Real Salt Lake Hires Tom Spall As Academy Director

HERRIMAN, Utah – Real Salt Lake announced that they have hired Tom Spall as Academy Director, bringing an expansive vision to one of the most successful USSDA academies in Major League Soccer.

Spall has coached at the youth and professional levels for a long time, including his extensive work with the English Premier League for the last six years and Major League Soccer for the last three years as an assessor and project manager for each league’s youth development systems.

“We had a deep pool of well-qualified applicants and Tom stood out because of his impressive credentials and his extensive knowledge of Academies through his previous work with Doublepass,” RSL Assistant General Manager Elliot Fall said.  “His vision for the future of the RSL Academy runs in lock-step with what we envisioned, but he also adds new dimensions to what we believe we can achieve through youth development.”

His connection with youth development came from his work with the Elite Player Performance Plan in England and Doublepass in the U.S. and Canada, while also giving him the supervisory role to make assessments and provide reports for the clubs and federations.

#RSL hires Tom Spall as new @RSLAcademy Director

📋 https://t.co/tNJ8E5NU7C pic.twitter.com/OvUFojMQoG

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 12, 2019

“Our Academy is a huge component to our long-term planning as an organization, so that made this hire very important to the trajectory of those long-term goals,” RSL Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations Rob Zarkos said.  “In talking with Tom and getting a sense for what he envisions for the Academy, he solidifies a lot of the projections for where we can take the club through the growth at the Academy level.”

Before Spall’s time with the EPPP and Doublepass, he was an Academy coach with Barnsley FC and Sheffield United FC from 2010-13, an assistant manager at Bottesford Town FC from 2010-11 and was the Head of Youth Development for Lincoln City FC from 2005-10 and in a similar role for Scunthorpe United from 2000-05.

“My philosophies are similar to the club’s.  For me, it’s all about helping RSL be the best Development Academy in North America,” Spall said.  “There’s a structure in place already.  I see my role as linking the foundation to the Academy in Arizona and the Academy here.  It’s like a big puzzle and we’re trying to bring it all together.”

RSL’s Academy has garnered attention for its success on the field and in developing professional players. They won the 2012-13 USSDA U-15/16 championship and has reached the final twice since and reached the final in the GA Cup in 2014.

Real Salt Lake has signed 21 Academy products to the first team, including 12 players on the current roster. Those players include Corey Baird, Justen Glad, Brooks Lennon and former RSL man Carlos Salcedo, who is a mainstay for the Mexican National Team. In total, 53 RSL Academy players have signed professional contracts.