Regional Advanced Development Centres
At the Exeter City Academy there have three-tiers of Player Progression Pathway, which allows players to develop at their own speed and progress to the next level if and when they are ready.
Initially, players will begin at one of our Advanced Development Centres (ADCs) located around the South West of England. ADCs are devised for talented young football players from the age of 6 to 14. The ADC’s are located in Dorset (Dorchester), East Devon (Axminster), Exeter & Mid Devon (Cranbrook), North Devon (Barnstaple), Somerset (Bridgwater), South Devon (Paignton).
Players that consistently display the ECFC Must Haves and good ability will earn the opportunity to progress up the pathway pyramid to our Performance Centre (PC) when the coaches and academy recruitment department have reviewed player performances and they feel are at the level required to step up to the next pathway.
The Performance Centre is situated in Exeter and is essentially the link between the ADC and full Academy.
Training at the ADCs and the Performance Centre takes place once a week, as we encourage players to also continue training and playing matches with their grassroots club.
Academy scouts regularly visit these centres to assess player levels in addition to communicating with ADC & Performance centre coaches on player progression.
The top tier of the player progression pathway is the Academy itself. Players within the Academy train and play exclusively for Exeter City (School/District football is also encouraged) with the aim of becoming well-rounded young men and, hopefully, Exeter City First Team players.
In the forms link below are choices of ADC’s. Once the application is received for centre preference, in the next round of trials an invitation will be sent with a date to commence for a free 2 week trial period (Due to the impact of Covid we are experiencing a very big backlog with this). In this period it will be used to assess the player’s current level as there is potential for the player to be moved up the pathway swiftly. We encourage the players to enjoy their football with us at Exeter City FC and look forward to you becoming part of our team.
Supporting all of this is the great work of the City Community Trust which runs many provisions for young players including After School Clubs and Holiday Clubs. These programmes are another great way for the Academy to identify players. Links to these programmes can be found here: CCT Holiday Clubs
Our 6 Regional Advanced Development Centres are the entry level for our Player Progression Pathway, serving as a feeder into our Performance Centre and beyond...
Dorset
Head Coach: Andy Richardson
Venue: Dorchester Town Football Club, Dorchester, DT1 2RY
Date & Time: Tuesdays 16:30 - 18:00
East Devon
Head Coach: Colin Derham
Venue: LED Leisure Centre, Axminster, EX13 5AZ
Date & Time: Mondays 18:30 - 20:00
Exeter & Mid Devon
Head Coach: Martin Tyrer
Venue: Cranbrook Education Centre, Cranbrook, EX5 7EE
Date & Time: Mondays 17:30 - 19:00
North Devon
Head Coach: Sam Beck
Venue: Tarka Leisure Centre, Barnstaple, EX31 2AP
Date & Time: Mondays 17:30 - 19:00
Somerset
Head Coach: Ryan Williams
Venue: Robert Blake Science College, Bridgwater, TA6 6AW
Date & Time: Mondays 18:30 - 20:00
South Devon
Head Coach: Jules Emati-Emati
Venue: Torbay Leisure Centre, Paignton, TQ4 5JR
Date & Time: Tuesdays 17:30 - 19:00