Good. They should get used to long trips. But we're really on a par with Barnet now??

Not on par with Barnet , if you look close QPR are also in our category so are we on par with them to???

How come Crystal Palace, Watford and Middlesbrough can afford category 1 status? They usually have less to spend than us.

That will mean big hotel bills for the U18 ?

@Jimmys_law

Because they have elcted to prioritise their academy....shame we aren't the same

Really feels like we've voluntarily left our seat at the top table

Division 1 South
Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Norwich, Reading, Southampton, Spurs, Watford, West Ham

Divison 2 South
Barnet, Brentford, Brighton, Bristol City, Cardiff, Colchester, Ipswich, Millwall, QPR, Swansea.

I think it's really frustrating when given lines about nmot being able to afford it when there are 2 clubs with a very similar, no doubt smaller, turnover than us who have afforded it and some clubs in our league who will have a tiny budget compared to us and get, in some cases significantly, less than 10,000 fans for all home games (Barnet, Brentford, Millwall).

The Ipswich I grew up supporting, always strived to be bigger than the sum of our parts and something a bit different, we have a huge catchment area geographically and should be looking to represent that - it's a real shame that we now lack the ambition to improve ourselves.

There are 23 clubs in Category 1, and if ME has the long term ambition to see us in the Premier League surely it makes sense to aspire to be in the top 23 academies in the country.

On a further note, I know some people will come back on this saying FFP bla bla bla, but if you actually look into the detail of the Financial Fair Play regulations (and at the moment I only have for the UEFA not Footy League version - but would be amazed if there are huge differences), certain things DO NOT effect your turnover for the FFP calculations - these include community activities and youth development.

So if the FFP of Footy league follows that of UEFA, ME could put his hand in his pocket and totally fund a Cat 1 academy without it effecting our FFP status - so i really feel Clegg is pulling the wool over some peoples eyes by talking about FFP in every context and not realising there are some fans out there who actually have looked into this more thoroughly and know that it is just bluster.

I really hope the Cat 2 academy works out for us and think that it may, but I am really disappointed in the direction the club is going with regards to it's history in youth development and the good name we have from the days of Milburnm through Robson to Burley and Royle for bringing through youngsters

All done to help premier league poach best young players

Do you have the fixture list yet for u18's and u21's