Ng is gone and Pickering is going, but the Crewe production line shows no signs of slowing

Crewe Alexandra have established itself as one of British football’s premium producers of young players in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Dean Ashton, Rob Jones and Danny Murphy all went on to play for England after coming through the Gresty Road academy system, and developing players for the first team has been a cornerstone of the club’s philosophy ever since.

The last 20 years have seen the likes of Nick Powell, Nicky Maynard and Ashley Westwood all feature in the Premier League after graduating into professional football at Crewe, and if you take a look at most squads across the EFL you will likely find at least one player who started their career with the Railwaymen.

It is by no means a coincidence that so many players have had successful careers on the back of coming through the Crewe system. The club has placed an emphasis on coaching and promoting it’s youth team players ahead of a concerted effort to climb the league pyramid, often choosing to re-invest money they make from selling players into their facilities rather than the first-team squad.

The crowning glory of their commitment to youth development came on the final day of the 2012/13 season when they named a first-team and bench made up entirely of academy graduates for a League One fixture against Walsall.

This process has continued apace under former player David Artell, who was appointed manager in January 2017. Artell secured promotion to League One with Crewe as a player in 2012 and he managed to repeat the trick as manager last season by utilising the massive potential of home-grown stars like Harry Pickering, Ryan Wintle and Charlie Kirk – to name but a few.

The 40-year-old deserves enormous credit for the success of those who have recently departed and the players that are continuing to perform well on a weekly basis at Gresty Road.

He has created both an attacking, front-foot playing philosophy that allows players to shine, as well as an environment in which they are encouraged to continue practising brave, possession-heavy football without the fear of losing a place in the team if mistakes are made.

Their impressive young side was always likely to attract interest from suitors above them in the pyramid.

The recent January transfer window saw the vultures circle. Captain Perry Ng left for Cardiff City, Pickering was signed by Blackburn but returned on loan and winger Kirk was linked with a move to League One rivals Charlton on deadline day although eventually remained a Crewe player.

Ng and Pickering were two of the most impressive players in the fourth tier last season and continued their great form in the first part of the current campaign. They managed 15 goal contributions between them from full-back in winning promotion from League Two, and it was no surprise that both managed to catch the eye of Championship sides in January after establishing Crewe in mid-table of the third tier.

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Whilst it would have been a tantalising prospect to see Artell’s promotion-winning side remain together for longer, moving players on is a reality of the Crewe system.

“There is a very clear business model at this football club.”

“It’s a football club, a sports club, run on sound business principles. And one of those sound business principles is producing our own players, for a whole host of reasons.”

“Whether that’s the transfer fees we get, the lower wages when the lads get into the first team, or serving the local community. There are hundreds of different reasons.” – David Artell in his introductory press conference in 2017

There is little time to dwell on those who have moved on as the next batch of Crewe youngsters are ready to take their place. Rio Adebisi and Travis Johnson could well replace Ng and Pickering in the long-term, although it would be no surprise to see Championship clubs begin eyeing them up in 18 months time if the club’s track record is anything to go by.

There is still an outside chance the Railwaymen could make the Play-Offs this season. They currently sit five points shy of sixth place Accrington, and even though they have played two more games than John Coleman’s side, the promotion race has rarely felt more open across all three EFL divisions.

This weekend, Artell’s side travel to Swindon to take on the side that beat them to the League Two title last season.

Whilst Crewe’s success was a result of their commitment to a promising group of academy players, Swindon relied on canny work in the transfer market and the brilliant management of Richie Wellens.

The Robins failed to secure the likes of Jerry Yates and Eoin Doyle on permanent deals following promotion, and Wellens left for Salford just two months into their League One campaign, going some way to explaining the disastrous season they are currently enduring.

Swindon sit 22nd in the League One table after winning just four of their last 19 league games under Wellens’ replacement, John Sheridan. Their struggles on the pitch have been compounded by an underwhelming January transfer window in which winger Diallang Jaiyesimi departed for Charlton just hours before the deadline passed.

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Despite calls from supporters for Sheridan to go – with even an online petition circling asking for him to resign – he defiantly announced there was no chance of him walking away in the build-up to Saturday’s game.

Swindon could move out of the relegation zone with a win against Artell’s bright young side, but with the quality that is being consistently churned out by the Crewe academy, there can be little doubt which side is in a healthier position in the long-term.

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