What are the Premier League rules for academy players?

Max Dowman and JJ Gabriel are two of England's highest-rated teenage footballers

Premier League teenagers Max Dowman and JJ Gabriel have both made the headlines in recent days - for very different reasons.

Arsenal winger Dowman, 16, starred in their EFL Cup third-round win over Ipswich Town on Tuesday by scoring twice in a 4-2 win at Portman Road.

Dowman became the second-youngest player in Premier League history and the youngest player in Champions League history last season.

Meanwhile, highly rated Manchester United striker Gabriel, 15, has handed in a formal request to leave the club.

That is despite playing for the first-team during pre-season and being in line to make his official senior debut for Michael Carrick's side.

So what's it like for such young players balancing life, education and football?

Here is a look at the rules that they and their clubs must adhere to.

The minimum age for a senior appearance in the Premier League is the season or school year in which that player will turn 16.

In England and Wales school terms, it means that the player in question must be in year 11 before they can make a senior appearance.

For example, Arsenal winger Dowman made his first Premier League appearance at the start of last season as a 15-year-old as he was turning 16 later in the campaign.

Alongside Dowman, fellow wingers Ethan Nwaneri and Jeremy Monga also made their league debuts at the age of 15. Both were turning 16 later in that school year.

However, United forward Gabriel was not only allowed to make his senior debut last season. He could only do so this season, as he turns 16 next month.

JJ Gabriel has trained with Manchester United's first-team regularly this season

In England, the academy system sees all participating clubs graded from Category 1 to Category 4.

Clubs in a higher category have the right to sign any player from a lower category for a structured compensation fee.

So Category 1, as the top category, can sign any player from a club in Category 2 to 4.

Youth players officially become contracted to a club when first signing a scholarship.

Prior to that, there are fewer rules binding them to a specific club - although a team will hold the player's registration rights if they have been registered for that particular season.

In order to play first-team football in the Premier League, that player must have a scholarship agreement with the club.

Players cannot be offered their first professional contracts until the season that they will turn 16. They cannot sign a professional contract until the day of their 17th birthday.

Upon signing a scholarship contract, youth players are paid a wage that is structured around an apprenticeship model.

Some youth footballers, that play for a club that is in a different country or part of the country than where their family is from, will be placed into accommodation with local families that work with that club to look after young footballers. They are often known as 'digs'.

For players not in digs and living at home with their own families, some clubs will give teenage players money to cover expenses such as accommodation and food.

Arsenal winger Max Dowman (right) has made 14 first-team appearances, playing in the Premier League, Champions League, EFL Cup and FA Cup

It is common for many club academies to offer educational programmes for their academy players, in order to ensure that they are balancing football with academic studies and gaining valuable qualifications.

This is done in a number of ways. Some clubs put their own schools inside their club's academy training facilities, while others partner with local schools or have agreements with that player's existing school to balance educational work with football development.

A 2024 study from the University of Essex shows that just 4% of teenagers in professional academies go on to play top-flight football.

Because of that, clubs across the country ensure their players have more options with their career, should their hopes of making it as a professional footballer do not go to plan.

As well as studying core subjects such as English, maths and science, clubs have recently added further studies for their academy footballers that include life skills, media, financial education and driving lessons to set them up for whatever comes after their life as an academy player.

"We as clubs - with education, welfare - have got to make sure that those lads' academic potential is not hampered," Simon Ord, the former head of education at Derby County, told BBC Sport.

"It would be it ethically immoral if we just said 'okay you know you stay with us for four, five, six years. You can do as little as you want education wise', then we can't guarantee a professional contract, and then where's the kid?"

Some academy players are able to excel in both their education and on the pitch.

Ord, who has also worked in a similar capacity with England's youth sides, says that he personally limited how much schoolwork players missed out on during the year they took their GCSEs but said that it is possible to excel in both factors.

"To keep them coming out of school at 16, during that really, really important year, it's wrong," he says.

"Now there will be odd times, like the Max Dowmans and J.J. Gabriels of this world who are outliers, because they are top of the tree.

"But with Max Dowman, for instance. Max Dowman did his GCSEs and Arsenal have been absolutely brilliant amongst that, and he's come out with great grades. So you can do it."

For safeguarding purposes, players under the age of 18 are not allowed to get changed in the same dressing room as senior players, and therefore do so in an alternative changing area.

As part of that, clubs must ensure that youth players have a designated shower room that is monitored by an official chaperone such as a player liaison officer or a member of the club's safeguarding team.

For clubs with fewer members of staff in lower divisions, this can be other nominated staff members, providing they are DBS-registered.

Players younger than 18 years old are also not permitted to wear shirts that have gambling sponsors on them. This has recently become an easier issue for Premier League clubs to deal with, now that gambling sponsors are prohibited from being the front-of shirt-sponsor.

Other provisions, such as ensuring player safety in team transport and making sure they are not near alcohol when senior players are consuming it, are also considered.

Players under 18 are also exempt from the new 10 second sub rule, which requires players to leave the field at the nearest point. For safeguarding reasons, they should always leave at the half-way line by the dugouts.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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