Finding an top sports boarding school (especially football)

[jharringford]

My DS is a very sporty boy (especially in football, not rugby) and also quite bright and hard-working. The fact is that we want a top boarding school with a good football program and also high academic standard.
We are thinking about Harrow or Winchester.

Apart from Millfield do you have any recomendations?

Thank you

I'm assuming BTW that your son is interested in football as a hobby rather than career - because if it's a career, schools like the ones on this thread are not the way in. Can you clarify?

If you want info about a specific school I suggest you start a new thread then you’re more likely to people who know something about the school hopefully with DC’s there or there fairly recently. You may mixed views but I think this is normal every school will have ardent supporters and those whose DC’s were unhappy, read every comment carefully and bear them in mind when you actually visit the school the truth lies somewhere between.

Well we were looking for an school that permits going to an academy in the future.

happygardening, thanks I will

How old is your son, OP? Unless he's only about 5/6, if he's not in an academy now, he's very unlikely to get into one later. And none of those schools, apart from Millfield, will be great for accommodating the level of training needed at 13+ for professional football - day school would be more appropriate.

You said he used to be at an academy but not anymore - was that he is choice to drop out?

I echo what Boss has just said. He needs to get to an academy ASAP if you're serious about that as a career. Otherwise just concentrate on academics and football for fun (which is the better option, chances of becoming pro footballer are so so slim)

I'm amazed you want a top sports boarding then haven't even been to visit Millfield

I know some teens fail to get into academies then try the private school route but it never works IME

I'm not sure from other posts that the ds is yet at boarding prep. Maybe you should review if that is a worthwhile route for a prospective footballer as a day school may accommodate training or academy participation more easily. I doubt school football alone would ever be enough if that is his dream.

Does FA still run its programme at Bisham Abbey?

5% of professional footballers are privately educated. That reflects more or less the public at large. Public school is not the 'normal' route through for someone serious in pursuing a footballing career.

I can't follow what it is you (and your DS) wants/ needs OP. If it is top flight football then the top boarding school is not a necessity and may even be a barrier. if it is academic elite you are after, the football will almost certainly take a back seat. I did teach a boy who got A*s at A Level (part time because of football commitments) and a contract at a professional club but this ability to multi skill is vanishingly rare. Most professional footballers go to academies at 16 to study football and sport. A very few do have degrees.

A boy in my dd's year at her old day school (the one she left for the ballet school) left the school aged 16 to go and live near to a TOP flight premiership club aged 16. He had gone the private day school education route up until then and trained at a local academy before having several clubs fight over him. As others have said unless you go for a school with a specialist programme based around football (which is not the type of boarding school you are looking at) then the best you will get is recreational football.

Academy kids train all year round up to 3-4 times a week, they have matches and tournaments and parents are expected to facilitate this. Boarding schools rarely can.

The school I mentioned earlier has Manchester City's Development Officer in charge of their football programme and they work/facilitate their students getting into local academies. But they are none selective academically, the kids go there for the football whilst not having to sacrificae their education.

You seem to want the best of both worlds and it simple does not exist.

Langley School in South Norfolk

It’s not the prestigious mega academic school it sounds like you’re looking for, but it is attached to the Norwich City Football Club Youth Academy.

I’m not quite sure how the set up works but ex professional footballer Darren Eadie is heavily involved (owns/runs?? 🤷🏻‍♀️) in the academy and the school.

The prep school (different location and soon to be not boarding) U11s Girls team just won national ISAF championships

DS attended a prep school where there was a stunningly brilliant football player. He (the other boy) is now at the local comp where he can finish school at 4pm and train after school and at the weekends. He is currently signed up for a premier league junior team. Don’t forget the impact that Saturday school has on the weekend

This.

Competition to play for serious football teams is cut throat. Unless a boy is already playing for an academy side by 8 or 9 it is very unlikely that he will be recruited as an apprentice by a premier/championship side. If he is lucky enough to get picked at that kind of level it will be very difficult for him to maintain any serious level of study beyond 16.
And before 16 he will be pushed to fit in homework and training. There are virtually no boys pursuing serious academic studies in UK private schools while simultaneously hitting the heights in football. You have to choose one or the other.

If you listen to nobody else about schools OP (and my comments are evidently not of any interest to you), listen to HappyGardening. There is such immense sense and good advice in his/her posts (despite the fact that he/she chose Winchester rather than Eton ).

THANKS ALL, I will consider all of your recomendations

Happy talks nonsense,contrary to her assertion-her dog would have been very happy at Eton...

If you google something like -daily telegraph football in private schools-you should find a good article from a couple of months ago..

nolan you may be right about my dog .

I think the opinions on football at Winchester May be out of date. Winchester is having a big drive with regards to sport. The first team football players seem to train year round and the senior first team are coached by an ex premier league coach. They also now offer sports scholarships and are building a new sports centre. My DS is not a first team player but still plays most days. Out of the schools mentioned Charterhouse is the one I have visited most for matches and is the one the boys I know in other schools always think is hardest to beat.

Came on to say that I thought Brentwood was somewhere obvious to look at. Frankie Lampard, whose own dad clearly earned enough from football to afford private, went there. (FWIW Frankie Lampard seems to have been pretty academic.)

Interesting to understand why others dont agree

Also curious why people dont think Whitgift is academic. The annual pained Whitgift/Trinity 11+ threads would suggest otherwise.

OP you seem to be getting some quite bonkers advice on this thread.

1. Start with ISFA results. That will tell you who takes football seriously.

1. Speak to the school and ask about their willingness to work with local academies. Whitgift/Crystal Palace perhaps. Top flight training wont come from a school. So it might be an idea to start with the Club. Would Canford School support someone training with AFC Bournemouth. Clifton and one of the Bristol clubs, and so on.

Also dont rule out We. One of DS peers is now a reserve driver in F1. One of DDs peers competed in the world championships in a major sport, and plenty would up on sports scholarships, including soccer, to US universities. Central London so lots of choice of academies.

It's not that I don't think Whitgift isn't academic. TBH I think its leavers results should be better given how selective it is at entry - cream off the brightest, and you'll get good results. I just don't think it's what the OP is looking for - it's not boarding.

But I will also hold my hands up and say I don't really know what the OP is looking for - her son isn't in an academy, doesn't seem to be on any player path, so I'm assuming it's just a hobby he's looking for. If he isn't and wants pro, then Whitgift combined with academy might be better for him.

It depends what level of football your ds wants. My ds was at one of the schools you are thinking of; he was also signed to a premiership football club. It was not a happy mix. The school wanted him to play for them, it didn’t want to faciliate all the training and matches the club required. Very stressful time.

ThroughThickAndThin - there are very few schools of the type the OP seems attracted to (ie big name boarding) that can and will facilitate a sporting career IME. Millfield is the only big boarding school I know where a burgeoning pro sports career is catered for.