Norwich Football Club Commercial Director Sam Jeffrey speaks on partnership with Chennaiyin FC

Jeffery, along with Chennaiyin FC COO Akhil Prakash, spoke to ANI recently about the partnerships, its methodologies, long-term goals etc.

Chennaiyin FC's partnership with Norwich City FC is set to take a groundbreaking step in youth development with an exclusive six-week training program in Norwich, UK. Designed for Chennaiyin FC's most promising U-23 players, this initiative offers an unparalleled opportunity to train under top European coaching methodologies, gaining first-hand experience of the elite footballing environment.

As Indian football continues to evolve, such global exposure plays a crucial role in shaping future stars and bridging the gap between domestic and international footballing standards. With this collaboration, Chennaiyin FC is reinforcing its commitment to developing talent for the long run, ensuring its brightest prospects are primed for a potential first-team breakthrough in ISL Season 12. This initiative presents a compelling narrative on the future of Indian football, making it a perfect blend.

Speaking to ANI about the partnership, Jeffery said that he and Akhil met during November-December 2023 at a conference centered around the growth of Indian Sports and key drivers for Chennaiyin was to get Norwich help them in support of their academy processes, academy frameworks, analytics, diets etc.

"We then spent 3 or 4 months within, within our respective organisations and then with each other talking through the opportunities that could be possible between us. Opportunities, thatNor come with running a top academy which Norwich City has in the UK, a category one academy, effectively helping to build pathways," he added.

Akhil also said that at this point, top talents in under 23 pipeline are being identified.

"These are whom we have been working with for the last few years. Some of these boys are promising. What we have identified as a potential opportunity for them is to travel to another city where they have their academy and train under their coaches, play a couple of friendlies to show what they are made of, to understand what Norwich coaches are, what they think about these players and how we can look to improve them together. This all will act as a speed track in their careers, to give them the needed upgrade in their skills to move them to senior team intentionally," he added.

Jefferey recalled how former Arsenal manager and now a FIFA delegate had visited India a couple of days back and talked about the great potential India possesses in football.

"Football is the most popular sport among under 25s in India, which is the fastest growing economy in the world. There is also an enormous population with no doubt some extraordinary untapped potential. Any opportunities we can provide for, to help grow pathways and build a pipeline of talent and actually, along the way, if we can put some building blocks in place that will just in a timely manner but also ensure that all the right values and all of the right processes are put in place for constant progression and whether that is, you know, it is certainly going to be hypercharged by for those kids to get the opportunity to come and visit a category one academy," he added.

He also said that imparting best practice from a category one academy to the up-and-coming Indian talent will help build a culture, which could help in long-term success.

Akhil said that implementing such programmes involves challenges like scheduling.

"One of the key bits is scheduling, the schedules of the football calendar, um, in both countries and for both clubs would be, would be the biggest challenge in terms of, seeing and identifying which is the best 4 to 6 week training window for these boys to go there. Um, there is also FIFA regulations, uh, around for how long a player can stay at an academy without breaking any regulations and is that time good enough for a player to technomatize, adapt, and then sort of get enough time to, to show what, uh, what he is made of," he said.