An academy retained list is the summer announcement showing which scholars a club will offer professional terms, extend for a third year, or release outright. Clubs publish it alongside the senior retained list, once contract decisions across the whole squad are finalised.
What is an academy retained list?
Every summer, English clubs confirm which contracted players they are keeping and which are leaving. Premier League clubs publish their retained and released lists each June (premierleague.com). The EFL runs the same process for its clubs, publishing a combined retain list each June (efl.com).
Scholars sit inside this process. A player on a scholarship agreement whose deal ends on 30 June appears on the list under one of four outcomes.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Retained | Player keeps existing terms for another season. |
| Extended | Scholar’s deal is extended into a third year. |
| Offer | Club offers the scholar a first professional contract. |
| Released | Player leaves the club when the contract expires. |
“Extended” and “Offer” are labels specific to scholars; senior players are simply retained or released. See the glossary for how clubs use each term on their published lists.
How does a scholarship agreement work?
A club can offer a Scholarship Agreement at the earliest on or after 1 July between a player’s Under-13 and Under-14 year, and at the latest by 31 December of their Under-16 year (premierleague.com). In practice, most players sign at 16, entering a two-year scholarship running to 18.
The Premier League is responsible for the formal education of every apprentice aged 16 to 19 who signs a full-time Scholarship Agreement at a club. Training hours, school or college work, and first-team access all depend on the club’s academy category under the Elite Player Performance Plan (premierleague.com), which grades academies from Category 1 to Category 4.
When can a player sign a first professional contract?
A club can offer a scholar a professional contract from their Under-16 year, but the player cannot actually sign it until they turn 17. Once signed, any contract for a player under 18 is capped at three years, including option periods — a rule the FA and EFL both apply (thefa.com).
Parents or guardians must countersign the contract, and the club has to show the player is no longer in full-time education. This is why an “Offer” on the retained list rarely turns into a signed deal before a scholar’s second year — clubs wait for the 17th birthday, even when the decision to offer was made earlier. Some of the league’s youngest squads carry several players who signed their first pro deal within weeks of turning 17.
What happens on release day?
Scholarship and professional contracts both run to 30 June. If a club has not offered new terms by the time the retained list is published, the player leaves on a free transfer once the contract expires. For a scholar, that means no professional deal and no extended scholarship — the academy relationship ends there.
Released players, scholars and senior professionals alike, then look for a new club. Many end up in the same market covered on our free agents list, competing for trials with clubs across the pyramid.
What does “released with an offer” mean for compensation?
Under Premier League and EFL rules, a club signing a player under 24 who was out of contract at their previous club must pay that former club training compensation. This only applies if the original club followed a strict process: offering the player a new contract in writing, sent by recorded delivery, and notifying both the league secretary and the player’s new club that compensation is due (thefa.com).
Miss any of those steps and no compensation is owed, whatever the retained list said. If the two clubs cannot agree a fee, the case goes to a Compensation Fee Tribunal made up of a representative from the FA Council acting as independent chair, a representative from the relevant league’s board, and a PFA representative. Each club pays a non-returnable £300 administration fee to bring a dispute.
This is why the “Offer” and “released with an offer” distinction matters beyond the player’s own future — it decides whether a selling club gets paid when a released teenager signs elsewhere before turning 24.
What support exists for players who are released?
The PFA runs pre-season training camps for out-of-contract members, giving released scholars and senior players a residential base with daily training, fitness work and wellbeing support while they look for a new club (thepfa.com). The union also offers counselling and has expanded its aftercare work to help former scholars move into other careers when a return to full-time football does not happen.
What does release at 18 actually mean?
Release at 18 ends the scholarship, not necessarily the player’s career. Most released scholars go through exit trials — showcase sessions where EFL, National League and non-league clubs watch groups of released players train and play over a few days. Some sign part-time or non-contract terms straight away; others need a full pre-season, including a PFA camp, before a club commits.
Dropping down divisions is the norm, not the exception. A Category 1 academy scholar released at 18 is far more likely to restart at League Two or National League level than to walk into another Premier League academy. Clubs across every tier run their own scouting networks for exactly this pool of players — check individual club pages for how each academy structures its scholar intake and release pattern.
The retained list is a snapshot of one summer’s decisions. For most scholars who don’t get an “Offer,” it marks the start of a longer search for a first professional deal, not the end of one.