Sunderland's academy has had its elite Category One status renewed for another three years - achieving one of the main objectives set by Stewart Donald when he bought the club in 2018.
Category One status means Sunderland will continue to compete in the highest level of youth and U23 competitions, including Premier League 2, will receive the maximum funding level from the FA and Premier League, and will be able to recruit players from further afield.
Academies are audited by the Premier League every three years and awarded a category ranking between one and four, with Category One status given only to clubs who can demonstrate that they provide the best coaching, facilities, and strategic development for their young players.
The forensic audit analyses every aspect of the academy, and factors taken into account in the final grading include coaching, training facilities, education, welfare provisions. and productivity.
The Black Cats are understood to have received a glowing report, highlighting its 'well-developed and structured vision, mission, objectives, and strategy'.
Academy staff were also praised as having a 'shared, defined, reason as to what they stand for and where they are going'.
Sunderland's academy - which costs around £4m a year to run - did not receive Category One status after the initial audit last time it was assessed and extra work was needed to achieve that designation, but this time round the report showed a substantial improvement.
Academy manager Paul Reid said: "The awarding of Category One status is testament to the professionalism, work ethic and dedication of everyone involved in our academy operation.
"We have a fantastic team of people here, who work tirelessly on behalf of the club and so to be recognised among the very best youth academies in the country is something we are all rightly very proud of.
"I would like to personally thank them for their diligence during the audit process and their commitment to upholding the principles and values of our Academy in everything they do."
Sunderland's academy is performing well in the younger age groups up to U16 level, but the lack of investment in players over an extended period has taken its toll at U18 and U23 levels where the teams are struggling badly - a fact acknowledged by Reid, although it will take time to put right.
He said: "We have a great framework in place, giving us solid foundations on which to continue to develop the academy.
"Being awarded Category One is a great achievement, but we know there is still much work to be done.
"We've brought in new staff to complement our existing team and are in the process of revamping our recruitment department, with the aim of expanding our reach and targeted talent pool and in turn, making the academy stronger.
"The under nine-to-16 age groups are excelling, which is really pleasing to see.
"We know there are challenges at present with the under 18 and under 23 age groups.
"The task at these age groups is to compete against the very best in the country on what is an uneven playing field.
"The pleasing aspect of this result is that the elements within our control have been independently graded as elite and we have given ourselves the very best chance of addressing this specific test.
"As a group we are embracing these challenges and finding the best way forward for our players and the academy as a whole."
Donald and fellow shareholder Methven have consistently said that retaining the academy's Category One status was a priority , because the development of homegrown talent was fundamental to the business model of the club.
Donald said: "Developing home grown talent is key for our club and a thriving youth development programme should always be one of our core principles.
"I am especially delighted for the academy staff, they do an incredible job day in day out and we very much appreciate their hard work."
Sunderland's academy has produced a string of talent over the years, including Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and his fellow England international Jordan Pickford, who now plays for Everton.
And players such as Lynden Gooch, George Honeyman, Ethan Robson, Josh Maja, Joel Asoro, Bali Mumba, Elliot Embleton, have all come through the ranks to play at first team level on Wearside, while others such as Derby County and former Rangers man Martyn Waghorn also started out at Sunderland, and Aston Villa's Conor Hourihane and Sheffield United's John Egan came through the academy.
Last season, Sunderland included two or more academy graduates in their first team squad for every game - a 100 percent record - while the average for clubs across the EFL is that two or more academy graduates are included in their squads for only 62 percent of games.
