Things are done differently at FC Nordsjaelland. a modest Danish club based in the small
town of Farum. The club’s ethos is one of integration, development and sustainability,
and they are perhaps one of the leading examples
of building a team the right way.
FC Nordsjaelland made a strong start to the Danish Superliga this season,level on points
with the far more illustrious Brondby IF after 10 games. And though the team has since dropped
back into mid-table after 15, they have managed all of this while fielding a team with an
average age of just 21.
The aim, eventually, is to boast a starting XI made up entirely of academy produced players,
half of whom will be from Africa. This unique strategy has been in place since 2016, when
Tom Vernon, the founder of Ghana-based academy Right to Dream, took over at FC Nordsjaelland.
He quickly implemented his vision, bringing in the most talented players from Ghana and
offering them an ideal environment to develop, to learn and to play at a professional level.
So far, it has been unquestionably successful. FC Nordsjaelland operate within their means,
building their team around youth. They are proof that it is not always necessary to spend
lavishly in order to achieve.
In the 2017/18 season, FCN finished third in the Superliga, qualifying for the Europa
League. Vernon’s impact was immediate, and supporters
quickly bought into his philosophy. But his intention is not simply to progress
at FCN. Vernon’s focus is on growing Right to Dream and finding more prospects in Africa
who might otherwise not make it into the professional game. And he is conscious of
doing good away from the pitch, too.
“Every kid that is in the Right to Dream academy in Ghana and every kid at the FCN
academy in Denmark is working on a give-back project appropriate to their age,” Vernon
said in a 2017 interview with Sky Sports. “There are a multitude of projects going
on. One player even rebuilt the mosque in his hometown.
“We have got 14-year-olds in the Danish academy, for example, who have been going
to the same bus stop for the past few years and seen
the same homeless guy sat there. They decided to do something about that and invest
in getting him back on his feet.”
FCN continue to thrive thanks to their partnership with Right to Dream. Several Ghanaians -
amongst them the likes of Abdul Mumin, Clinton Antwi, Mohammed Kudus and star striker
Godsway Donyoh - are regulars in the first team.
And the development of these young players is in large part down to the work of the club’s
head of academy, Jan Laursen, who has revolutionised the way youth teams are coached.
Financially, they rely upon funds generated by the sale of players produced by their academy,
but there are hopes to find other sources of income.
“We should have a business model that works outside the football transfer market,” CEO
Søren Kristensen told the Sustainability Report earlier this year. “And the only
way to achieve that is to build commercial value
around the values that we have. There has to be a
value in doing what we’re doing, and showing it; because we are something unique,
something different. That is the commercial territory that we have to explore – and
I believe itis something that is speaking to a lot of companies.”
FCN have, since 2016, been visited by a number of Premier League and Bundesliga clubs,
all keen to learn from their unorthodox methods. They are innovating, going against the trends
of the modern game, and providing hope for youngsters thousands of miles away.
FC Nordsjaelland may not be winning trophies or making millions from lucrative sponsorship
deals.. But in the long term, their work alongside Right to Dream could prove more rewarding
and more important than any success on the pitch.