Early progress

Chairman Sam Hammam announced plans for the club to be granted academy status within two years in 2003. This coincided with the youth team using the improved training facilities at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel and the announcement of a new sponsorship deal for the academy with Brace's Bakery.^[8] The club's youth system, ranging from 7- to 18-year-olds,^[6] was granted academy status in 2004, with the first match under the new designation being an under-18s fixture against Everton in August of that year. Hammam projected an annual cost of £1 million to run the academy.^[9] Hammam invested in the academy as part of his business plan to improve the long-term development of the club's infrastructure, hoping to produce Welsh players for the club's first team.^[5] The academy was initially managed by Matthew Crocker before he left the role and was replaced by coach and former professional John Kerr. He remained in the role before his death in 2006 while on holiday in France.^[10]

In its formative years under Kerr, the academy enjoyed some success with five players making their professional debuts for the first team within the first two years. Although four, Joe Ledley, Darcy Blake, Curtis McDonald and Joe Jacobson, had all been with the club prior to the academy's founding and one, Cameron Jerome, had been released by another team before signing for Cardiff.^[6] Lee Robinson was appointed as Kerr's replacement in June 2006.^[11] During the 2006–07 season, two further graduates of the academy, Chris Gunter and Aaron Ramsey, both made their professional debuts.^[12][13] In making his debut, Ramsey became the youngest player in the club's history to feature for the senior side at 16 years and 124 days.^[13] Robinson was credited as being a key figure in Ramsey's decision to reject interest from other clubs by local media, but left Cardiff suddenly in 2007 with the club refusing to elaborate on the decision.^[14]

Former Cardiff player Neal Ardley was appointed as academy manager in September 2007 shortly after his retirement from playing. One of Ardley's early initiatives was the scouting of local parks teams, with a side being organised to take on Cardiff's academy players. The match resulted in several local players being signed to the academy, including Ibrahim Farah.^[15] By this time, Cardiff's academy was also operating five development centres around South Wales, including Brecon, Newport, Neath and the South Wales valleys.^[7]

In 2010, the Academy moved into the newly built Cardiff City House of Sport (HOS), an indoor football centre and multi-sport venue. The sports facilities are also used by the wider local community in Cardiff.^[16] The first phase of the building was opened in November 2010 and it was expended in the second phase (House of Sport 2) in April 2013.^[17] The third phase of the building (House of Sport 3) was opened on 18 January 2016.^[18]

Further development

In 2011, a new age group team was launched as the Cardiff City under-21 side to compete in a newly formed development league following a restructure of reserve and youth team football in the English football league system. Former Cardiff player Kevin Cooper was appointed as the team's manager. Malky Mackay was appointed as manager of Cardiff's first team in 2011 and stated his hope of the club's youth system providing more players for the first team. In his first season, Mackay gave debuts to Joe Ralls and Theo Wharton and also gave debuts to several academy players in the following years, including Declan John and Ben Nugent.^[19] The club's takeover by Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan also led to the opening of an academy in Kuala Lumpur.^[20]

At the start of the 2012–13 season, a new academy tier system was introduced in English football with clubs judged on the quality of facilities and the support they provide. Cardiff applied for the highest category but were eventually designated a category two academy.^[21][22] Academy manager Ardley, who had applied for the senior team managers position along with Mackay, left the club in October 2012 after being appointed manager of League Two side AFC Wimbledon.^[23]

Dick Bate, who had previously worked as the elite coaching director for the Football Association, was named as Ardley's replacement in November 2012.^[24] He remained in the role until June 2014 when the club underwent a major staff reshuffle which included Bate and Kevin Cooper leaving their roles within the academy.^[25] Academy coach James McCarthy was appointed as the new manager of the academy following Bate's departure.^[26]

In 2016, the regulations involving tier academies were criticised when Rabbi Matondo left Cardiff's academy to sign for Manchester City. Under the regulations, teams with tier one academies, such as Manchester City, can freely sign players from lower ranked academies.^[27] Cardiff received compensation, believed to be around £500,000,^[28] for Matondo who was sold by Manchester City to FC Schalke 04 for around £10 million without appearing for the senior side.^[29] The same year, the Premier League raised the age limit of the Premier Development League sides to under-23s.^[30]

Restructuring

Following the arrival of Neil Warnock as first team manager in 2018, the youth system at Cardiff underwent a significant overhaul. This included the departure of several coaches and the arrival of former players Craig Bellamy and Andy Legg. Warnock criticised the under-23 squad, stating "and I don't think it's giving the younger players, the 18-year-olds, the right opportunities".^[31] Bellamy was appointed as a player development manager, assisting all of the academies age groups.^[32] The club's under-18 side went on to win the Premier Development League Division Two South in the 2018–19 season.^[33] However, less than a year into the role, Bellamy stood down after an accusation of bullying from the parents of a former academy player which he denied.^[34] No charges were brought against Bellamy but an independent investigation commissioned by the club described that there had been an "unacceptable coaching environment" within the academy for which Bellamy later apologised and stated "The allegations [...] made against me were difficult for me to come to terms with as I deplore bullying and any form of discrimination."^[35] Following his departure, Bellamy criticised Warnock over his reluctance in promoting academy players to the senior side, although Warnock responded by stating his belief that there were no players of sufficient quality within the youth system at the time.^[36]

Warnock left the club in 2019 and was replaced by Neil Harris. Soon after, the club announced plans to upgrade the academy to a category one facility in the hope of increasing the number of players impacting on the senior side.^[37] One of Harris' first appointments at the club was the hiring of his former player Steve Morison as the new manager of the under-23 squad.^[38]