An exploration of performance nutrition service provision within academy soccer environments: implications for player development and performance

Carney, D (2025) An exploration of performance nutrition service provision within academy soccer environments: implications for player development and performance. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

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Abstract

The aim of a soccer academy is to enhance the technical, tactical, physical, and psychological skills of young players, with the primary objective being to develop players who can play for their first team squad or generate profit via a future potential sale. To cultivate more high-quality home-grown players, the English Premier League (EPL), the Football Association (FA), and representatives from the Football League developed the ‘Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) (Premier League, 2011). Within the EPPP framework, clubs are audited and categorized from one (the highest) to four, yet despite the mandate for ‘interdisciplinary specialists’ (e.g., lead sports scientist, senior academy physiotherapist, performance analysts, coaches) to obtain Category One status clubs are required to employ a nutritionist only on a part-time basis. Given the training demands the players experience as they progress through the academy pathway, the subsequent implications for energy requirements, and the impact on growth and maturation, it is imperative that clubs provide appropriate nutritional support to optimize the performance and development of their players and minimize time lost through injury. With this in mind, this thesis aimed to explore the performance nutrition service provision within and across academy soccer environments in England and explore the barriers and enablers that underpin the dietary behaviours of male youth soccer players.
Study 1 (Chapter 3) aimed to audit the current provision of performance nutrition services provided to male youth soccer players within academies of all category status’ (1-4) in English Soccer. Using a cross-sectional design, Practitioners from all 89 academies completed an online survey to audit: a) the job role and professional accreditation status of persons delivering nutrition support, b) activities that were inherent to service provision, c) topics of education delivered to players, care givers and staff, d) on-site food, fluid and supplement provision and e) the type of nutritional related data collected for objective monitoring. Findings demonstrate that more full-time accredited nutritionists (holding either graduate or practitioner status with the UK Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr) or a relevant governing body (e.g., Association for Nutrition)), were employed within Category One (14/26) versus Category Two (0/18), three (1/41) and four (0/4). Respondents from Category One clubs reported more hours of monthly service delivery (62 ± 57 h) than Category Two (12 ± 9 h), three (14 ± 26 h) and four (12 ± 14 h), inclusive of one-to-one player support and stakeholder education programmes. A greater prevalence of on-site food, fluid and supplement provision on training and match days was reported in Category One clubs. Across all categories, players from the professional development phase received more frequent support than players from the youth development phase. Data suggests distinct differences in the extent of service provision provided between categories, as a result of the reduced presence of accredited nutritionists in categories two-four in comparison to Category One clubs. Given the presence of only 15 full-time academy nutritionists across the 89 academies, data demonstrate that performance nutrition appears an under-resourced component of academy sport science and medicine programmes in England, despite being an integral component of player development.
Having established the current landscape of performance nutrition service provision in Study 1 (Chapter 3), Study 2 (Chapter 4) aimed to explore stakeholder perspectives on the role of nutrition in influencing academy soccer player performance (in both training and matches) and development (e.g., growth and maturation, bone health, injury prevention). Qualitative semi-structured interviews (28 ± 13 mins in length) were conducted with 31 participants from an English Category One academy, including players (Youth Development Phase, YDP: n = 6; Professional Development Phase, PDP: n = 4), parents/guardians (n = 10), coaches (n = 3), sport scientists (n = 3), physiotherapists (n = 3), and catering (n = 2). Via reflexive thematic analysis, data demonstrated an apparent lack of understanding and awareness on the role of nutrition in influencing player development, especially in relation to growth, maturation and reducing injury risk. Players frequently highlighted the influence of their parents on their dietary behaviours, whilst parents also called for education to better support their sons. Notably, all stakeholders perceived that the daily schedule of an academy soccer player presents as “too busy to eat”, especially in relation to before school, and before and after training. The results demonstrate the necessity for the co-creation of stakeholder specific nutrition education programmes as an initial step towards positively impacting the nutrition culture associated with the academy soccer environment.
Given the varying levels of reported nutrition support across academies (Study 1, Chapter 3), the reduced service provision for the YDP (Study 1, Chapter 3), and the lack of understanding, influence of stakeholders and the scheduling demands of academy soccer players highlighted in Study 2 (Chapter 4), Study 3 (Chapter 5) aimed to establish dietary practices, and understand the enablers and barriers of positive dietary behaviours in male youth soccer players. In a cross-sectional design, fourteen (n = 14) male youth soccer players from the U13 and U14 age-groups of a Category 1 English soccer academy were assessed for energy intake (remote food photography method) over a 3-day in-season period and the factors underpinning their dietary behaviours were explored (structured interviews). Data demonstrate a mean energy intake on training days of 2458 kcal and 2168 kcal on the rest day. In using the COM-B model to analyse the dietary behaviours of the players, it is apparent that the most common influences on behaviour were physical opportunity (i.e., time and food availability/options) and automatic motivation (i.e., wants and desires). In contrast, players rarely make informed choices or take in to consideration their fuelling or recovery demands (psychological capability), for example. Additionally, the context (i.e., meal-time, location, who they are with) has a significant impact on the barriers and enablers to dietary behaviours. For example, physical opportunity (food availability/options and time) was predominantly perceived to be a barrier at breakfast (home & school) and lunch (school) yet transpired as an enabler at the pre and post-training provision (training ground). The context of the meal should therefore be considered when practitioners are providing nutritional support to academy soccer players.
This thesis provides the first report to explore performance nutrition service provision across academies in England, stakeholder perspectives on the impact of nutrition in this population and the enablers and barriers to the positive dietary behaviours of academy soccer players. This thesis demonstrates the requirement for:
1. Academies to employ accredited nutritionists to deliver support to key stakeholders in male youth soccer academies; increased nutritional support to players aged between 11-16 in the YDP
2. The development of stakeholder specific education programmes to positively influence the understanding of how nutrition can impact the performance and development of male youth soccer players.
3. Future research to consider the integration and consideration of models of behaviour change when attempting to understand behaviour and develop interventions to positively influence the dietary behaviours of male youth soccer players.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	nutrition; soccer; academy; football; youth
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Date of acceptance:	22 April 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	24 June 2025
Date Deposited:	24 Jun 2025 09:16
Last Modified:	24 Jun 2025 09:16
DOI or ID number:	10.24377/LJMU.t.00026304
Supervisors:	Murphy, R, Morton, J and Close, G
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26304

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