EPL club West Brom coming to India to scout, train and develop talent

English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion will be coming to Delhi next month with their ambitious talent scouting project. This is a part of West Bromwich Albion Foundation programme in association with Youth Football International (YFI) to scout, train and develop talent across the country, said a media release today. The selection will take place on 18 January at the Ambedkar Stadium. [caption id=“attachment_1316637” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  This is a part of West Bromwich Albion Foundation programme in association with Youth Football International. AP[/caption] The selected footballers would undergo training and monitoring at the American Embassy School tiger turf during the club’s week-long visit ending 25 January. The selected children would not only be an integral part of the club’s consistent monitoring programme, but would also be entitled for benefits ranging from scholarship in the YFI-West Bromwich Albion Academy, along with other club merchandise. With an eye on now confirmed India’s participation at the 2017 U-17 World Cup as hosts and to extend their helping hand in nurturing the current breed, the club is restricting itself to talented 12-14 year-olds for their initial week-long programme in Delhi. The Birmingham-based club officials are also scheduled to visit a few schools, NGOs and slums to give these children a European experience and pick a few boys who could hold the future of the country’s football scene. The club’s visit to the country is to focus on the long-term development of Indian football and not an attempt to come up with a franchise, the release said. Their activities are non-money centric, making it accessible, dreamable and feasible even for the money-stringent talents to come up the ranks and stand out, the release added. PTI