The NextGen Series has come a long way since Justin Andrews & Mark Warburton first coined

the idea of an alternative answer to Englands failing youth set up. This initiative would be to develop be a Champions League-esque tournament between underage academies from prevalent European clubs. Last season, sixteen teams from across Europe - including Liverpool, Ajax, Manchester City and Barcelona - took part in the inaugural under-19 tournament last season. The tournament offers young footballers today the unique opportunity to experience all aspects of a competitive, large, international tournament. The benefits of the tournament are endless, with clubs, media and fans starting to catch onto the deserved hype. Twelve months down the line and eight further teams will compete in the competitions second successive year, including entries from Arsenal, Athletic Bilbao and Borussia Dortmund to name but a few. The twenty-four clubs are divided into six groups of four, where each club will dispute a home and away fixture against each group member. Many of these fixtures will be taking place in their first team stadiums, such as the Emirates, Celtic Park, Anfield and Villa Park. The tournament aims to exposing up-and-coming youngsters to the challenges they will face in stepping up from reserve team football to the first team. The NextGen Series offers players the prospect of adapting to unfamiliar styles of play, prolonged periods of travel and two match weeks, will help them when making the transition to the first team. Arsenal FC were one of few Premier League teams to jump at the opportunity to become involved in competitive European youth football. Following Arsenals participation in the Dallas Cup in 2011, Arsene Wenger, realised the potential knock-on effects of competition for his youngsters, and is a firm supporter of the NextGen Series. I will watch every single game [at Underhill] because I want to see what the other clubs have, what is going on, and if there is some evolution with the young players. From his own teams perspective, it lets Arsene keep a close eye on two players recently tipped to feature in first team football this season, in the form of Chuba Akpom and Serge Gnabry, with the latter being named in Arsenals Champions League squad for the forthcoming season. Wenger realises the importance of a youth football, citing the success of Spain and France internationally and complimenting their successful youth-team set ups. The competition has recently become even more accessible for the fans. The NextGen Series twitter page provides extensive coverage of participating team news. Most notable is that the competiton recently signed a groundbreaking deal for youth football in the form of a 4 year agreement with Europort, where a minimum of 18 games will be televised live on the n1 pan-European TV channel over the course of the 2012/2013 season, including group stages, play-offs, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. Arsenal have pushed the boat out further to its fans by offering free entry to all under 21 and NextGen fixtures that will take place at Underhill for the season ahead- a touching gesture. Speaking to Arsenal NextGen Series players Josh Vickers (goalkeeper) & Austin Lipman (Forward), both echoed to me their excitement at featuring in the competition I think its a great competition and it gives us a chance to play against the best teams in Europe, travelling

to other countries, and having the potential to play in some of the most notable stadiums across Europe said Josh. Austin added: The benefits are huge. It gives me a feeling of being away from my normal environment and travelling as a squad. I think mainly it just gives us a huge experience boost and confidence from playing in the competition. Arsenal more recently succumbed in Greece to a sturdy Olympiacos team in Athens, and the players were quick to appreciate that it is a learning curve that they possibly wouldnt experience without being involved in the NextGen Series. The benefits of the competition are not only being expressed by the current squad, but even further down the youth ranks in the form of U15 starlets Cristian Toonga, Harley Williams & Ovie Ejaria who I caught up with recently. Cristian ambitiously stated: We are buzzing about the NextGen series considering we recently trained with Terry Burton. It motivates me that if I train hard I could feature against older, experienced continental sides down the line. Harley added: We are more committed to accomplishing our goals as footballers at Arsenal knowing that this level of competition is ahead of us. Ovie claims the competition allows us to showcase our talents so young on a European stage The competition is proving to be more and more popular as the season progresses. Up to 10,000 ticket sales were announced for the Tottenham vs. Barcelona clash at White Hart Lane an astounding advert for the game. The wheels are in motion and the benefits are endless for managers, players and fans alike. With plans ahead to expand the competition to feature more teams, it appears that the NextGen series is on the way up, and will tow youth football alongside it. It is exciting times being a young footballer with these opportunities available. The NextGen Series coupled with revamped under-21 Barclays Premier League means that the foundations are in place for players to make the transition from reserve team football to the first team more cohesively.