MANCHESTER UNITED FC ACADEMY
| Full name | Manchester United Football Club Under-21s |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Red Devils, United |
| Founded | 1878, as Newton Heath Reserves |
| Ground | Moss Lane Altrincham (capacity: 6,085) |
| Co-chairmen | Joel & Avram Glazer |
| Manager | Warren Joyce (Under-21s) Paul McGuinness (Under-18s) |
| League | Professional Development League 1 |
| 2011–12 | Premier Reserve League North 1st & Play-off Final, winners |
Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in League 1 of the Professional Development League. The team is effectively Manchester United's second-string side, but is limited to three outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 21 per game following the introduction of new regulations from the 2012–13 season. They were champions of the former Premier Reserve League five times (in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2012) between its introduction in 1999 and its dissolution in 2012. The team also participates in the Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup.
The team's manager is Warren Joyce, who took over from Ole Gunnar Solskjær as manager of the reserves in December 2010, after spending two years as Solskjær's assistant. Joyce was previously the manager of Royal Antwerp, Manchester United's feeder club in Belgium. Since November 2008, the team has played all of its home matches at Moss Lane in Altrincham, the home of Altrincham F.C. In previous seasons, the team has played at the Victoria Stadium, the home of Northwich Victoria, and Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde.[1]
Manchester United also has an Under-18s team, managed by Paul McGuinness, that plays in the Premier League Under-18s Group 2 and the FA Youth Cup. The under-18s play their home games at the club's Trafford Training Centre in Carrington.
Manager history
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Wilf McGuinness (1970–1971)- Bill Foulkes (1971–1974)
- Jack Crompton (1974–1981)
- Brian Whitehouse (1981–1991)
- Pop Robson (1991–1995)
Jimmy Ryan (1991–2000)- Mike Phelan (2000–2001)
- Brian McClair (2001–2002)
- Mike Phelan (2002)
- Ricky Sbragia (2002–2005)
- Brian McClair (2004–2005)
René Meulensteen (2005–2006)- Brian McClair (2006–2008)
Ole Gunnar Solskjær & Warren Joyce (2008–2011)[7][8]- Warren Joyce (2011–)[9]
Honours
- Premier Reserve League North Champions: 5
- 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012
- Premier Reserve League National Playoff Winners: 4
- 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012
- Central League North: 9
- 1913, 1921, 1939, 1947, 1956, 1960, 1994, 1996, 1997
- Central League Division 1 West: 1
- 2005
- Central League Cup: 1
- 2005
- Manchester Senior Cup: 26
- 1908, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1924, 1926, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1948, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1964, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012
- Lancashire Senior Cup: 14
- 1898, 1913, 1914, 1920 (shared), 1929, 1938, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1951, 1969, 2008, 2009, 2012
Academy
The Manchester United Academy was established in 1998, following the reorganisation of youth football in England, but has roots stretching all the way back to the 1930s with the establishment of the Manchester United Junior Athletic Club (MUJAC). and has been responsible for producing some of Manchester United's greatest ever players, including the club's top five all-time appearance makers, Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, and the new wave of home-grown talents known as Fergie's Fledglings. The current academy is based at the club's Trafford Training Centre, a 70-acre (280,000 m2) site in the Manchester suburb of Carrington.
The Manchester United youth team is statistically the most successful in English football, with nine players in the English football Hall of Fame (Duncan Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles, Mark Hughes, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Johnny Giles). Manchester United also have the best FA Youth Cup record, winning on 10 occasions out of 14 final appearances.
The academy comprises age-group teams ranging from Under-9s up to the flagship Under-18s, who currently compete in Group C of the Premier Academy League and in the FA Youth Cup. The Under-16s and Under-18s typically play their academy league games at 11am on Saturday mornings at Carrington, while Youth Cup games are generally played at either Altrincham's Moss Lane ground (where the under-21s play their home games) or the club's 76,000-capacity Old Trafford home, in order to cater for the greater number of supporters these fixtures attract.
Paul McGuinness is the head coach of the under-18s academy side. He was in charge of the side that won the 2011 FA Youth Cup after beating Sheffield United 6–3 on aggregate.
In 2007, Manchester United Under-18s were the inaugural winners of the Champions Youth Cup, intended to be a Club World Championship for youth sides, beating Juventus 1–0 in the final in Malaysia.
Current Academy players
| Nat. | Player | Date of birth | Position | International caps | Previous club | Joined United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Professionals | ||||||
| Sam Johnstone | 25 March 1993 | GK | Capped at Under-19 level | – | July 2009 |
 | Marnick Vermijl | 13 January 1992 | DF | Capped at Under-18 level | Standard Liège | July 2010[10] |
 | Michele Fornasier | 22 August 1993 | DF | Capped at Under-16 level | Fiorentina[11] | September 2009 |
 | Sean McGinty | 11 August 1993 | DF | Capped at Under-19 level | Charlton Athletic[12] | July 2009 |
| Luke Giverin | 4 February 1993 | DF/MF | – | – | July 2009 |
| Tyler Blackett | 2 April 1994 | DF | Capped at Under-18 level | – | July 2002 |
| Michael Keane | 11 January 1993 | DF | Capped at Under-19 level | – | July 2009 |
| Scott Wootton | 12 September 1991 | DF | Capped at Under-17 level | Liverpool[13] | July 2007 |
 | Frédéric Veseli | 20 November 1992 | DF | Capped at Under-20 level | Manchester City[14] | January 2012 |
 | Luke McCullough | 15 February 1994 | DF | Capped at Under-17 level | Dungannon Swifts | July 2010 |
| Reece James | 7 November 1993 | DF | – | – | July 2012 |
| Tom Thorpe | 13 January 1993 | DF/MF | Capped at Under-17 level | – | July 2009 |
| Reece Brown | 1 November 1991 | DF/MF | Capped at Under-19 level | Fletcher Moss Rangers[15] | July 2008 |
| Ryan Tunnicliffe | 30 December 1992 | MF/DF | Capped at Under-17 level | Roach Dynamos[16] | July 2009 |
| Luke Hendrie | 27 August 1994 | MF/DF | Capped at Under-18 level | Bradford City | July 2008 |
| Charni Ekangamene | 16 February 1994 | MF/DF | Capped at Under-16 level | Royal Antwerp | July 2010 |
| Larnell Cole | 9 March 1993 | MF | Capped at Under-19 level | – | July 2009 |
| Robbie Brady | 14 January 1992 | MF | Capped at senior level | St Kevin's Boys | July 2008 |
| Davide Petrucci | 5 October 1991 | MF | Capped at Under-19 level | Roma | March 2009 |
 | Tom Lawrence | 13 January 1994 | FW | Capped at Under-17 level | – | July 2003 |
| Will Keane | 11 January 1993 | FW | Capped at Under-21 level | – | July 2009 |
| John Cofie | 21 January 1993 | FW | Capped at Under-17 level | Burnley[17] | July 2009 |
| Jesse Lingard | 15 December 1992 | FW | Capped at Under-17 level | – | July 2009 |
| Gyliano van Velzen | 14 April 1994 | FW | Capped at Under-17 level | Ajax | November 2010[18] |
| 2nd Year Scholars (players born between 1 September 1994 and 31 August 1995) | ||||||
| Jonny Sutherland | 3 September 1994 | GK | Capped at Under-16 level | Crewe Alexandra | July 2011 |
| Pierluigi Gollini | 18 March 1995 | GK | – | Fiorentina | March 2012 |
| Liam Grimshaw | 2 February 1995 | DF | – | – | July 2002 |
| Donald Love | 2 December 1994 | DF | Capped at Under-17 level | – | July 2002 |
| Louis Rowley | 21 April 1995 | DF | – | Walsall | April 2011 |
| Declan Dalley | 7 January 1995 | DF | – | Cardiff City | July 2011 |
| Matthew Wilkinson | 13 January 1995 | DF | – | – | July 2002 |
| James Weir | 4 August 1995 | MF/DF | – | Preston North End | July 2008 |
| Jack Rudge | 15 November 1994 | MF/DF | – | – | July 2001 |
| Joe Rothwell | 11 January 1995 | MF | – | – | July 2001 |
| Mats Møller Dæhli | 2 March 1995 | MF | Capped at Under-18 level | Stabæk IF | November 2010[19] |
| Paddy McNair | 27 April 1995 | MF | Capped at Under-17 level | Ballyclare Colts | July 2011 |
| Ben Pearson | 4 January 1995 | MF/FW | – | – | July 2004 |
| Adnan Januzaj | 5 February 1995 | MF/FW | – | Anderlecht | March 2011[20] |
| Jack Barmby | 14 November 1994 | FW | Capped at Under-16 level | – | July 2008 |
| Sam Byrne | 23 July 1995 | FW | – | St. Joseph's | July 2011 |
| Kenji Gorré | 29 September 1994 | FW | – | – | July 2002 |
| 1st Year Scholars (players born between 1 September 1995 and 31 August 1996) | ||||||
| Kieran O'Hara | 22 April 1996 | GK | – | - | July 2012 |
| Joel Castro Pereira | 28 June 1996 | GK | – | Neuchâtel Xamax | July 2012 |
| Ryan McConnell | 3 October 1995 | DF | – | Letterkenny Rovers | July 2012 |
| Ben Barber | 8 September 1995 | DF | – | - | July 2012 |
 | Nicolas Ioannou | 10 November 1995 | DF | – | - | July 2012 |
| Callum Evans | 11 October 1995 | MF/DF | – | - | July 2012 |
| Josh Harrop | 15 December 1995 | MF/DF | – | - | July 2012 |
| Sean Goss | 1 October 1996 | MF | – | Exeter City | July 2012 |
| Andreas Pereira | 1 January 1996 | MF | – | PSV Eindhoven | January 2012 |
| Matthew Willock | 20 August 1996 | MF/FW | – | Reading | July 2012 |
| James Wilson | 1 December 1995 | FW | – | - | July 2012 |
| Ashley Fletcher | 2 October 1995 | FW | – | - | July 2012 |
Honours
- Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup: 18[21]
- 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 2004, 2005
- Champions Youth Cup: 1
- 2007
- FA Youth Cup: 10[22]
- 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1992, 1995, 2003, 2011
- Milk Cup: 4[23]
- 1991, 2003, 2008, 2009
- Premier Academy League U18: 3
- 1998–99, 2000–01, 2009–10
- Lancashire League Division One: 12
- 1954–55, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98
- Lancashire League Division Two: 5
- 1964–65, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1988–89, 1996–97
- Lancashire League Division One Supplementary Cup: 4
- 1954–55, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1963–64
- Lancashire League Division Two Supplementary Cup: 10
- 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1976–77
Staff
- Director of Academy Football: Brian McClair
- Reserve Team Manager: Warren Joyce
- Reserve Goalkeeping Coach: Alan Fettis
- Assistant Academy Director for 17–21 year olds & Under-18s Head Coach: Paul McGuinness
- Assistant Academy Director for 9–16 year olds & Under-11/12s Head Coach: Tony Whelan
- Under-13–16s Head Coach: Chris Casper
- Under-11–12s Coach: Tony Whelan
- Under-9–10s Head Coach: Eamon Mulvey
- Technical Skills Development Coach: René Meulensteen
- Academy Doctor: Dr. Tony Gill
- Senior Academy Physiotherapist: Mandy Johnson
- Academy Physiotherapists: John Davin & Richard Merron
Notable former Academy and Youth Team players
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
More than Ninety players from the Manchester United Academy go on to have careers in professional football, whether at Manchester United or at other clubs. The following is a list of players who have represented their country at full international level.
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Players of the Year
Prior to 1990, a single award was presented to the best young player of that season. After 1990, two separate awards were presented. The Young Player of the Year award is named after Jimmy Murphy, Sir Matt Busby's long-time assistant manager, who died in 1989. Denzil Haroun was a former club director and the brother-in-law of former club chairman Louis Edwards.