WITH Town safe, it is time to play the kids.

Or is it?

Will Randall, Jayden Bogle and Jayden Mitchell-Lawson have been sold, and now Lee Marshall seems to be on his way.

Where is Swindon’s next generation and will they be swamped by others’ rejects?

Author Michael Calvin has documented the trail of broken dreams nationwide. Of the 10,000 players currently in the English academy system just one percent will make a living as a professional.

And, of those lucky enough to get a contract at 18, two thirds will have left the pro game by the age of 21.

League One seems similar. As in an unscientific study I looked at league starts by former youth teamers across the division.

Town are in the best eight clubs, ahead of four with none of ‘their own’.

Five of the top seven sides have what is called a Category Two academy – meaning they spend £969,000 per year to Town’s Category 3 academy at about £315,000.

If the biggest clubs do well out of their Category Two academies, the smallest, Crewe and Colchester, have been relegated despite theirs.

Have their productive academies come at the high price of their League One status? Possibly.

Keeping players is becoming harder too.

Since 2011, Category One academies are able to take players from everywhere, regardless of distance.

They also now pay scheduled compensation based on time spent at your academy and future appearances, not up-front fees.

So if someone wants a Town player who had spent five years with us, they go, and we hope they play at least three seasons of regular Championship football.

Which would pay for a year of the academy.

However, half a season in the Premier League would do the same job, and this must be the hope with the two Jadens.

Nurturing ‘our own’ has an emotional value to us as fans, even if the hundreds released each season are cheaper and often better coached, if less well integrated.

Yet Town need to show a clear ‘pathway’ to the first team to attract either group.

Clearly the debate on youth football has some way to reach maturity yet.