Sports Calendar

The fascination lies in the ages of some of Chelsea’s targets. Worley’s arbitration case was held last autumn at the same time as those of Scott Sinclair, of Bristol Rovers, and Ryan Bertrand, of Gillingham, who also went to Chelsea. Coinciding with their move was that of Oliver Sprague, who left QPR for Chelsea, aged 11.

However, Joe Gallen, the head of youth at QPR, refused to take the Sprague case to tribunal. “I would have been embarrassed to turn up in a court-type situation discussing how much an 11-year-old is worth,” he said. “We decided to show a bit of dignity and not to stand in the boy’s way. In any case, how can you know if an 11-year-old will make it?” The FA is looking at the business of compensation for clubs losing their young talent. It will take a decision on the Leeds-Chelsea case in the coming days, but greater compensation and increased protection is what the smaller clubs seek.

Outside of a window of opportunity that opens annually on March 1, it is illegal for any club to speak to a boy or the parent of a boy already registered with another club. It is also illegal for scouts to attend age-group matches of other clubs, yet clubs find they are powerless to prevent either. “We know all the excuses,” Gallen said. “They invariably tell you that ‘my son’s playing for the opposition’.”

This was also the experience of Geoff Dunsford, the Bristol Rovers chairman, in the case of Sinclair. “We had scouts talking to Scott after games when, legally, they shouldn’t have been exchanging a word with him,” he said. “But if you ask them, the answer is they were just saying, ‘Well done, good game, son.’ Proving anything more is difficult.”

Bob Dowie, the Crystal Palace director of football, said: “It’s difficult for any small club to hang on to high-profile young players. We know what other clubs do. They employ parents as scouts, take on a boy’s father on a £50,000 deal as a part-time scout. For some clubs, spending £200,000 on a boy is not seen as a gamble.”

Chelsea’s power is also reflected in their growing academy staff. It is well documented that their offers to Woods and Taiwo followed shortly after they had employed Gary Worthington, of the Leeds academy. Likewise, they hired Brendan Rodgers, of Reading, and four Reading boys duly followed (one was his son, another the expensive Lyskov).

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Similarly, when Chelsea took on Jimmy Fraser, the Swindon centre of excellence manager, at the start of the year, he went with the endorsement of Andy King, the manager — “I wish him well, just as long as he doesn’t come back here after my young players” — yet Chelsea are now haggling over one of the under-13 players who Fraser was asked to leave alone.

Some clubs have a policy of dropping their best players for fixtures against the big clubs to prevent them automatically appearing at the top of the opposition’s shopping list the next day. Some have tried to ban scouts from their touchlines, but this is often impossible. The best answer comes from Dowie, who is doing his utmost to hang on to Moses, the focus of attention of rival clubs even before last summer, when he scored every goal as his team won the England Schools under-14 cup final 5-0. Dowie’s point is that the clubs that Chelsea have been buying off have a reputation for getting their youth players into their first XI. Chelsea and others do not.

“At Palace, we see ourselves as a development club,” he said. “Our boys get to play in the first team. We take pride in delivering them through. You hold on to a Victor Moses by showing him a window to the first team.”

ALL YOU CAN BUY
Chelsea’s shopping spree in 2005

Lewis Baker Luton Town, under-12, March
Thomas Lyskov Reading, under-15, June
Scott Sinclair Bristol Rovers, under-17, July
Ryan Bertrand Gillingham, under-17, July
Harry Worley Stockport County, under-17, July
Fabio Ferreira Sporting Lisbon, under-17, summer
Ricardo Fernandes Sporting Lisbon, under-17, summer
Oliver Sprague QPR, under-12, September
Jack Saville Reading, under-15, September
George Saville Reading, under-13, September
Michael Woods Leeds United, under-16, autumn
Tom Taiwo Leeds United, under-16, autumn
Anton Rodgers Reading, under-13, December