Manchester United F.C. Under-21s and Academy

Manchester United F.C. Under-21s

Full name	Manchester United Football Club Under-21s
Nickname(s)	The Red Devils, United
Founded	1878, as Newton Heath Reserves
Ground	Leigh Sports Village, Leigh
Capacity	12,000[1]
Co-chairmen	Joel and Avram Glazer
Manager	Travis Binnion
League	Premier League 2
2024–25	Premier League 2, 5th (league) Semi-finals (Playoffs)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Departments of Manchester United
Men's football Women's football Basketball (defunct)

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 the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectively Manchester United's second-string side, but is limited to five outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 21 per game following the introduction of new regulations from the 2022–23 season, a change from three outfield players over age 23 introduced in 2016–17. The age limit previously was again 21, from 2012–13. The team's current manager is Travis Binnion, who took over from Mark Dempsey in 2023.

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 won the 2012–13 Professional U21 Development League 1 in its inaugural season, and again in 2015 and 2016. The team also participates in the regional Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup. From the 2019–20 edition, they also participate in the nationwide EFL Trophy along with senior teams from levels 3 and 4 of the English football league system, as teams from levels 1 and 2 are restricted to players aged 21 and under.

From November 2008 to August 2013, the team played its home matches at Moss Lane in Altrincham, the home of Altrincham For the 2013–14 Under-21 Premier League season, the team has played the majority of its home matches at Salford City Stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell.^[2] Since 2014–15, the team play its home matches at Leigh Sports Village.^[3] Rules set out by the Premier League state that at least three home league games per season must be played at the club's main stadium, Old Trafford.^[4] In previous seasons, the team has played at the Victoria Stadium, the home of Northwich Victoria, and Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde United.^[5]

Manchester United also has an Under-18s team 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.

As of 10 July 2025^[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 38 MF  ENG Jack Fletcher 42 MF  MLI Sékou Koné 45 GK  NIR Dermot Mee 49 FW  ENG Ethan Ennis 51 DF  ENG Rhys Bennett 53 MF  ENG Sam Mather 54 DF  SCO Louis Jackson 56 FW  ENG Ethan Williams 58 MF  SCO Tyler Fletcher 61 FW  ENG Shea Lacey 63 MF  GIB James Scanlon

No. Pos. Nation Player 65 DF  ENG Reece Munro 69 FW  WAL Gabriele Biancheri 70 MF  ENG Bendito Mantato 74 FW  SCO Malachi Sharpe 75 MF  ENG Jayce Fitzgerald 76 FW  ENG Ashton Missin 77 GK  NIR William Murdock 78 FW  ESP Victor Musa 80 DF  ENG Jaydan Kamason 81 MF  IRL Jacob Devaney 82 MF  UKR Zach Baumann - MF  ENG Finley McAllister

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 GK  ENG Elyh Harrison (at Shrewsbury Town until 30 June 2026) 40 GK  CZE Radek Vítek (at Bristol City until 30 June 2026) 52 FW  ENG Joe Hugill (at Barnet until 30 June 2026) 60 DF  ENG Sonny Aljofree (at Notts County until 30 June 2026) 64 MF  IRL Jack Moorhouse (at Leyton Orient until 30 June 2026) 66 DF  ENG Habeeb Ogunneye (at Newport County until 30 June 2026) — FW  FRA Enzo Kana-Biyik (at Lausanne-Sport until 30 June 2026)

Years	Name
1946–1964	Jimmy Murphy
1964–1969	Wilf McGuinness
1969–1970	John Aston Sr.
1970–1971	Wilf McGuinness
1971–1974	Bill Foulkes
1974–1981	Jack Crompton
1981–1991	Brian Whitehouse
1991–2000	Pop Robson Jimmy Ryan
2000–2001	Mike Phelan
2001–2002	Brian McClair
2002	Mike Phelan
2002–2005	Ricky Sbragia
2005–2006	Brian McClair
2005–2006	René Meulensteen
2006–2008	Brian McClair
2008–2011	Ole Gunnar Solskjær Warren Joyce[7][8]
2011–2016	Warren Joyce[9]
2016–2017	Nicky Butt[10]
2017–2019	Ricky Sbragia[11]
2019–2022	Neil Wood[12]
2022–2023	Mark Dempsey[13]
2023–present	Travis Binnion[14]

• Premier League 2: 3
  • 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Premier Reserve League
  • Play-off Final Winners: (4) 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012
  • Northern Champions: (5) 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012
• Central League: 9
  • 1912–13, 1920–21, 1938–39, 1946–47, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97
• Central League Division 1 West: 1
  • 2005
• Central League Cup: 1
  • 2005
• Manchester Senior Cup: 12
  • 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
• Lancashire Senior Cup: 15
  • 1898, 1913, 1914, 1920 (shared), 1929, 1938, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1951, 1969, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013
• SuperCupNI: 1
  • 2017

Manchester United F.C. Under-18s

Full name	Manchester United Football Club Under-18s
Nickname(s)	The Red Devils, United
Founded	1998
Ground	Trafford Training Centre Carrington
Co-chairmen	Joel and Avram Glazer
Head coach	Adam Lawrence
League	U18 Premier League North
2024–25	U18 Premier League, 2nd (North) Did not qualify (national)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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, an 85-acre (340,000 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, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Johnny Giles). Manchester United also have the best FA Youth Cup record, winning on ten 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-23s 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.

In 2007, Manchester United Under-18s won the Champions Youth Cup, intended to be an analogue to the FIFA Club World Cup for youth sides, beating Juventus 1–0 in the final in Malaysia. It was their first and only title, since the tournament was scrapped after only one edition.

As of 3 July 2025^[15][16]

Nat.	Player	Date of birth	Position	Number	International caps	Previous club	Joined United
2nd Year Scholars
	Cameron Byrne-Hughes	(2007-11-02) 2 November 2007	GK				July 2024
	Frederick Heath	(2007-09-25) 25 September 2007	GK				July 2024
	Daniel Armer	(2007-10-23) 23 October 2007	DF				July 2024
	Albert Mills	(2008-02-28) 28 February 2008	DF				July 2024
	Dante Plunkett	(2007-10-09) 9 October 2007	DF			Aston Villa	July 2024
	Godwill Kukonki	(2008-02-06) 6 February 2008	DF	72			July 2024
	James Overy	(2007-11-09) 9 November 2007	DF			Newton Abbot Spurs	September 2024
	Jim Thwaites	(2007-12-20) 20 December 2007	MF				July 2024
	James Bailey	(2007-12-29) 29 December 2007	MF				July 2024
	Amir Ibragimov	(2008-04-02) 2 April 2008	MF				July 2024
	Bendito Mantato	(2008-01-25) 25 January 2008	FW	70	Capped at Under-15 level		July 2024
	Samuel Lusale	(2007-09-07) 7 September 2007	FW			Crystal Palace	September 2024
1st Year Scholars[17]

• U18 Premier League
  • National Final Winners: (1) 2023–24
  • North Division Champions: (2) 2017–18, 2023–24
• FA Youth Cup: 11^[18]
  • 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1992, 1995, 2003, 2011, 2022
• U18 Premier League Cup: 1
  • 2023–24
• Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup: 18^[19]
  • 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 2004, 2005
• Champions Youth Cup: 1
  • 2007
• SuperCupNI: 7^[20]
  • 1991, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2022
• 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

Role	Name
Director of Academy	Nick Cox[14]
Senior Academy Coach	Mark Dempsey[14]
Head of Academy Recruitment	Luke Fedorenko[21]
Head of Player Development and Coaching (U19–U23)	Travis Binnion[14]
Under-21 Head Coach
Under-21 Assistant Head Coach	David Horseman
Under-21 Coach	Tommy Rowe
Lead Academy Goalkeeping Coach (U21)	Tommy Lee[14]
Academy Goalkeeping Coach	Christopher Backhouse[22]
Under-21 Performance Analyst	Curtis Quinn[22]
Head of Player Development (U13–U16)	Tom Curtis[23]
Under-18 Head Coach	Darren Fletcher [24]
Under-18 Assistant Head Coach	Colin Little
Academy Goalkeeping Coach (U18)	Kevin Wolfe[14]
Head of Academy Performance	Matt Walker[22]
PDP Athletic Development Coach	Luke Lawrence[22]
Under-16 Lead Coach	Vacant
Under-15 Lead Coach	Vacant
Academy Programme Advisor	Eamon Mulvey[22]
Under-13 Lead Coach	Simon Wiles[23]
Under-12 Lead Coach	Lee Unsworth[25]
YDP Athletic Development Lead (U12–U16)	Alex Ouzounoglou[22]

The following is a list of players who have played in the Manchester United youth team (U16–U21) and represented a country (not necessarily their country of birth) at full international level.^[26] Players who are currently playing at Manchester United, or for another club on loan from Manchester United, are highlighted in bold.

Prior to 1990, a single award was presented to the best young player of that season. Between 1982 and 1985, this was the entitled "Young Player of the Year"; the award then became known as the "Denzil Haroun Young Player of the Year" between 1986 and 1989 in honour of Denzil Haroun, a former club director and brother-in-law of former club chairman Louis Edwards.

Since 1990, individual awards are made to the best player of the Academy and the Reserves. The "Young Player of the Year" is named in honour of Jimmy Murphy, Sir Matt Busby's long-time assistant manager, who died in 1989, and the best reserve is awarded the "Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year".

• Man Utd Under-21s (official site)
• Man Utd Academy (official site)
• Premier Reserve League North. Archived 20 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine.