Football: The coast road to the Premiership

THERE was precious little consolation for the hardy souls who braved a miserable afternoon at the Priesthill playing fields in Surrey last week. Flurries of rain swept across the grounds and spectators, mostly dutiful parents or inquisitive club scouts, bent their heads against the squalls. On the three pitches, at three different age levels, the boys of Middlesex played the boys from Surrey, rich pickings for the London clubs in search of future assets.

Martin Hinshelwood, director of youth at Brighton, does not normally venture this far north, but he has good connections in south London and a good eye for discarded gems. Besides, what else would he be doing? Tackling the mound of paperwork lying in his in-tray. The thought was enough to send him scurrying out into the rain. "I just love football," he said. "My father played, my brothers played, my sons play." And he used to play, for Crystal Palace, until a knee injury ended his career at the age of 24. "If I was 16 again and I knew that I would have to pack in eight years later, I would do the same again because this isn't a job, it's something I love. I've been sacked three times and the first thing you do is send off 70 letters trying to get back in the game again."

Just a glimpse of character, of something different, would justify the journey from the south coast. Often, there's nothing; today, his attention is drawn to a little left-winger, so slight he seems sure to be blown into the next county any minute. The lad works the touchline, fetching and carrying, a touch here, a shimmy there. No coincidence that the scouting brigade have swapped to his side. But you never know. Hinshelwood glances at his programme. Sometimes, if the manager of the side is in the pay of another club, he'll give you the wrong name. The kid is taken off, but Hinshelwood has seen enough. Anyone who can warm the heart on such an afternoon is worth the price of a phone call.

"He's probably already signed up," he said. "In which case, fair enough, but you still let him know you're interested just in case it doesn't work out. That sort of kid makes it worthwhile. He was bright and lively and he wanted to play, didn't he?" Can he play? Does he want to play? The two articles of faith in Hinshelwood's book. And no gloves, hats or earrings.

Stuck near the bottom of the Third Division, their home ground a county away, a centre of excellence at Brighton seems like an oxymoron. But the graduation of 17-year-old Gareth Barry to Aston Villa's first team has highlighted the excellence and made the phone ring. Barry spent five years at Brighton before Villa moved in to whisk him and Michael Standing, another exceptional recruit, off to the Premiership. Last week, in a landmark decision, Villa were ordered to pay Brighton up to pounds 1m (depending on his progress) as compensation for Barry's apprenticeship.

The following morning, every youth coach at a smaller club had an extra spring in their step. Their work, for so long undervalued, had been enshrined in numbers on a bank account. Though, under the new FA Charter for Quality, 16-year-olds are allowed a month-long "window of opportunity" to look around before they sign for a centre of excellence, the big boys will now have to pay for their plum-picking.

Brighton's two centres, at Worthing and Seaford, have already proved to be a fertile orchard. Boys come at eight or nine and if they survive the Darwinian process of natural selection, at 16, can truly start the precarious journey to professionalism on one of 18 scholarships. The new FA charter, designed to lessen the drop-out rate, has overturned much of the old feudalism. No cleaning boots or sweeping dressing-rooms now and if little Johnny wants to become a plumber, the club has to find him an apprenticeship. In Hinshelwood's day, the best young players did the weekly milk round: Mondays Tottenham, Tuesdays Arsenal, Thursdays Fulham.

"At Brighton, all we can promise is that the boys will enjoy their football. In terms of coaching, we don't do anything different from Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea or anyone else. They'll learn and improve and have a smile on their face along the way. The good ones, like Gareth, will make it anyway." And they can live at home. The sales pitch emphasises community and individuality. But the development of a new ground is critical to the appeal. The novelty of conducting signing-on ceremonies at Ardingly public school, of arriving back at 1am from a home game at Gillingham could start to wear off soon.

Hinshelwood's ambition is to upgrade his centre of excellence to an academy. And stopping his kids from wearing West Ham or Arsenal shirts at training. After all Brighton has suffered, it really is a matter of taking one step at a time.