Ritchie: Thorp Arch is key for United
Whites to reap a crop of talent - RitchieFabian DelphThe purple patch of youth development which Leeds United find themselves in is a phenomenon that Andy Ritchie sees as due reward for their attention to the "back garden" at Thorp Arch.
For two years, Ritchie was manager of United's academy and responsible for a set-up which passed into the capable hands of Neil Thompson in 2004, and he believes the current flow of traffic from Leeds' junior teams to their senior squad has repaid the club's commitment to their own production line during the height of their lengthy financial crisis.
Last month, Aidan White became the fifth 16-year-old in six years to make his first-team debut for Leeds, and the full-back is one of several players listed in United's squad who were no more than local, fresh-faced juniors when Ritchie took on the academy job in 2002.
His two seasons as coach were a success, with United's under-17s winning the Premier Academy League in 2003, and Leeds found a suitable successor in Thompson, who has overseen their youth-team set-up for four seasons and presided over the graduation of a string of players.
The roll call of academy members who have made their senior debuts since United's relegation from the Premiership includes Jonathan Howson, Ben Parker, Scott Gardner, Tom Elliott and Fabian Delph, all of whom are still on the books at Leeds and have so far avoided the path towards the exit trodden by so many valuable youngsters before them.
Ritchie was one of the many people who bemoaned the consistent loss of talent from Elland Road, but his expectation that a new generation would soon arrive was fuelled by his knowledge of the time and investment which the academy at Leeds has consistently benefited from.
"The sensible football clubs are the ones who pay as much attention to their back gardens as they do to the front," said Ritchie.
"Academy work needs a lot of vision and patience because, when I was at Leeds, Jonny Howson was still a very young kid and Fabian Delph was even younger. Leeds are getting the full benefit of both players now but it goes to show how much time and work it takes to push youngsters all the way.
"Every club wants a good academy but Leeds have always taken the view that youth development is an absolute must.
"We spent a lot of time networking with local boys' clubs and building up relationships with footballing people in the local community, and that won't have changed. It a fantastic set-up at Thorp Arch and it's the envy of a lot of clubs.
"It's inevitable with academies that you have good spells and lean spells, and this is clearly a very good spell at Leeds.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there are others we haven't heard of who are ready to break through because, for some reason, these generations seem to come in clusters.
"I was as disappointed as everyone else to see Leeds lose so many good players but the fact that they were investing so much time and money into their academy meant another crop was bound to come along. From Gary McAllister's point of view, it's fantastic."
Thorp Arch has long been used a positive indictment of United's stature as a club, a training ground to eclipse all others outside the Premier League and many within it and a magnet for potential signings.
The future of the complex was an issue raised by Leeds chairman Ken Bates last week when he revealed that United have until October 2009 to raise the funds needed to invoke the buy-back clause agreed when the club sold the training ground in 2004 to fight crippling debts.
Leeds negotiated a sale-and-lease-back agreement which will allow them to rent the complex at Thorp Arch until 2029, but Bates' comments before last Saturday's clash with Crewe Alexandra indicated that he plans to find the money to regain ownership of the land near Wetherby before the repurchase agreement expires.
Ritchie said: "It's vital that Leeds hold on to that facility because it's everything a football club could want. "If there's a lease on the property then you'd expect that they'd still be able to use it for several years to come but I'm sure they'd much rather own the property and know how the lands lies. A training ground like that makes a massive difference to the way you prepare and the way you train, and any player thinking about signing for Leeds is bound to be seduced by it. Leeds couldn't ask for a better facility.
"The academy there has such an important part to play because the transfer market is going crazy again.
"We all thought it was cooling down but then you see £100million spent on the last day of the transfer window. "Leeds can't afford to spend that amount of money, nothing like it, but they can always count of talented players coming through their ranks.
YEP