Purpose Understanding the desired attributes for talented soccer players may give insight into the process of (de)selection and player development. This study aimed to explore soccer academy personnel's perceptions of attributes associated with talent and development. Methods Thirty English and Scottish academy personnel (managers, coaches, recruitment, sports scientists) provided perceptions into what attributes contribute to 'talent', via an online survey. Utilising an E-Delphi method, seven experts refined these inputs over several rounds until a consensus was reached, resulting in 82 agreed terminology. This terminology was resubmitted via a second online survey, where 45 academy personnel rated each using a Likert scale. Results A ranking of attributes by importance was produced, finding Psychological and Technical/Tactical attributes considered of greatest importance. Differences were observed, whereby recruitment personnel consistently over-emphasised the importance of several attributes compared to other personnel (P = 0.02-0.04). When analyzed within each age phase, 11 variations in the perceived importance of attributes were demonstrated in the youth phase (11-16 years, P = 0.01) compared with 5 in the professional phases (17-23 years, P = 0.01-0.05) Conclusion The present study demonstrates that 'talent' requires multifaceted developments, with academy personnel perceiving psychological attributes the most important contributor to development Keywords Talent development • Characteristics • Elite player performance plan • Youth

Within a group of adolescent Australian Rules Football (ARF) players, individuals of the same chronological age can differ greatly in biological maturation, with some players maturing vastly earlier or later than their peers. Such large differences in maturity can cause a disparity between physical performance, influence the perceptions of talent, and affect training practice. In attempts to address such issues, this overview proposes the concept of bio-banding in ARF, which may be used periodically within the national talent pathway to optimise player development. Bio-banding is the process of grouping adolescent athletes into specific categories or ‘bands’ based on biological maturation, rather than chronological age. This review describes how bio-banding may be used to enhance player development in ARF, giving context to its background and implementation in other sports.

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