Academy Briefing: Celebrating 87 years

87 YEARS OF A PROUD RECORD

One of the club’s proudest record is that every men’s first-team matchday squad since October 1937 has included at least one Academy/youth-team graduate. it stretches across more than 4,250+ consecutive fixtures, with 251 graduates in total.

On Wednesday, as the Under-21s face PSV Eindhoven at Leigh Sports Village and the senior side host Leicester City at Old Trafford, the record will enter its 87th year, should a graduate be included in the matchday squad for the Carabao Cup clash.

UNDER-19s WIN IN LITHUANIA

Victory at Stamford Bridge back in May secured our Under-18s the national crown and a place in this season’s UEFA Youth League. Their first challenge represented another piece of history: a first game for a United side in Lithuania.

Adam Lawrence’s young Reds travelled to Vilnius last Tuesday and trained in the Lithuanian capital before taking on FK Zalgiris on Wednesday evening. A dominant performance saw them establish a four-goal lead — two goals apiece from Gabriele Biancheri and Ethan Williams — before a frenetic final few minutes featured three more goals, leaving the final score 5-2.

You can watch match highlights below.

The second leg is on Wednesday 6 November at Leigh Sports Village and fans are encouraged to attend and support. 

AZ Alkmaar look likely to await the victors in the next round, after a 4-1 away victory at Stromsgodset.

ANOTHER EUROPEAN TEST AWAITS

The Under-21s, coached by Travis Binnion, host a talented PSV Eindhoven side at Leigh this Wednesday in our second fixture of this season’s Premier League International Cup, following a draw with Hertha Berlin.

Tickets for the 19:00 GMT kick-off are available here.

"We've got a tough game to come on Wednesday against a really strong European side in PSV Eindhoven at Leigh Sports Village,” said Binnion.

"With a first-team game on the same night, we might have a few of our young players getting that experience of a senior matchday. We'll adapt to what's needed and work together to give all our players the best opportunities.

"These games are a great test against opponents who might play differently to those we normally face, or who might be a bit older or a bit more physical."

UNDER-21s WIN AT NEWCASTLE

Binnion’s side were 2-0 winners on the road at the weekend, with Sam Mather and Ethan Ennis netting to down hosts Newcastle United.

"We deserved the win," Travis reflected post-match.

"We had a lot of chances in the first half and I thought we could have come in two or three goals up at half-time and it would have been fully deserved. But we didn’t.

"So we had to defend really well in the second half and try and get another goal. We did both of those things. I thought the back four was magnificent, with Dermot Mee. Some of the blocks we made were excellent.

"We deserved to win and could have killed the game off ourselves but I thought we showed a really good spirit and character about us. We had a midfield who all played in Lithuania and they played 90 minutes today. You could see we were tired at moments, but we had a really good spirit about us and defended set-plays really well."

UNDER-18s SEE OFF NOTTINGHAM FOREST

Back at Carrington, Lawrence’s U18s were in fine form, too. Chido Obi-Martin netted a 14-minute hat-trick on his first United start at this level, with further goals from James Scanlon, Amir Ibragimov and Jim Thwaites, the latter an excellent free-kick.

Fans can watch the 20-minute extended highlights now.

COMING UP

The U21s are in action on Wednesday evening against PSV, then travelling to Sunderland for what is now a Saturday midday kick-off. The U18s face Leeds United at the same time away from home, with this game scheduled to be live on MUTV.

MUTV info at a glance

Wednesday 30 October | UNITED U21s v PSV Eindhoven | 19:00 | Not live on MUTV (clashes with men’s first team v Leicester City)
Saturday 2 November | Sunderland v UNITED U21s | 12:00 | Not live on MUTV (clashes with U18s v Leeds)
Saturday 2 November | Leeds v UNITED U18s | 12:00 | Live on MUTV
Wednesday 6 November | UNITED U19s v FK Zalgiris | 19:00 | Not live on MUTV (UEFA broadcasting restrictions)