Comparison of all League One clubs' official squad sizes

[weststandfruitloop]

There seem to be some differences of opinion regarding what size of squad Nathan Jones has in mind for next season. With that in mind (and since I don't think anyone has posted this here previously) I thought I'd do a chart comparing the squad size of all clubs in League One.

For this I'll be using the official squad lists that clubs have to submit to the EFL when the transfer window closes. The EFL publishes all these lists on their website. Here are the figures from the post January transfer window lists as published on Feb 8th:

OVERAGE OUTFIELD SQUAD LIST
(Teams can have a maximum of 22 overage players. Goalkeepers aren't included in these lists.)
11 Reading
16 Wycombe
17 Burton, Lincoln, Port Vale, Wigan
18 Blackpool, Bristol R, Orient
19 Fleetwood, CHARLTON
20 Exeter, Northampton, Oxford, Peterboro, Stevenage
21 Bolton, Carlisle, Cheltenham, Derby, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury
22 Barnsley, Cambridge

> You'll see that we are midtable in terms of squad size.
> This list doesn't include free agents signed after the window closed.
> Connor Wickham means we're now at 20. I don't know if other clubs have added players.
> We have space for two more. The fact that LuaLua and Fosu are training with us suggests NJ is looking to utilise the full 22 overage outfielders, which is hardly 'streamlining the squad'!
> You need EFL permission to add a free agent to your list post-window closure, which is what NJ is referring to when he says we're "waiting for clearance" re one (presumably LuaLua).
> Nothing much to comment on re the rest of the division, other than the fire sale and transfer embargoes have left Reading largely reliant on being allowed to sign U21 players (see the next list).

UNDER 21s ON PRO CONTRACT LIST
(Teams must also submit a separate list of 'Under 21' players, ie those born after 1st Jan 2002, who they have signed to professional contracts. This list DOES include goalkeepers.)
2 Cheltenham
3 Shrewsbury
6 Port Vale, Stevenage
7 Carlisle
8 Burton, Northampton
9 Lincoln
10 Orient
11 Cambridge, Oxford, Portsmouth
12 Bristol R
14 Exeter
15 Wycombe
18 Barnsley
21 Derby
22 Blackpool
23 Peterboro, Wigan
24 Bolton
30 Fleetwood
33 CHARLTON
37 Reading

> I'm amazed at how wide the divergence here is (2-37) and how it doesn't necessarily translate to how 'big' a club is.
> Obviously Reading are a special case due to their overage transfer embargoes.
> It's pretty clear that our U21s contingent is bloated rather than our overage one.
> 34 young pros (adding in Small who joined post window) is way above average. Our famously strong academy is obviously a factor, but there are other L1 clubs with decent academies too.
> The fact we win L1 Apprentice of the Year so often (eg the past two seasons) makes a lot more sense now.

COMBINED TOTAL OF BOTH LISTS
(Just for the hell of it I've added the numbers for both lists together.)
23 Cheltenham, Port Vale
24 Shrewsbury
25 Burton
26 Stevenage, Lincoln
28 Carlisle, Northampton, Orient
30 Bristol R
31 Oxford, Wycombe
32 Portsmouth
33 Cambridge
34 Exeter
40 Barnsley, Blackpool, Wigan
42 Derby
43 Peterboro
45 Bolton
48 Reading
49 Fleetwood
52 CHARLTON

> Add in Wickham, Small and three overage goalies and we're actually at 57 pro players. LuaLua and/or Fosu will increase that further.
> Please bear the above numbers of players (as registered with the EFL) in mind when NJ talks about 'streamlining the squad'!

[kings hill addick]

Mar 11, 2024 13:32:41 GMT weststandfruitloop said:

UNDER 21s ON PRO CONTRACT LIST

(Teams must also submit a separate list of 'Under 21' players, ie those born after 1st Jan 2023, who they have signed to professional contracts. This list DOES include goalkeepers.)

Are you suggesting that we have 33 players that were born after 1st January 2023?  

I know that was a typo but, on a serious note, how many of those 33 are training with the first team? Also how many would have gone out on loan or were loan players that we have sent back?

I'm inclined to suggest that the squad will, moving forward, consist of 8 'Elite' players 8 'Standard' players and 8 'Youth' players.

I can't see us having 22 senior players and a further 30, plus, underage players involved with the first team.

The 33 players on that list will make up some of the U18s and all of the U21s or U23s. Surely, it just means that they have graduated from the Academy and have professional contracts, rather than being considered for the first team squad.

[weststandfruitloop]

Mar 11, 2024 14:38:49 GMT kings hill addick said:

Mar 11, 2024 13:32:41 GMT weststandfruitloop said:

UNDER 21s ON PRO CONTRACT LIST

(Teams must also submit a separate list of 'Under 21' players, ie those born after 1st Jan 2023, who they have signed to professional contracts. This list DOES include goalkeepers.)

Are you suggesting that we have 33 players that were born after 1st January 2023?  

I know that was a typo but, on a serious note, how many of those 33 are training with the first team? Also how many would have gone out on loan or were loan players that we have sent back?

I'm inclined to suggest that the squad will, moving forward, consist of 8 'Elite' players 8 'Standard' players and 8 'Youth' players.

I can't see us having 22 senior players and a further 30, plus, underage players involved with the first team.

The 33 players on that list will make up some of the U18s and all of the U21s or U23s. Surely, it just means that they have graduated from the Academy and have professional contracts, rather than being considered for the first team squad.

Indeed, I meant 1st Jan 2002 rather than 1st Jan 2023. You are right that many of those U21 players are youth team only, but it's still true that we have a phenemonal number of players on pro deals compared to the rest of the division. Cheltenham only have two U21s for example!

Here's the complete list btw:

Charlton Athletic - Under 21 Contract Players
Adegoke, Prince Shakiru
Adigun, Jason David Abiodun Dayo
Anderson, Karoy Zidane Lovebourne
Asiimwe, Nathan George
Bakrin, Nazir Oladayo Temitope Olajide
Bower, Toby William
Campbell, Tyreece Anthony Tupac Shakur
Casey, Patrick Joseph
Chin, Richard Li Hua
Dench, Matthew Robert
Fiorini, Lewis Paul
Gough, Keenan Blue
Hand, Ralfi William George
Henry, Aaron Lewis
Hobden, Oliver Henry
Huke, Ryan Thomas
Kanu, Daniel Malanga
Kedwell, Harvey Daniel
Kobashi Enslin, Kai
Ladapo, Joseph Toluwadara Oluwabamirin Temitayo
Laqeretabua, Joshua
Leaburn, Miles Lester
Mbick, Micah Lionel
Mitchell, Zach Joseph
Molyneux, Henry Edward Arthur
Ness, Lucas Benjamin
Okechukwu, Chibike C Samuel
Roddy, Jacob Gerard
Rylah, Henry Alan Zachariah
Santos Hurtado, Jeremy Andres
Toure, Seydil Moukhtar
Viggars, Ryan James
Williams, Euan Leslie

By my reckoning maybe six of those have had a fair bit of involvement with the first team (or would if uninjured ie Miles): Anderson, Asiimwe, TC, Kanu, Leaburn, Ness. Plus late arrival Small makes seven.

However, I suspect more than half have made at least one first team appearance (we've fielded 46 players in total remember) and a few others have at least bench-warmed.

When I say I'm expecting an 'active' first team squad of around 28 next season, I'm talking about:
2-3 GOALKEEPERS
19-20 OVERAGE OUTFIELDERS
5-7 UNDER 21s

I don't think that's unreasonable but it seems most of the forum thinks 28 is a huge number!

[Mundell]

Interesting post weststandfruitloop and very well researched. Thanks for sharing that. 

As you say, the number of U21s on professional contracts, relative to other clubs in League One, is astonishing. It’s a big positive that we’re able to fund this, but I do wonder whether we’re as determined as we might be to trim the list once it’s clear players aren’t going to make it? In saying that I do recognise, as we’ve discussed before, that it’s not easy to judge which young players are going to make it. 

[seriouslyred]

Interesting comparison between clubs. The new 8-8-8 strategy explicitly states eight Academy and 16 over 21 players. Add in a few legacy contracts and we're not far adrift.

It's the quality and cohesion which counts as we find ourselves in the bottom eight of the league table but top eight of the form table. We can envisage a mix of ten loan, academy and older players leaving in a couple of months so numbers might stay the same with four Academy graduates and five or six new acquisitions.

Can't talk to the finances or strategy of the competition, but we clearly have a far bigger Academy than most. And some are making the grade judging by the fact we have four 19 year olds in the Matchday 18 every week. Wonder what the age profile for other clubs is every Saturday?

One thing's for sure: over the last three windows we've seen the departure of virtually all of the Sandgaard/ Garner / Gallen squad from 2022 which is a high turnover. Is that close to the norm for this level?

[earlpurple]

I think the 8-8-8 including 8 Academy players will mean those who are able to play for Charlton Athletic this season, but the number of them contracted may be higher if we decide they are good for the future but want them to get loan experience now at lower-league clubs.

[kings hill addick]

Mar 11, 2024 17:53:04 GMT Mundell said:

Interesting post weststandfruitloop and very well researched. Thanks for sharing that. 

As you say, the number of U21s on professional contracts, relative to other clubs in League One, is astonishing. It’s a big positive that we’re able to fund this, but I do wonder whether we’re as determined as we might be to trim the list once it’s clear players aren’t going to make it? In saying that I do recognise, as we’ve discussed before, that it’s not easy to judge which young players are going to make it. 

Indeed. By the time he went out on loan to Crawley, I was sure that Karlan Grant was not going to make it. I had nothing against him, personally, and a friend of mine knows him and spoke highly of him, but he looked so far short of being good enough. Nine months later and he looked a completely different player.

Clearly, those at the club may well have known what he was going to achieve, and I am no football scout, but it does demonstrate that some players don't show what they have in their locker until they are older.