement, performance data, player progression, and club development to follow in due course.
FAW National Academi (Boys) 2025/26: Categorisation
Category A
- The New Saints
- Cardiff Met
- Connah’s Quay Nomads
- Flint Town United
- Penybont FC
Category B
- Barry Town United
- Airbus UK
- Newtown AFC
- Briton Ferry Llansawel AFC
- Caernarfon Town
- Cambrian United
- Llanelli Town
- Pontardawe Town
- Pontypridd United
Category C
- Carmarthen Town
- Haverfordwest County
- Merthyr Town
National Academi (Girls): Impact Update – 2025
To extend our commitment to the growth of the game in Wales, the FAW has introduced the National Academi (Girls) structure for the 2025/26 season. As part of this strategic expansion, 11 clubs across the country have been awarded National Academi (Girls) licences — a major step forward in formalising the elite player development pathway for girls.
Licensed academies will deliver structured Pre-Academi programmes for U8–U11 players and U13 teams, ensuring that early-stage development aligns with national standards. Subject to league approval, licensed academies may also enter teams at U14 level and above into local competitive leagues, providing players with regular, high-quality match experiences.
Non-licensed clubs remain an essential part of the girls’ football ecosystem. These clubs are encouraged to continue entering teams into local leagues and to play an active role in supporting the grassroots game — ensuring that all girls in Wales have access to enjoyable, inclusive, and developmental football environments.
FAW National Academi (Girls) 2025/26
- Aberystwyth Town
- Barry Town United
- Briton Ferry Llansawel
- Caernarfon Town
- Cardiff City
- Cardiff Met
- Connah’s Quay Nomads
- Haverfordwest County
- Swansea City
- The New Saints
- Wrexham
National Academi FAQs
What is the objective of the new National Academi?
The National Academi’s primary objective is to ensure that high quality environments exist across Wales to provide opportunities for talent to progress through our elite player development pathways to ensure Cymru can consistently produce world-class players for our National Team success.
Our National Academi will also act as a catalyst within the community, connecting grassroots clubs, leagues and area associations to widen access, enhance provision and provide greater opportunity to give every talent a chance.
The programme will be underpinned by the following principles:
- Develop a strong reputation for high quality provision
- Support the development of thriving domestic Clubs and football ecosystem
- Driving participation locally through better user experience and access
- Provide more professional opportunities and remove barriers to progression
Why are you making these changes?
We’ve inherited a system that when judged against the vision statement was broken. 100% of our National Team players (all ages) are registered in the English Academy structure prior to their U12 season, the public sentiment was that academies were ‘no different to grassroots’ and ‘money-making schemes’, and the FAW were mandated to fund only our Cymru Premier clubs – leading to a funding model that was both disconnected to the quality of provision and unsustainable based on prospect of Cymru Premier relegation.
How will academies be categorised?
CATEGORY C – 6 Clubs
Delivering development & support services, permitting access for more players to experience quality assured standards of delivery above grassroots Football.
FAW determine composition of each Academy – in line with Club licensing Tier 1 requirements & capability to deliver.
CATEGORY B – 10 clubs
Delivering a quality environment and full player development pathway. Providing high standard of player experience, permitting Clubs to deliver a wider focus.
FAW license full Academy composition.
CATEGORY A – 4 Clubs
Delivering outstanding quality provision, which raises domestic standards and increases professional opportunities, as a core strategy at the heart of the Club’s model.
FAW license full Academy composition.
How far should a child be expected to travel to get to an academy?
By the end of the two year development period, we hope that we will have reached a point where a player can access an academy within 35-40 minutes of their home.
We recognise that younger age groups need an environment that is as close to them as possible.
From around 12 years of age, where players tend to become more motivated by the prospect of progression, they may need to travel further in order to get the best possible development opportunities. It’s not just the physical environment but also the other players that they will be training with that will enable them to fully realise their potential.
What is the pathway into and beyond academies for the most talented players?
Our aspiration is that academies will act as demonstration of talent locally, providing an avenue for the most talented players to showcase themselves on the regional and national stage, local grassroots league, it’s a new thing and will take time to fully come into fruition.
In areas where there are professional clubs nearby, the most talented players should be supported into those environments with a view to them coming through to the Cymru national teams.
In the areas where that isn’t possible, the FAW will run regional programmes, representative squads – 11-15 year olds – keeping the best players together and supporting and exposing them, keeping professional clubs on the radar.
The National Academi will accelerate their journey.
How will you ensure that there is a good geographic spread of academies?
We have taken the decision that the club-based environment is the preferred environment for academies.
Our first priority is to act with integrity when we give our seal of approval, we will only license clubs who will deliver, and we will rigorously monitor the quality of delivery to ensure that it is upheld.
Moving forward, we have a commitment to establish regional programmes in the areas that are not covered by academies, where it is not possible to access club based academies within a reasonable travel distance.
How will academies select their players?
The FAW asks clubs to provide talent ID and recruitment plans as part of their licensing process.
We expect academies to scout in their local leagues.
We also have a team of national scouts whose job it is to make sure that the best academy players are on the FAW’s radar and that the best players in the grassroots system are in the academies.
We have a scholarship programme to ensure that people from low income backgrounds aren’t excluded from the programme.
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National Academi Regulations
Unearthing Talent & Connecting Football
