Academy
FA Youth Cup: Round 4 Round-up
Round 4 of the FA Youth Cup saw the big names getting into their stride into the competition, with players aiming to reach the latter stages and achieve success in their youth careers. The Youth Cup has a lot of importance for academies across the country, with players only having 2-3 opportunities to achieve success in the youth equivalent of the prestigious FA Cup.
Round 3 saw Arsenal stunned by a 3-0 defeat to Colchester United, Fulham deafeted early on by Everton and Spurs cruising to victory over last-years semi-finalists Ipswich Town. So what did Round 4 bring?
Cheltenham Town 1-3 Blackpool
Wednesday 22nd December 2021
10-man Blackpool edged past Cheltenham Town with a 3-1 victory. The Seasiders took the lead after 3 minutes through Jake Daniels before Joe Hunt equalized 5 minutes later for the home side. Tayt Trusty saw red with the Tangerines 2-1 up before Will Squires made it 3 to put them in a comfortable position and saw them into Round 5.
Blackburn Rovers 3-0 Stoke City
Wednesday 12th January 2022
Blackburn are currently top of the U18 Northern Premier League and overcame fellow category-one academy Stoke City. Harrison Wood put the home-side 1-0 up in the 1st half before Harry Leonard doubled Rovers’ lead before half-time. Wood grabbed his 2nd immediately after the break to seal the victory.
AFC Bournemouth 2-0 QPR
Wednesday 12th January 2022
Category-three academy AFC Bournemouth came out on top over category-two side Queens Park Rangers. Daniel Adu-Adjei put the Cherries 1-0 after 2 minutes before Noa Boutin doubled the lead towards the end of the game.
Watford 2-3 Chelsea
Thursday 13th January 2022
Watford put up a strong fight against 9 time Youth Cup winners Chelsea at Vicarage Road. The Blues went ahead after 9 minutes through Harvey Vale, who made his senior debut for the Blues the previous month. Malik Maine Mothersille put Chelsea 2-0 up before Emmanuel Adeyemo pulled a goal back for the hornets before half-time.
A battling performance saw Adrian Blake equalize for Watford with 15 minutes left to play and see the game go into extra time. Vale grabbed his 2nd of the game and put the Blues back into the lead in the 2nd half of extra-time which proved to be the winning goal.
Reading 1-3 Manchester United
Thursday 13th January 2022
Manchester United were comfortable winners over another category-one side Reading. Kobbie Mainoo put the Red Devils 1-0 up during the 1st half before 2 goals in the space of 2 minutes from Samuel Mather and Charlie McNeill before half-time gave them a 3-0 lead going into the break. The Royals pulled a goal back towards the end of the game through Ashton Greaver but it was United who progressed into Round 5.
Everton 2-1 Sheffield United
Friday 14th January 2022
Everton went into round 5 after defeating a battling side in Sheffield United at Goodison Park. The home side enjoyed the majority of the possession while United were causing problems themselves on the break. Francie Okoronkko scored for Everton just before the break, with Stanley Mills doubling the lead in the 2nd half. Sai Sachdev scored for the visitors late on but it is The Toffees who progress.
Leicester City 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
Friday 14th January 2022
Leicester were held by category-two side Crewe Alexandra right until the 89th minute. The Foxes struggled to find the breakthrough before a late winner from Jack Butterfill proved to be enough to go into Round 5.
Crystal Palace 1(5)-1(6) Wolves
Saturday 15th January 2022
Crystal Palace were minutes away from progressing into the next round before a stoppage-time equalizer from Wolves took the game into Penalties, where the Eagles fell to defeat. Palace took the lead after 9-minutes through a scrappy goal from Ademola Ola-Adebomi. A last-minute header from Nathan Fraser took the game into extra time. Penalties had to decide the game in which Wolves’ Francis-Burrell scored the decisive spot-kick.
Newcastle United 3-2 Colchester United
Monday 17th January 2022
Colchester were after another upset after knocking out Arsenal in the previous round. An own goal from Ellis Sullivan put the home team in front early on. Goals from Callum McNally and Michael Ndiweni put Newcastle into a comfortable position. Samson Tovide and Taizo Marcel-Dilaver scored for the visitors to give them hope but it was the category-one side who progress.
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Manchester City
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Manchester City bowed out in the 4th Round for the second consecutive season after falling defeat to Brighton. Winners of the competition in 2020, City fell to a defeat after Zak Emmerson’s 11th goal of the season saw the seagulls progress into the last-16.
Accrington Stanley 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Accrington had knocked out another category-two side in Swansea the previous round but were narrowly defeated by Charlton Athletic. Winger Daniel Kanu put Charlton ahead before Leslie Adekoya equalized for Stanley. Jason Adigun restored the lead for Charlton just before half-time which was enough to win the tie.
Peterborough United 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Tuesday 18th January
In a close-contested game, Forest were the team to progress after a narrow victory over Peterborough. Dale Taylor put the away-side ahead, with Kellan Hickinson equalizing for Posh. Jack Nadin grabbed the winner in the 2nd half to see Forest go through.
Liverpool 4-1 Burnley
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Last years finalists Liverpool were comfortable winners against fellow category-one side Burnley. Malkamu Frauendorf, who made his 1st team debut 9 days before, opened the scoring after 4 minutes. highly rated Mateusz Musialowski doubled the lead 8 minutes later. Oakley Cannonier put the reds 3-0 up shortly after the break. After a consolation goal from Sean Etaluku for Burnley, Musialowski scored his 2nd of the game to put the game to bed.
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Preston North End
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Wednesday caused an upset in round 3, beating category-one side Southampton. They took the burden of being favourites in round 4, but a goal from Leojo Davidson was enough to take them into the next round.
Cambridge United 2-0 Leeds United
Wednesday 19th January 2022
Cambridge made headlines after causing an upset in the senior competition, and achieved a similar feat in the FA Youth Cup, knocking out category-one Leeds United. Kai Yearn put the home-side 1-0 up before Bradley Njoku doubled the lead before half-time.
Tottenham Hotspur 6-1 West Brom
Friday 21st January 2022
Tottenham sealed another comfortable victory in the Youth Cup after an emphatic victory over West Brom. 2 goals from Jaden Williams before half-time set the tone, before Alfie Devine, Charlie Sayers and 2 goals from Thomas Bloxham sealed a big win for Spurs.
Round 5 Fixtures
AFC Bournemouth vs Leicester City
Blackburn Rovers vs Sheffield Wednesday
Blackpool vs Newcastle United
Cambridge United vs Nottingham Forest
Charlton Athletic vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Liverpool vs Chelsea
Manchester United vs Everton
Wolves vs Tottenham Hotspur
Following a 4-day audit early in the year, Fleetwood Town have confirmed that they have been awarded Category Two status.
The club has been in Category Three since 2016 and has always had an ambition to push on and move into Category Two. The Fisherman applied for Category Two status for the 2021-22 season but were unsuccessful.
The step-up will see an improved games program for the whole academy. The Under-21s will compete in the Northern League in the Professional Development League, while the Under-18s will enter the U18 Professional Development League. The schoolboy age groups will have organised fixtures against other Category Two academies as well as games against Category One sides.
Academy Manager Jack Higgins said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received confirmation of our Category 2 status.
“This represents years of hard work from our dedicated staff and really highlights the rapid progression we have made since first establishing our Academy in 2016 – this shouldn’t be underestimated.
“In that time, we have developed countless players and staff now registered with Premier League and Football League clubs across England.
“We are becoming renowned for providing opportunities here at Fleetwood Town and convinced progressing to Category 2 will only help us further in developing the best young talent – we are really excited at what lies ahead.”
Steve Curwood, the clubs’ Cheif Executive also commented on the news:
“This is a fantastic boost for the club and the culmination of a significant amount of work by many people over many years.
“The academy has been really building year on year since Poolfoot Farm opened back in 2016, and to finally achieve the new status is remarkable given where the club was not too long ago.
Fleetwood has recently had a brand new indoor dome built at Poolfoot Farm, a requirement to achieve Category Two status. This allows training all year round while offering another surface to host fixtures, especially for the younger age groups.
Over 450 appearances and 27000 minutes have been made in League One in the last five seasons by academy products, with Harrison Holgate and Carl Johnston becoming established names in the first team. 8 players have also been sold to Premier League, Championship, and Scottish Premier clubs for a considerable transfer fee.
AFC Bournemouth have confirmed that they have been awarded Category Two Status after a successful audit process.
The award sees the whole academy compete in a higher games programme for the 2023-24 season and beyond. Their development squad will compete in the Premier Leagues Professional Development League, while the U18s will compete in the southern league of the U18 Professional Development League.
AFC Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake said: “This exciting development is the latest positive step for us, with Bill continuing his plans to invest in and develop all aspects of the football club.”
“Lots of hard work has been put into achieving Category Two status from staff in the academy and across the club, and is an example of what we are striving to achieve here.”
“We can now look ahead to continued success and development for the academy and the whole club.”
Academy manager Sam Gisborne also added: “This is great news for the academy and the whole club; we are really looking forward to taking this next step,” he explained.
“I’d just like to say a massive thank you to all academy staff, past and present, for their hard work”
Bournemouth have achieved a lot of success with their first team in recent years, going from administration and league two to being a Premier League side within 7 years. The Cherries are now becoming an established club in all departments with improvements and investment in the academy and also the women’s team.
The club has continued to produce talent to play for their first team or sold on for large fees, including the likes of Danny Ings, Mark Travers and Sam Vokes
Reading has announced that they have returned to Category One status for the 2023/24 season.
The Royals were demoted to Category Two last season after being cat one since the launch of the EPPP, but have made a swift return after a year’s absence.
The club was demoted following a shortage of staff and a lack of facilities due to the covid pandemic. The club made the decision to move to bearwood park to keep them apart from the first team.
Reading applied to be reinstated as Category One towards the start of last season, keen to return to the top and keep their reputation as a model academy. After an audit during the season, a major improvement was seen and their application was accepted. The promotion will see Readings Under-21s compete in the Premier League 2, while the Under-18s will enter the Premier League South.
Academy manager Michael Gilkes said “We are a totally devoted team who rightly take immense pride in developing young footballers, both as people and as players. I’d like to sincerely thank and congratulate every single person who has helped the Royals to regain this prestigious status.”
Head of Academy Operations Antoine Thompson has played an integral part in the club achieving Category One status. Thompson joined in July 2022 and has made sure that the club meet all the criteria set by the EPPP to be fit for Category One status.
Head of Football Operations Mark Bowen added “The greatest compliment I can pay to the outstanding staff who help our esteemed Academy tick every day is that the young players who have returned for pre-season training at Bearwood Park in recent weeks won’t have noticed any difference to previous seasons.”
“We have continued to operate our Academy at the very highest standards and those levels have rightly been recognised as elite within the realms of youth player development in this country. I am delighted for our young players, I am thrilled for our talented staff and I am excited for Reading Football Club and its future.”
While the clubs’ off-field issues which have resulted in relegation to league one following a points deduction, the academy still operates as a top environment for player development and has produced players for the first-team, such as Tom McIntyre, Femi Azeez and Tom Holmes.
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