Nike Academy

Nike Academy
Founded	2009
Dissolved	2017; 8 years ago
Ground	St George's Park; Burton upon Trent, England
Capacity	3,100
League	Friendlies
File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Home colours	File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Away colours

The Nike Football Academy was an English football academy funded and administered by Nike, Inc. The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. The academy was based at St George's Park National Football Centre.^[2] The squad was made up of players scouted worldwide and drafted to the squad through Nike Most Wanted trials. Over 50 players have gone on to play professional football over the years. The programme was led by manager Jon Goodman, with former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Matt Murray who worked as assistant manager.^[3] The programme was also known for its collaborations with world class players, including Sami Khedira, Joe Hart, Rio Ferdinand, Francesco Totti, Mario Götze and others. Players such as David Accam, Tom Rogić, Majeed Waris, Petar Golubović and Evan Dimas are graduates of the programme.^[4] The academy regularly played exhibition matches facing teams like FC Barcelona,^[5] Arsenal,^[6] Inter Milan,^[7] Manchester United and others. The academy closed at the end of the 2016–17 season.^[8]

Technical staff

Name	Role^[9]
File:Flag of Ireland.svg Jon Goodman	Head coach
File:Flag of England.svg Matt Murray	Assistant coach
File:Flag of Mexico.svg Jesús Vázquez	Featured player
File:Flag of Argentina.svg Lautaro Alegrini	Featured player
File:Flag of Scotland.svg Jacob Donnely	Jugador Destacado
File:Flag of Turkey.svg Utku Kolkoparan	Headcoach of Turkey