Spotting Potential Before It Becomes Obvious

During the week, I recruit people into the automotive industry. At weekends and on evenings, you’ll often find me beside a football pitch watching young players at the start of their journey.

They’re very different environments, but the same questions keep coming up.

What makes someone stand out? How much weight should we put on what we see today? And when somebody gets a “no”, what tells us they can come back stronger?

Whether you’re looking at a senior candidate or a nine-year-old footballer, spotting talent is only part of the job. The harder bit is understanding what that talent could become in the right environment.

Give me a reason to look twice

In academy football, people often talk about one outstanding attribute. It might be pace, balance, movement, awareness, confidence in a one-versus-one or the ability to receive the ball under pressure.

At six, eight or ten, nobody should be the finished article. You’re looking for something to work with, one quality that makes you look twice and ask what it could become with good coaching and time.

Candidates need to think about the professional version of that.

Too many experienced people describe themselves as strategic, commercial, results-driven and good communicators. All positive qualities, but they don’t tell a hiring manager what makes that person different.

The difference is in the evidence. What revenue did you grow? What cost did you remove? What market did you enter? What team did you build? Which customer problem did you solve? What changed because you were there?

Your job title isn’t your outstanding attribute. Neither is the company name at the top of your CV. Your achievements and your ability to explain your part in them are what make people look twice.

Are we seeing talent, or just an early advantage?

This is where foundation-age football becomes more complicated.

Players are grouped by age, but there can be almost 12 months between the oldest and youngest child in the same age group. At seven or eight, that is a big part of a child’s life.

The selection year is usually split into four birth quartiles. Q1 contains the oldest players in that year; Q4 contains the youngest. Those born in Q1 or Q2 may have an advantage in size, speed, coordination, confidence or simply experience. That doesn’t mean there isn’t talent there. Of course there can be. But we need to be careful not to confuse being ahead today with having the highest long-term potential.

The numbers are difficult to ignore. A study involving 1,003 U9–U16 players from 23 UK professional clubs found that 45% of the academy players were Q1, while only 9.8% were Q4. The study also found Q1 players were more than four times as likely to be registered in academy programmes as Q4 players.

Relative age and physical maturation aren’t the same thing, but both can influence what adults think they are seeing. An older or earlier-developing child may be stronger and quicker right now. A younger or later-developing player may have learned to survive through awareness, timing, technique or bravery.

If we only select the player who dominates physically today, we risk leaving talent on the table.

The better conversation is: What is there to work with, and how could we improve this player over the next two to four years while they grow and develop?

That changes the decision. We stop asking whether the child is the best player on today’s pitch and start asking what their game might look like with time, coaching and the right challenges.

Development should be personal

Good companies understand this. The best staff reviews aren’t generic forms completed once a year. They are honest, individual conversations about strengths, gaps, support and what somebody needs to demonstrate to earn more responsibility or move towards promotion.

Football can learn from that.

One coach may love a young player while another doesn’t see it. A scout might value pace and directness; somebody else may focus on awareness or decision-making. Judgement will always be part of football, and it should be. But if two people see the same child completely differently, clear criteria and recorded observations can help us understand why.

Data shouldn’t pick the player. It should support the conversation.

At foundation age, that might mean tracking repeated observations around movement, scanning, decisions, technical execution, coachability and response to setbacks. It should include birth quartile and growth or maturation context, so a temporary physical advantage or disadvantage isn’t mistaken for a fixed view of potential.

Most importantly, every player should leave with a simple, individual development plan: what they do well, what they need to improve and how the adults around them are going to help. Review it regularly. Look for progress rather than perfection.

That’s how strong businesses develop people, and it’s how football can give more young players a fair chance.

What happens after “no” matters

Talent pathways are rarely smooth.

A child can enter an academy, work hard and still be released. For them and their family, it can feel enormous. But being released at eight, nine or ten is one decision, made at one moment. It isn’t a final judgement on what that child can become.

Careers have their own version of release. You reach the final interview and somebody else gets the role. You apply for an internal promotion and are overlooked. A restructure takes away a job you’ve given years to.

Rejection hurts, particularly when you’ve invested a lot in the opportunity. The important thing is what happens next.

Can you take honest feedback without letting one decision define you? Can you rebuild your confidence, work on what is in your control and put yourself forward again?

The young player who loses the ball but keeps asking for it is showing you something. So is the candidate who can talk honestly about a missed promotion, explain what they learned and show what they achieved afterwards.

Resilience isn’t pretending the disappointment didn’t matter. It’s finding a way to build yourself back to the level required.

It’s about more than producing a footballer

There are few things more rewarding than a parent or young player getting in touch to say thank you after they’ve been given an opportunity and signed by an academy. Knowing you played a small part in opening that door is a brilliant feeling.

But signing for an academy isn’t the only measure of success, and becoming a professional footballer can’t be the only purpose.

For me, it’s about helping young players become better people and preparing them for real life. Football can teach them to listen, work with others, handle disappointment, respond to feedback and keep going when progress isn’t straightforward. It can give them friendships, memories and experiences they’ll carry with them, however far they go in the game.

If a player reaches an academy and keeps progressing, that should be celebrated. If football also helps them become more confident, resilient and ready for whatever comes next, that matters just as much.