FK Vilnius is a Lithuanian football club based in the city of Vilnius. Currently structured around a youth Academy setup, the club offers children from various ages the possibility of having practical training sessions, under a pay-to-play scheme, and participating from official competitions, both regionally and nationally, as well as from international tournaments.
The ambition of FK Vilnius is to grow organically and become a reference in the country, leveraging on the new sports facility that the club owner is committed to develop in the upcoming years, including two football pitches and a main multipurpose building expected to be ready by 2026.
This infrastructure will set the basis for the players to have the right conditions to develop, but it will also be necessary to define the right strategy to make sure the club offers them a good sporting culture and competitive environment, together with the suitable staff that allows them to get better on the pitch, overcoming the barriers that traditionally hindered the talent production of Lithuanian football academies, which have mainly been set up under commercial schemes, gathering all talents that could afford to pay for their training sessions and offering them basic football formation without a clear transition path towards professionalization.
In addition to this, the new strategy should also include a plan on how to operate the club and become financially sustainability in the mid/long-term, based on the definition of new creative revenue sources for the Academy, as well on the future creation of a first football team, not only to offer players a career possibility, but also to ensure enough revenues are generated to cover the operational expenses of running a professional football club, either through player sales, training compensation rights or even participation in European competitions.
Four Nations Football Consulting were hired to carry out a consulting project that contributed to the strategic development of FK Vilnius, to plan ahead for its future growth both on and off the pitch. In that sense, the main objective to be fulfilled with the project was to help FK Vilnius transition from their current commercial academy setup to being a recognized professional academy, capable of sustainably developing the best national football talents. In doing so, the project intended to achieve the following specific objectives:
Understand the external and internal environment, including the key stakeholders' objectives and resources, to prepare a customized Academy Development Strategy.
Set up a Professional Academy structure within the current organization, capable of becoming a reference in the Lithuanian Youth Football landscape in the medium term, attracting talent, both players and staff, and interest from third parties like local public institutions, national brands, or other international football organizations.
Increase the overall value of the Lithuanian Players through a revised technical approach to Youth football, ensuring the right conditions for players to develop, and selecting the right personnel to take care of the different steps of the sporting and personal growth, including in this case the appointment of an international technical director to lead the implementation of the new strategy.
Enhance the productivity and sustainability of the Academy through an operational model in line with the highest European youth football standards, including high-level recruitment, development, retention, and transition strategies, as well as a viable plan to make the whole operation financially sound, either through new revenue sources, leveraging on the future available facilities, or through player productivity, evaluating the impact of the FIFA compensation mechanisms.
Do not hesitate to contact 4NFC to know more about the project or about how we can help our clients (football clubs or investors) reach their goals through our expertise and services.
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