Academy Briefing: Celebrating 87 years

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Academy Briefing: Celebrating 87 years

Tuesday 29 October 2024 11:00

Three victories for Manchester Unitedā€™s Academy sides feature in our latest Briefing, as a second European challenge in as many weeks approaches and the club celebrates 87 years of an unmatched record…

87 YEARS OF A PROUD RECORD

One of the clubā€™s proudest record is that every menā€™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.

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UNDER-19s WIN IN LITHUANIA

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

Adam Lawrenceā€™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 ā€” two goals apiece from Gabriele Biancheri and Ethan Williams ā€” 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.Ā 

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

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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 seasonā€™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,ā€ 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

Binnionā€™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 didnā€™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, Lawrenceā€™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 menā€™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 |Ā Live on MUTV

Wednesday 6 November | UNITED U19s v FK Zalgiris | 19:00 | Not live on MUTV (UEFA broadcasting restrictions)

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Tuesday 29 October 2024 11:00

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