Since they opened the new Academy training ground Palace is now classed as a CAT 1 and as such receives about £4.2M per year from the League to run it's academy.
Wasn't always like that though and was CAT 2 beforehand with the academy training being held at a number of locations across South London (Beckenham Goals being one of them) - Before the new training ground was built I would say facilities wise Palace was on par with Pompey and the reputation of the coaches etc wasn't great at Palace.
I watched the program and from the content thought it was a little stereotypical of the kid from a poor background pushing (or being pushed) into the football dream.
Didn't show any of the educational support that the academy system offers or the fact that the goal of the academy is to turn out high quality professional footballers for the game and not just for the club (hence the funding by the league).
Palace spent a lot on reaching CAT 1 to compete with Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Fulham who would attract most of the top talent away from them with their facilities and set ups.
I think the Pompey academy is going through a transition - the only thing holding them back from applying for CAT 2 would be the facilities (I think you need an indoor dome and additional training pitches etc) as all of the backroom operations seem to be in place. The guys who have recently been brought in all have experience of CAT 1 academies (Villa, Fulham, Reading*) and I believe one of the aims is to expand the scouting way past the immediate catchment area into London.
