Brentford, Southern Soccer Academy form partnership

SSA is among the largest clubs in Georgia. It has produced several players who are or were part of Atlanta United’s academy, including George Bello, who was sold by Atlanta United to a club in Germany in Jan. 2022. SSA has grown from 1,000 players in 2012 to more than 12,000 this season throughout Georgia and two cities in North Carolina. Fourteen teams play out of the Austell location. Davey said SSA, with backing from Intrepid Sports Group, have ambitions to add more clubs throughout the country. It also has plans to build a several-thousand seat stadium on its site in Austell and to start USL Championship (men’s) and USL W (women’s) teams.

Brentford, though based in West London, has a very American, work-your-way-to-the-top story. It was founded in 1889. The Bees earned promotion to the Premier League from the Championship for the 2021-22 season. Under manager Thomas Frank, the club has finished 16th or higher in first three seasons in England’s top division. It is 11th this season.

“We’re not the biggest club, but one thing we do have is a big heart that cares about people, and I think that is definitely one of our benefits,” said Brentford ambassador Marcus Gayle, who made 186 appearances for the club.

Brentford’s rise from playing in League One (third division) in 2013-14 to arguably the most competitive league in the world is a testament to recruiting based upon efficient use of data and smart coaching, club CEO John Varney told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2023 when the club was in the city to face Brighton & Hove Albion at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a preseason friendly.

One of the things that Brentford has excelled at this season is scoring on set pieces. Its six goals scored during the ongoing season are third-most in the EPL. The staffs of the clubs have visited each other and shared ideas. Davey said he can already see a change in various Swarm teams efficiency in taking and defending set pieces.

Another idea picked up from Brentford is the creation of individual improvement plans for certain players in the higher levels within SSA. The plans are crafted from data collected on those players. SSA has plans to create more of the plans for more players as they develop efficiencies with the practice.

“We share curriculum, we’re sharing game models, we’re collaborating with their first team, so everything that we do is sort of mirrored to what they do, but maybe filtered down for out levels,” Davey said.

The Swarm will take 21 staff members to London to share ideas with Brentford’s staff. There is also scheduled to be tryouts for male and female players in England who may be looking to come to play in college or as a pro in America.

The real hope, though, is for American players to find their way to play for the Bees. Gayle described the U.S. as a potential World Cup-winner because of the massive talent pool if it can pull together. Perhaps some of the players in that talent pool will go through Brentford.

“I think there’s always a great chance of that happening,” Gayle said. “There’s a great pool of players to pick out from the SSA. It should be every kid’s dream is to become a pro and push themselves as hard as they can. At the same time, if that dream doesn’t really materialize at the top level, the life skills that they’re going to learn upon that journey is going to hold them in good stead for the rest of their lives.”