The European Championships come amid a time of change for youth football.
There’s nothing like a major tournament to put the game in the spotlight and inspire the next generation of players.
And those joining the many thousands of youngsters who already turn out across the county will see the difference.
A major change in the younger age groups has already been announced in the form of moves to phase out heading from under-7 to under-11 levels over the next three years.
This starts next season with under-7s to under-9s, increasing to under-10s in 2025-26 and under-11s from 2026-27, as football responds to safety concerns.
And further changes are on the horizon, as Toby Elgar, the Kent FA’s football development officer for youth and mini soccer, explains.
“Going into the Euros, it’s a really exciting time for football in England, certainly in the youth space.
“The FA are publishing their new strategy and, as county FAs, we’re doing the same, so there’s lots to look forward to.
“In terms of the FA strategy, it’s looking at increasing playing opportunities and trying to ensure we’re providing the best environment for players to play football.
“Across the country, and in Kent, it’s about ensuring everyone has an opportunity to play.
“In youth football there’s some big changes coming in the next four years that the FA are on the cusp of finalising.
“Basically there’s going to be some really big playing format changes that we haven’t seen since nine-a-side football came in 13 or 14 years ago.
“There’s going to be a lot of change coming for clubs and teams and players that they’re going to have to adapt to.
“The direction of travel is really positive on that, we just need to embrace the change as a county FA and get on board with it and ensure we can support our clubs, league and players to adapt to it as quickly as possible.”
The introduction of small-sided football has been a game-changer in terms of developing technical players. Long gone are the days of youngsters trying to kick the ball as far as they can to make progress on big pitches in 11-a-side matches.
The incoming changes will do more to help young players and enhance their football experience.
Progress has been gradual, with the introduction of seven-a-side followed by five-a-side and nine-a-side.
Elgar, who played youth football for Tankerton, said: “When I played the jump was seven-a-side at under-10s to 11-a-side at under-11s.
“The pitch was massive, the goals were massive, to get the ball anywhere you had to put your foot through it and lump it up the pitch.
“There was none of the playing through the thirds.
“It’s really accelerated the evolvement of the game in the last 14 years with the format changes that came in with the introduction of five-a-side and nine-a-side and with what’s in the pipeline it’s just going to accelerate further.
“Players are going to get more touches, develop more time on the ball and develop more awareness of spaces on the pitch.
“So from our point of view as a county it’s really about how we work with clubs to adapt to those changes and ensure our clubs feel comfortable and have the tools to go straight in and really thrive under any new formats their teams will be playing.”
The change in culture in English football is reflected in Gareth Southgate’s selections for Euro 2024.
Southgate’s 26-man squad is full of technical players who learned the game a different way to those who went before. The old criticism that England don’t produce technical footballers has been put to bed.
“You look at the make-up of the squad we’ve got at the moment,” said Elgar.
“Typically, maybe 20 years ago, you’d have big centre-halves and big central midfielders who could run a lot and have an aerial and physical presence but perhaps technically on the ball weren’t particularly good.
“You look at our centre-halves now, the likes of John Stones, how he can pick up the ball and play, and even Kent-raised Marc Guehi, he’s a really technical centre-half that’s really comfortable in possession and plays through the thirds.
“I think across the pitch we’re developing more technical players.
“Players, in the way they’re coached in the game, they’re encouraged to play a variety of positions and I think that helps with that comfort on the ball.”
There were more than 36,000 youth players in Kent before the 2022 World Cup and numbers continue to rise.
If England justify their favourites tag in Germany, you can only imagine what that will do for participation levels.
“We’ve seen the number of players increase,” said Elgar. “I think it’s gone up by 1,000 or so in the youth space since the 2022 World Cup and over the last five years, we’ve seen a near-500-team growth.
“The youth space is continuing to grow and offer more opportunities than ever before. You think how many games that is across the county each week.
“It’s phenomenal we’ve got that number of young people engaged and involved in the game and ultimately inspired by the last World Cup and 2021 and 2018, and there will be a new generation inspired by the talented England team we’ve got representing us at the Euros.
“I think England have got a chance to go the distance. It’s probably a more open field than the last few years.
“I think France are going to be strong again and Germany have the advantage of being on home soil.
“You look at German football the last seven or eight years, it hasn’t been spectacular but I think they’ve got a real good chance. I think England are right up there with those two.
“If Gareth Southgate can keep everyone fit, get Harry Kane firing, get the best out of the likes of Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham, I think England have got every chance and shouldn’t fear anyone.”
