One of the most frequent questions our community members ask is, how can I get a professional or semi-professional football trial?
Although there is no definitive answer to this, we’ve attended enough trials over the years to have a good idea of some of the best practices to increase your chances of making it.
We’ll start with the basics and explain what a football trial is and why professional clubs use them.
An academy football trial allows young players to get a taste of the academy environment. Players can experience the surroundings at a potential club before committing to them or being offered a period of registration. The trial also allows the club to get a good look at the player and all aspects of his/her game over a desired period.
Football trial and talent days are becoming alot more rare, as professional clubs tend to opt for a larger scouting network for talent identification.
This is less risky for the clubs, as these scouts have great relationship with local grassroots coaches and schools so are able to build a database of players with potential.
This is why you will no longer see top clubs holding football open trials. Leading to a rise in the amount of football trial agencies opening around the globe. These companies vet through potential players and recommend players of talent to their partnering clubs. However there is a grey area around some of these agencies as there has been reports of companies falsely advertising that they have official links with professional clubs, so if you are looking to go down this route proceed with caution.
