PREMIER LEAGUE

GENERAL
9. Prior to an ISO Audit being presented to the PGB, the ISO shall:
9.1. give a copy of it to the Club;
9.2. thereafter hold a meeting with Officials of the Club and representatives of the League to
discuss it; and
9.3. consider any representations made by the Club or the League about the Club’s ISO Audit and
make all appropriate amendments to the ISO Audit consequent upon those representations.
Guidance
It is expected that the Club Officials who will attend the meeting with the ISO and the League referred to in Rule 9.3
will include the Academy Manager and the Chief Executive.
10. The PGB, having given due consideration to a Club’s ISO Audit and to the advice of the League
and the ISO, shall (where appropriate) issue all licences to operate Academies and shall
determine the Category of each Academy in respect of which it grants a licence by reference
to the most recent ISO Audit of the Club. For the avoidance of doubt, a Club shall only have
the right to make representations to the PGB in connection with its application for an Academy
licence if it believes that the ISO Audit contains manifest error.
11. The PGB shall not grant a Club a licence to operate an Academy unless the Club achieves
a score on its ISO Audit of at least 35%.
Guidance
Obtaining an Academy licence and the categorisation of the Academy depends on three elements:
• compliance with the relevant minimum mandatory;
• score against the detailed best practice set out in the Audit Tool; and
• once established, the Club’s Productivity Profile.
In order to obtain an initial categorisation, an Academy will conduct a self-assessment, guided by the Premier League
Youth Development Department, pursuant to Rule 27 (and utilising the Audit Tool) in order to determine which Category it
considers the Academy falls into. This shall represent the Academy’s initial categorisation. In conducting the first ISO
Audit of an Academy, the ISO shall review the Academy’s self-assessment and determine, again utilising the Audit Tool,
whether the initial categorisation can be confirmed.
It shall be the results of the ISO Audit that the PGB will rely on to determine the Academy’s official categorisation, not the selfassessment
conducted by the Academy itself. The ISO Audit will contain the assessment of the Club’s Productivity Profile.
12. Any appeal by a Club against:
12.1. the decision of the PGB not to issue to it a licence to operate an Academy; or
12.2. the PGB’s determination of the Category of its Academy;
shall be dealt with in accordance with Rule K (Arbitration) of the Rules of the Football Association.
13. A Club may not re-apply for a licence to operate an Academy within three years of the
determination by the PGB of an application made by it unless:
13.1. its previous application was either declined by the PGB or was granted but for a lower
Category of Academy than that for which the Club now wishes to apply; and
13.2. there has been a material change in any of the circumstances recorded on its last ISO
Audit; and
13.3. the Club bears any costs of the League, ISO and PGB reasonably incurred by any of
those bodies in assessing and determining the Club’s further application.
14. Upon a Club making a further application pursuant to Rule 13, the ISO shall conduct a further
ISO Audit of the Club.
297
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT RULES