The Cardiff City F.C. Academy is the youth academy currently set up at Cardiff City

Cardiff City F.C.

Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

 in order to discover and nurture young talent. The academy has a range of players from ages seven to 18.

Information

The youth academy was set up in 2003, the youth team however has taken part in several FA Youth Cup

FA Youth Cup

The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...

 and Welsh Youth Cup competition before 2003. According to the official Cardiff City FC Website,

"the Cardiff City football academy, is not simply a scheme, or a group of young players and coaches. It is all of these things; but most importantly, it is a philosophy and a culture.
The club has always been dependent upon, and focused around the local community. The great players and teams throughout the clubs' history have always been built on the foundations of local boys and local talent. Cardiff City has a fantastic and proud history of nurturing young talent and are committed to continuous development of youth teams in future years. Cardiff City Football Club is fully committed to their fantastic academy, and recognises the importance of youth development".

Cardiff's scouts currently concentrate on searching South Wales, Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

, Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

, Swindon

Swindon

Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...

 and Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

. Now looking towards other areas of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 including Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 with the recent appointment of scouts in these areas by Neal Ardley

Neal Ardley

Neal Christopher Ardley is an English former professional footballer who played either as a right-back or right midfielder...

 Cardiff scouts are also based in foreign countries such as Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

, with players coming to the academy from these countries.

1Malaysia Grassroots Academy

Cardiff City also have an academy in capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

. As their owners from 2010, Vincent Tan

Vincent Tan

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (born 1952; ; is the current owner of Cardiff City F.C. and also is the Chairman and Chief Executive of Berjaya Corporation Berhad, which controls a wide array of businesses...

 and Chan Tien Ghee

Chan Tien Ghee

Dato Chan Tien Ghee, more commonly known as TG, is a Malaysian businessman, who is the current chairman of Cardiff City Football Club.-Cardiff City:Chan Tien Ghee became chairman on 27 May 2010...

 are from the Asian

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 country as well as other of their board members.

The Under-18s team regularly merge with several out of favour first team players to form the reserve squad.

Notable graduates

Byron Anthony Byron Anthony Byron Joseph Anthony is a Wales under-21 international footballer currently playing for Bristol Rovers as a defender-Career:... *   Darcy Blake Darcy Blake Darcy James Blake is a Welsh professional footballer currently playing for Cardiff City in the Football League Championship. He is also a Welsh international, having made his debut in October 2010.-Cardiff City:...   Jonathan Brown Jonathan Brown (Welsh footballer) Jonathan David Brown is a Welsh footballer and Wales under-21 international who plays for Southport.-Early life:Born in Bridgend, Brown attended the Archbishop McGrath School as a youngster...   James Collins James Collins (footballer) James Michael Collins is a Welsh footballer who plays for Aston Villa and the Wales national football team.-Cardiff City:... *   Robert Earnshaw Robert Earnshaw Robert Earnshaw is a Welsh footballer who plays for Cardiff City and Wales. He is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in the English Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two , the League Cup, the FA Cup and for his country at International level.Earnshaw was born in Mufulira,... *   Jamal Easter Jamal Easter Derwain Jamal Easter is a Welsh footballer who is currently without a club after leaving Clevedon Town. He is also a former Wales Under-21 international.-Career:... *

Stuart Fleetwood Stuart Fleetwood Stuart Keith Fleetwood is an English-born Wales under-21 international footballer who plays as a striker for Luton Town.-Early life:... *   Chris Gunter Chris Gunter Christopher Ross "Chris" Gunter is a Welsh footballer who plays for Nottingham Forest, and the Wales national team, as a defender. Though a Newport native, he moved to Cardiff as a child and later joined Cardiff City's youth system...   Joe Jacobson Joe Jacobson Joseph Mark "Joe" Jacobson is a Welsh footballer who plays for Shrewsbury Town. He is the former captain of the Wales U21 team, and is also a former captain of the Cardiff City reserve team.- Cardiff City :...   Lee Jarman Lee Jarman Lee Jarman is a Welsh footballer who plays for Haverfordwest County.-Early life:Born in Cardiff to Ian and Angela Jarman, he grew up in Llanishen and attended Coed Glas School as a child.-Career:... *   Nathaniel Jarvis Nathaniel Jarvis Nathaniel Stephen Jarvis is a Welsh professional footballer who currently plays for Football League Championship side Cardiff City.-Early life:...

Joe Ledley Joe Ledley Joseph Christopher Ledley is a Welsh footballer who plays for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Welsh national team as a central or left midfielder....   Adam Matthews Adam Matthews Adam James Matthews is a Welsh footballer who currently plays as a right back for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Welsh national team.-Early life:...   Curtis McDonald Curtis McDonald Curtis Earl McDonald is a Welsh footballer who plays as a left-sided defender or midfielder. He is currently with Conference National side Forest Green Rovers.-Club career:...   Josh Magennis Josh Magennis Joshua Brendan David "Josh" Magennis is a Northern Irish footballer who currently plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen. Having spent the majority of his youth career as a goalkeeper, he switched to striker in 2008 before turning professional in 2009...   Aaron Morris Aaron Morris Aaron John Morris is a Welsh professional footballer currently playing for Aldershot Town. He is also a Wales under-21 international.-Cardiff City:...

Aaron Ramsey Aaron Ramsey Aaron James Ramsey is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for the premier league club Arsenal and is the captain of the Wales national football team...   Christian Roberts Christian Roberts Christian Roberts is a Welsh midfielder who currently plays for Haverfordwest County after retiring from professional football in September 2008, finishing his career with Swindon Town.... *   Damon Searle Damon Searle Damon Peter Searle is a Welsh professional footballer. He is a left-sided defender and midfielder currently without a club after leaving Welsh Premier League side Haverfordwest County.-Career:... *   Aaron Wildig Aaron Wildig Aaron Keith Wildig is an English professional footballer, currently playing for Football League Championship side Cardiff City.-Cardiff City:...   Scott Young Scott Young (footballer) Scott Young is a Welsh former professional footballer.-Club career:Young was handed his debut by then manager Eddie May on 6 November 1993 in a 3-1 victory over Stockport County at the age of sixteen... *

Those in bold have been capped at full international level.
Those marked * progressed prior to academy status confirmed.

Personnel

• Academy Manager

  Neal Ardley

Neal Ardley

Neal Christopher Ardley is an English former professional footballer who played either as a right-back or right midfielder...

• Assistant Academy Managers

  Geraint Twose (12–16 year olds)
  Mark Neville (7–11 year olds)

• Youth Team Coach

  Geraint Twose

• Academy Goalkeeping Coach

Ryan Mackerness

• Head of Recruitment

Vacant

• Head of Education and Welfare

  Steve Ellis

• Senior Academy Physiotherapist

  Neil Lewis

• Academy Physiotherapist

  Adam Rattenbury

• Academy Secretary

  Anthony Redwood

• Head of Local Schoolboy Recruitment

  Graham Pulling

• Club "Doctor"

  Len Nokes

• Kit & Equipment Manager

  Ian Lanning

• Assistant Kit Manager

Alan Cross

• Fitness Coach

  Alex Armstrong

Under 18s

The under-18s team plays in Group B of the FA Premier Academy League. Players with squad numbers have appeared in or are part of the senior team but regularly return to play for the under-18 team.

Under-21s

In 2011, Cardiff decided to create an under-21 team, which could take part in the planned nationwide Under-21 league which is planned to start for the 2012-13 season.