The Nike Football Academy was an English football academy funded and administered by Nike, Inc. The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. The academy was based at St George's Park National Football Centre. The squad was made up of players scouted worldwide and drafted to the squad through Nike Most Wanted trials. Over 50 players have gone on to play professional football over the years. The programme was led by Manager Jon Goodman, with former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Matt Murray who worked as Assistant Manager.
The programme was also known for its collaborations with top class professional players, including Sami Khedira, Joe Hart, Rio Ferdinand, Francesco Totti, Mario Gotze and others. Players such as David Accam, Tom Rogic, Majeed Waris, Petar Golubovic and Kevin Salazar are graduates of the programme.
The academy regularly played exhibition matches facing teams like FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Manchester United and others.
The academy closed at the end of the 2016–17 season.
Technical staff
Notable participants
Dejan Pandurevic
Tom Rogic
Dario Van den Buijs
Alvin Fortes
Josip Juranović
Conor Branson
Sean Clare
David Goldsmith
Jorge Grant
Billy Ions
Alex Parsons
Jordan Rose
Bilal Sayoud
Ryan Sellers
Jordan Tillson
Alex Whittle
Youssef Ezzejjari
Fabian Senninger
David Accam
Abdul Majeed Waris
Dimitris Komnos
Siriki Dembélé
Evan Dimas
Muhammad Rafli
Shazuan Ashraf Mathews
Saifeddine Alami
Ismail H'Maidat
Ignacio Varona
Brahim Sabaouni
Alexis André Jr. Anfernee Dijksteel Delvin Pinheiro Frederico Lars Herlofsen Myer Bevan Kayro Flores Heatley Fernando Canales José Guidino Matty Cash Maksim Boychuk Artemi Ukomsky Petar Golubović Cameron Edwards Reyaad Pieterse Moon Seon-min Pontus Almqvist Apirat Heemkhao Napapon Sripratheep Gonzalo Balbi
References
Football academies in England
Nike, Inc. 2009 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 2009