Head of academy football administration, Luke Joyce, has described the last few months as a ‘whirlwind’ following the planning and execution of three different trips across three continents.
Joyce, who manages the administration and operations throughout the club’s academy, began his off-season in Mumbai, where an under-19s squad competed in and won the Premier League’s Next Generation Cup on Indian soil. He then headed stateside to North Carolina as Wolves played in the first ever $1m 7v7 TST tournament, before ending the summer by visiting three countries in seven days as the under-16s, 18s and 21s all spent time in Bratislava on a pre-season training camp.
Joyce has provided an insight into the logistics behind pulling together such challenging tours, offering a behind the scenes view on his role and the thinking behind the operations of each one.
On the TST tournament
“I was in the initial stages of the meetings with Russell (Jones) and I thought it was a wonderful concept. This new format of the game, a small-sided 7v7 that the Americans had introduced.
“It sounded really exciting and when they sold it to us there were a lot of big Premier League names mentioned at the time.
“I was on board from the very beginning and when we started the conversation, the idea was that we were going to take an academy team.
“We were going to look at our under-21s and under-18s to see about pulling together a team. However, the dates of the tournament didn’t really fall in line with our academy sides – it would’ve been when they were having their break.
“Myself and Laura (Nicholls) sat down with Russell and thought the best idea for pulling together a team at TST would be to have a combined legends team using some of the players from the academy that might be getting released, while also using the Golden Chance initiative as well which we tapped into last year in the United States.
“In the end we built a team that was a select squad made up of legends, Golden Chance and academy products. It was a really interesting period and the tournament itself, which took place in North Carolina, was very exciting to be a part of. I have no doubt that it will go on to bigger and better things next year and beyond.”
On the Mumbai trip
“The Mumbai trip came about in around March/April time and it was a Premier League tournament. They’re looking to embed themselves over in India and they wanted to promote the Premier League over there.
“I went over in April on a recce with the Premier League team and we had to pull that together really quickly. We had to pull together a squad, based on the fact it was the end of the season, and get approval from the powers that be that we could do it.
“The first-team were still in the league at that point so we needed to make sure we had enough support from the younger age groups if we needed to pull players through.
“What an incredible place India was. We got to go to Dharavi which I think is the biggest slum in the world. It was very eye opening for not only the players, but the staff as well – it put everything into perspective.
“We got to play against Indian opposition, English opposition in Everton and then the final was played against Stellenbosch from South Africa.
“The final went to penalties and there’s no better feeling than a squad winning an international tournament on penalties. It was a fantastic way to round off the season.”
On logistics and moving pieces
“The hardest part for me is always trying to get the squad. What’s the squad going to be and who are the staff going to be?
“A week is a very long time in football and a lot can change – circumstances around the first-team, academy teams, injuries, visas.
“There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of management that goes into it. The Premier League were very supportive and put most of the logistics together for the India trip.
“When you’re out there, the schedules change and you want to adapt. We were fortunate enough to go to an IPL game so we went to see Mumbai Indians which was an unbelievable experience.
“It was a very eye opening experience just to see India and a lot of the players haven’t witnessed that type of environment before. Also, for them to play in that type of environment where the humidity is high and they’re travelling to games in a different standard of coach than they’re used to.
“It definitely grounds everyone when you go to a country like India and you participate in a tournament like that.”
On finding a location for the academy pre-season
“Bratislava was no mean feat. We had three countries in seven days. We flew into Vienna, spent time in Austria, based ourselves in Bratislava and played fixtures in Hungary.
“It was a great experience for the players and staff to do as much as they did in the space of a week.
“The conversations around pre-season started earlier in the season and the key remit I had from the academy managers was that we wanted to try and get all three age groups in one location.
“If we wanted to move players between squads, we could. We could also go into the season by laying out the club values, objectives for the season and streamline the approach so that every squad is working towards the same thing essentially.
“Trying to find somewhere in Europe that can house such a big group – we’re talking between staff and players very close to 100 – was difficult.
“You’ve not just got to find accommodation that’s big enough, you’ve got to find a facility that’s close enough to be able to house everyone at the same time.
“The facility in Bratislava is called X-Bionic Sphere and I’d come across it some years ago. It had everything on site and everything you needed - swimming pool, two training pitches, a match pitch, an unbelievable gym over the space of four floors, an indoor cinema, a bowling alley.
“You have to think that the players are sometimes only training for two hours a day and you’ve got a lot of spare time to fill. That’s always the challenge – keeping young boys and teenagers engaged. The worst thing you can do on these trips is let them get bored.
“We got a glowing recommendation from England under-19s who had played and trained there last summer.
“We worked with a company called GB Sports and they were fantastic. Credit goes to the tour company in having patience with us in terms of adding people on at the last minute.”
On the unsung heroes
“I’ve got to make a special mention to the kit men. Steve Hooper and Ivan Cash set off on the Sunday, knowing that we were arriving on the Wednesday, to travel out to Bratislava from England.
“They travelled through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and then finally landed in Bratislava on the Tuesday in a van that wasn’t air conditioned.
“The guys had a really tough slog in that van. We were constantly checking in on each other just to make sure they were getting through Europe ok.
“The whole van was loaded with pretty much everything you can think of, in addition to kit as well. Even just packing the van takes about a week – it was certainly stressful for them both, so credit to them. It’s a big job.”
On international travel throughout the academy
“We’re very lucky and get a lot of invites to tournaments. We’ve got such a good relationship with the Premier League.
“Last year was the first year we delved back into proper travel after Covid. We were fortunate enough to take our under-14s out to Dubai, the Premier League invited the under-21s to the MLS Next Pro in Salt Lake City and the Premier League were really happy with how we conducted ourselves.
“That’s sort of how the India opportunity presented itself with the Premier League. Fortunately, they like to work with us on international tournament so hopefully the invites keep on coming.
“I’m a big advocate for players going out on these trips. I think they learn so much – not only in football terms but also just from a cultural and educational perspective.
“Those two months were a whirlwind. For me, it was three continents in two months and I wasn’t very popular at home at that point, but what an unbelievable experience for everyone involved.”
