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 second Charterhouse. Incredible pitches and it doesn't do rugby so football is its main focus. Great academics and really modernising with the addition of girls. Amazing facilities.

Just turning it on it’s head for a minute. No idea if other Premiership clubs do this, but Manchester City pay to send their players (age 11) to a specific school, so that they are all in the same place and it’s easy for the club to facilitate training and matches. They are the ones who they see with the best prospects of making it as a footballer. To be honest, it’s not the best independent in the area, but the only one that will accept all the players regardless of their academic ability.

If they let a player go between Y7-11, they continue to pay for their education for the 5 years at senior school. A lad I know who was very academic and was offered a full scholarship/bursary at one of the most academic schools in the area, ended up turning it down because the school wouldn’t facilitate the time out for his academy training and games.

If he wants to be a footballer, then it needs to be academy first, rather than your choice of school first. However, if he isn’t already with an academy, you know you can’t choose one. They choose your child.

Go with the school that you think will serve his academic abilities best and let him play for a local team on a weekends that has possible links to an academy team or a league where you know scouts from clubs turn up on a regular basis.