Brentford academy director Stephen Torpey has been in the role for just over five months and, after a small settling-in period adapting to life in west London, he has been hard at work implementing a strategy to provide even greater exposure for the academy. 

Brentford’s Academy expects to welcome in a new cohort of under-9s to under-16s this summer and, with that, there is a massive responsibility to not only select the right players, but also recruit the right staff to meet their needs. 

Torpey has set his agenda for the academy, with the club set to welcome new members of staff and new players over the next couple of months. 

“For me, both staff and players, it is important that we look to retain, develop and recruit people with diverse backgrounds and, so far, we already have that in the building,” he says.

“So, why would anyone want to join this club? It is simple if you ask me: we are unique in the way we do things.” 

Torpey continues: “Yes, we are a data-informed club, but we are also an expertise-led one and we have several individuals who are talented in their fields, all contributing to what will be a successful academy. We work with real detail every day and it is such an exciting place to be. 

“The building blocks are in place for a high-spec, high-performing environment, but it is also relevant for young children and that is important for us; we want to be great at what we do, but we want to consider the age groups that are in the building, making it relevant for them too.

“For me, the way we coach, teach and develop, our talent-mapping, our development plans, it all needs to be at an elite level if we are to be successful.  

“The experiences that I have gained over the years, I do not take lightly - but this is a new project, I will draw inspiration from my time working within football but I am focused on creating a strategy that is second to none.” 

Torpey is a family man and one of the main attractions for him when looking to join Brentford was that he is passionate about youth development, and he felt the club’s values aligned with his.

These same values are ones he believes are what will allow the academy to grow into what it can be: “The club, itself, has values that allow us to be what we want to be. Being progressive and showing innovation regularly is something that helps us stand out.  

“The club and the senior figures here realise that we are in the Premier League because of our performances on the pitch, amongst other things like recruitment and excellent coaching. This is a club that does things right. 

“We want to constantly evolve, we want to attract the best players, and the only way we can do that is if we continue to learn and listen to new ideas - being progressive means being different and that is very important for us as an academy.  

“We cannot do what has always and has already been done. We will try new things and we will push to be the best in being unique. 

“Any individual, both players and staff, who will be looking to join this club, must be ready that we will try new things. Not many things that have never been done before make sense at first and we want players and staff to trust that we do this because we want to be admired as the most caring and progressive academy in the world. 

“We want to implement strong processes and long-term planning but we want to deliver that in a way that is unique.” 

The academy director’s previous role before joining the Bees was the head of academy coaching for under-15 to under-21 age groups at Manchester City, and this allowed him to play a part in the development of some England internationals.  

Torpey has overseen plans that have benefitted players like Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Rico Lewis but, putting aside the resources, he highlights that one of the most important aspects of development is the investment in people. 

Torpey explains: “The number of the talented players that have progressed through at Manchester City were with the club from an early age.  

“These programmes given to the players that we see as successful now, playing in the Premier League, were delivered by highly-skilled individuals. As well as that, we had families who bought into the ethos. 

“It is about identifying, in the first instance, players with high and long-term potential, but it is the consistency of work and, whenever you are teaching young children, consistency is key.  

“The detail we will go through will be high level here at Brentford. We are interested in, of course, skilled and talented individuals, but they must be the right fit and must buy into our uniqueness as a club. 

“That will help us bring out the best in our players.”