Crewe Alexandra FC will downgrade their academy from Category 2 to Category 3 from the start of the 2026/27 season, as part of a strategic restructure.

The club say the move will improve sustainability, increase coaching contact time and refocus efforts on producing first-team players, amid rising costs and challenges linked to the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).

Chairman, Charles Grant, said: "We have continually appraised our academy model to ensure it is best suited to the aim of providing an elite pathway to professional football.

"Over time, increasing resource demands and a declining proportion of grant funding, together with an ever-problematic Under-21s games programme, have made running a Category 2 academy both challenging and questionable.

Chairman of Crewe Alexandra FC, Charles Grant (Photo: Crewe Alex).

"After careful consideration, we believe our Club and players will be better served by transitioning to a Category 3 operation from the start of 2026/27.

"For players in the younger age groups, there will be no change. They will continue to receive first-class coaching, care and opportunities.

"For our scholars and young professionals, the change will enable us to increase coach-to-player contact time, improve the quality of sessions and waste less time travelling to and playing unproductive U21 fixtures.

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"The transition also helps improve our financial stability and resilience, and most importantly, it will free us of several constraints and pressures and enable us to focus even more keenly on developing our own youngsters to play for our first team.

"That is in our DNA and will remain a cornerstone of Crewe Alexandra."

All parents, guardians, players and staff associated with Crewe Alex will be able to discuss these changes in more detail with senior officials. Supporters will also be "kept informed."

READ MORE: 125-home 'Foxglove Place' development launched in Crewe.

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