A Manchester United team are on a 14‑game winning run. It might sound like a sentence that belongs in a bygone era, but it speaks to a brighter future at Old Trafford. That’s because the team in question are the under‑18s, who have conquered counterparts from Liverpool, Manchester City and elsewhere this season to go 17 points clear at the top of the Under‑18 Premier League North with a perfect record – 42 points from 14 games.
So, as much as this season has been a struggle for the United first team and all associated with it, amid questions over the club’s leadership on the pitch and in the boardroom, one of the world’s grandest academies has quietly gone from strength to strength.
United have named an academy graduate in every match squad for more than 86 years. It is a proud record and, thanks to the achievements of their under‑18s and the promise shown in younger age groups too, it looks in no danger of ending any time soon.
Names such as Jayce Fitzgerald, Harry Amass and Shea Lacey will not mean much even to some ardent United fans, but the club are confident they are part of an under‑18s cohort who can match what Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho – who joined as a 16‑year‑old – have done in recent years and make the leap to first‑team level.
It is largely the conveyor belt of talent, rather than the winning sequence per se, which is giving the most satisfaction to those inside the club. Nick Cox, the academy director, says: “Our mandate isn’t to win the league, our mandate isn’t to win all the cups, it’s to develop players who are going to play in our first team.
“There’s a different take on league positions and results at academy level, but it’s not disregarded. It’s an important measure of how the groups are developing and how well the coaches are doing.
“We want our boys to be competitive, to know how to win and attempt to win every game. And if you’ve got good coaches and good players, the by‑product is a team that wins regularly. We’re delighted to see the under-18s doing so well and equally to see so many individuals in that group have the potential to continue with us.”
United face a battle with Manchester City to sign the best Mancunian talent but also take occasional recruits from further afield thanks to an increase to the academy’s recruitment budget. However, post-Brexit restrictions mean signing youngsters from abroad is no longer commonplace. Amass, a promising left-back from Watford, was widely sought-after when United swooped for him last summer and gazumped Chelsea.
The work done by Adam Lawrence, who manages the under‑18s and acts as the club’s head of player development for under-13s to under-16s, is heralded by those close to the academy. Some insiders believe the current under-16s could surpass the under‑18s in terms of ability, with Amir Ibragimov and Bendito Mantato catching the eye at that level.
Paul McShane and Tom Huddlestone, both recent Premier League players, have been hired as coaches to get youngsters prepared for senior football. The only defeats the under-18s have endured this season have come in cups, against Wolves and Swindon.
Cox says: “Our goal is to support every player to reach their full potential. For some players that won’t be the first team; our coaches will work hard to make sure they have a career away from us. But, from a club perspective, utopia is to produce players who go on and excel in a winning United team.”
The next academy landmark is a 250th first-team debut for a graduate of the United youth system, after Omari Forson became the 249th to receive first-team honours when he featured in the FA Cup win against Wigan last month. The club have also taken an active approach to loans, agreeing temporary exits for 10 players (eight of them academy graduates) in January, while some of the under‑18s will venture out on work experience loans to train with other clubs before this season is over.
There is also huge pride taken in Mainoo’s rapid rise. The Stockport‑born midfielder, 18, was named United’s senior player of the month for January and has rapidly become a role model for players in the academy after back‑to-back first-team goals, including that majestic winner at Wolves last Thursday.
“It’s never a straight line to success with young players; there’s a rocky road ahead,” Cox says. “For any young player at Manchester United, it’s a real challenge. The signs are that Kobbie is coping with that challenge but it’s important that everyone remains grounded. The expectation at Man United is that we win, we win convincingly and we win regularly. The standards are high.”
