As I pull up to Cardiff City's new academy site in Llanrumney in the north-east of Cardiff, I'm struck by how quickly the project is motoring along.
Cardiff University's 3G rugby field is complete, the communal football pitch is down, Cardiff City's 3G football pitch is laid, while the hockey surface is primed for the turf to be placed on top. The old Doctor Who building to my right is completely stripped and awaiting its interior to be decked out with offices, a lecture theatre, canteen, changing rooms, a gym and another academy-standard 3G training pitch.
Cardiff board member Steve Borley, who is overseeing the project, is on site, with his hard hat tucked under his arm as we look out over the balcony on the Cardiff University sport building across the construction site. The £7.5m project, the funding for which has been split between Cardiff Council, Cardiff University, Cardiff City and House of Sport, is flying along.
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Borley says it's all bang on schedule and even might be a couple of weeks ahead, thanks to a drier and warmer summer which has allowed work to be interrupted far less than it would have been during a typical, wet Welsh autumn. The big bits still left to do are the interior of the academy building and the relaying of the five grass pitches, which Cardiff's academy will use, right on the far side of the site.
It's quite the vista and one by which you can't help but be impressed. If this isn't evidence of Cardiff investing in their youth and future, then what is? They must be given credit for that.
As we chat, new Cardiff City academy boss Gavin Chesterfield emerges from the university building to come and join us. It's his second day in the job and he is being given the full tour of the site, a place which he will call his office from next summer, if all goes smoothly with the construction up until then.
"It's hard not to be enthused when you see this!" he says. Quite.
Chesterfield takes us inside, where dozens of academy staff, who have also just been given the tour, are waiting for his welcome presentation. He introduces himself with a photo of his lookalike, Wayne Rooney, on the screen. "Let's just get this out of the way!" he says.
He talks through his life in football, from Lilleshall and Exeter City in his playing days to Barry Town United, where last year he celebrated his 500th game in charge and left at the start of this season after 15 years at the helm.
He opens up on his desires, vision and plans for the future in an engaging half-an-hour introduction to his new colleagues before grabbing a chat with yours truly shortly after a group photo with all the staff.
"It's exciting," he says as he peers out of the window at the Llanrumney site. "We are in a difficult financial climate and then you come on site and see cranes and diggers and stuff going down on a daily basis. It just fills you with excitement. I can't wait for our players, parents and future players to see this. It'll take us into a really exciting new era."
So, why the change?
Chesterfield, 43, has juggled his duties with Cymru Premier side Barry Town United alongside being a course lead on the MSc Advanced Performance Football Coaching degree at the University of South Wales and his role as FAW Coach Educator Training Manager for some time, forging a strong reputation for himself within the Welsh game.
He is streamlining now and ploughing all of his efforts into Cardiff City's next generation.
"The main thing is opportunity and the scope," he says of taking the job. "If you look at the club and the desire now to bring our own through, you look at the catchment area of Cardiff as a very multicultural city and where we can recruit from, we are in a very strong position.
"We are moving into new facilities, which can only help and only further improves our provision. That, combined with fantastic staff, provides a great working environment. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? I am proud of all those roles and worked with some amazing people. But I just felt the time was right now to bring knowledge and experience to this role. Opportunities like these don't come around very often."
Far greater emphasis has been placed on Cardiff's academy in recent years, owing to funds drying up in the transfer market after the financial fallout suffered by Vincent Tan's leisure business in the pandemic.
The Bluebirds have had to lean on academy products to prop up the first team. Some have flourished, some have struggled a little more than others. But two of them, Mark Harris and Rubin Colwill, are currently in Qatar, about to represent Wales at the World Cup. Aaron Ramsey and Chris Gunter, two more Bluebirds academy alumni, are also in Rob Page's squad. That is the gold standard and what all the next crop coming through should aspire to.
"We have had some really good players step through into the first team and how proud we are as a club now to see two of those go on the plane to Qatar this week," Chesterfield continues.
"There is nothing like producing your own, the affinity they have with the club, the connection they have with the fan base, there is nothing better than that.
"But, ultimately, they have to be good enough. We need to provide the best quality provision we can so it gives the manager the best chance and confidence in them, knowing they are ready to take on the responsibilities of playing for Cardiff City Football Club."
The big problem facing academies, especially Category Two academies like Cardiff, in recent years has been the change brought on by Brexit. It means top teams cannot poach as many youngsters as before from clubs outside of the United Kingdom, prompting them to look inwards and nab the best talent on these shores.
Chesterfield wants to tie the best young talents down to longer contracts. Keep players, like Harris and Colwill who are representing Wales and Cardiff on the biggest stage, and futureproof the club from losing their best kids in an increasingly challenging environment for Category Two clubs.
"The market is brutal," he says. "It's a difficult market. The rules have changed in recent years and it's important you look after your best talent and invest in them.
"Clubs will want to have our players and at times you have very little option but to trade. But as a result of investing in our players, we look after our future as well.
"The market is changing, particularly now you can't sign players overseas until the age of 18 and as a result a lot of the Category 1 academies are looking at home rather than abroad. That places a greater strain on recruitment, but also retention.
"But we firmly believe in our offering and the quality of provision we provide and people want to be associated with that. It's a bright future when you look at the facility development, the staff we work with and the players we have in our system. It's a good place to be."
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Chesterfield has known first-team manager Mark Hudson and assistant Tom Ramasut for some time and plans talks with them when they are back from their World Cup break vacations.
He understands his remit is to create an environment in which players can sprout through the academy and into the Bluebirds first team, but believes setups are currently way behind in terms of getting youngsters physically ready to deal with the physicality of senior football.
"The traditional outlook in football coaching is that we look at five pillars; technical, tactical, physical, social and psychological," he says.
"All of them carry huge importance, but for us, the technical excellence, having players who can physically cope with the demands of what the first-team manager needs and having people who are resilient, strong and able to cope with the rigours of being a professional footballer is our key central focus.
"We are certainly not putting down the tactical and social side of things, we just believe that, as a result of a lot of the coaching that we do and the environment we create, they take care of themselves. But having a focus on those three (technical, physical, psychological) will be central to our development."
For now, the remit for him is to gather intelligence; listen and observe in order to better understand what is working and what needs changing to up that success rate of academy graduates.
But, in the long term, he hopes that when he does eventually depart the role, he will leave the club and its youth pathway in a far better place.
"The key thing," he says, his eyes widening, "is legacy. I've spoken about key drivers, making a difference, helping people. I want to make sure we are the best we can be for the players in our care and the parents and guardians that trust us with their children.
"Long term, the ideal vision is that we are producing players, we are a productive academy, ideally for our first team, but if not we are producing players that go on and make a living in the game and experience all the joys that football has to offer and that we are representative of our community. That's the key things for us."
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