Manchester United U18 vs. Wigan Athletic U18

The latest part in Wigan Athletic U18’s record-breaking FA Youth Cup run sees them pitch up at a stadium with a very apt nickname for any aspiring professional footballer to play in – The Theatre of Dreams. Yes, my groundhopping takes me to Old Trafford on a Friday night as Manchester United, the most successful club in this competition (with 10 wins) await the young Latics. 

With the home side throwing the doors open for this quarter-final for free, anyone local with a passing interest in seeing the stars of tomorrow, playing in one of world football’s top arenas, would have been silly not to go. I took it a step further by booking the day off work to visit the National Football Museum and have a few beers – so even the silliest of Billy’s couldn’t turn this opportunity down.

United’s fingerprints are all over this trophy – half of their 10 wins came in consecutive years, right from the start of the competition in 1952-53. The players that contributed to that run of wins were to make up the bulk of the ‘Busby Babes’ – the young players that came through the United youth team that went on to have a major impact on European football; Bobby Charlton, Wilf McGuiness, Duncan Edwards and Billy Whelan amongst them.

Although United would win the competition again in 1963-64, it would be nearly 30 years until they next won it – that group known as ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’ (The Class of ‘92™) with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham going on to play for the first-team, achieving domestic and international glory with the club.

Despite the history, reputation and massive investment placed in their youth set-up, it’s actually been 9 years since United last won this competition (Chelsea being utterly dominant in recent years). Winning over two legs against Sheffield United (future United captain – and Wigan Athletic loanee – Harry Maguire lining up for the Yorkshire side), United’s Class of ‘11 contained the promise of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Michael Keane and Ravel Morrison – current players that have experienced varying degrees of success at the top level of the game.

And this is the point with this competition; whilst it offers a great breeding ground for the star players of tomorrow, many others won’t reach the heights that they’re purported to, so we should be taking the results with a pinch of salt. The fact that United haven’t won this cup for the best part of a decade isn’t a sign of a failing youth system as even at this level, the development can be somewhat difficult to predict. All-conquering teams like the Busby Babes or the Fergie Fledglings whose players do go on to have an impact on senior football are rare – and it’s interesting to note that the recent United youth team graduates (Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, Brandon Williams, Tahith Chong, etc) have been in sides that have got nowhere near Youth Cup Finals.

The only way for these players to truly test themselves will be them going on to make appearances in the first-team. Players are generally given opportunities through chance, however; there may be an injury crisis (see Rashford) or the manager might have a stroke of inspiration, wanting to change the way the side plays, needing a specific type of player for a role (see McTominay). Some players will have to move away from the club to play regularly and develop in a different environment before returning (see Pogba).

My hope with Wigan’s great crop of youngsters playing here tonight, is that they’re eventually given an opportunity in the first-team in a year-or-two (when we’ve finally stabilised in The Championship!) – otherwise, what’s the point in having a youth system? Clubs should be creating pathways to the first team, not putting them in when needs must. We could have a group of future great first-teamers on our hands here, (Paul) Cookie’s Monsters, or something.

All the greats will eventually find themselves in a museum of some sorts (on display, I mean, not lumbering around, trying not to knock stuff over, like I was doing). So before the match, I paid a visit The National Football Museum, situated adjacent to Victoria station. Originally housed next to Preston North End’s Deepdale stadium, the museum was relatively popular (attracting some 100,000 people a year), but funding became an issue and the concerned trustees looked to Manchester City Council to provide a package that would safeguard its future. After outbidding an improved offer from Preston, Manchester got the museum in 2012 and five years after opening in the former Urbis building, attracted half a million visitors a year.

I’ve been to the museum a couple of times (not so much in recent years, mind) and I learn that it now charges an entry fee – previously it was free for everybody. Entry has been set at £10 for adults, a fiver for kids (and £26 for a family of four), with a ticket allowing you entry for as many times as you want throughout the year. So if you live in the North West, it’s well worth it if you intend to make repeat visits (by the way, as their local council provides funding, Manchester residents get in free). As a museum enthusiast, I always feel that it’s a shame that people are charged to view what is ostensibly our heritage – but it’s needs must at a time when budgets for educational facilities simply aren’t there. Paying for or losing them, perhaps forever? There isn’t a choice, really.

The facility is massive – chronicling the history of English football and its effect on the world sees displays spread out over a number of floors. The permanent displays are based around the origins of the game, with shirts, caps, trophies, medals and badges shining out from their cases, relating their stories. My personal favourite artefact is the England shirt worn by Arnold Kirke Smith in the match against Scotland on the 30^th November 1872 – the first-ever international football match. I would say such an artefact is priceless, but on further reading, I learn that the shirt was purchased at auction in 1998 for £21,000 – it must be worth more than double now, surely?

The rest of the museum’s displays takes a look at all aspects of football culture – from the clothes players used to wear pre-match, through to supporter culture (pints and pies are mentioned!). The third floor is dedicated to seasonal exhibitions – when I was last here, photographs by the renowned football snapper, Roy Stuart Clarke were on display under the title ‘The Homes of Football’, with many of our clubs’ grounds (many now long gone), featured. The display that’s featured on my visit today is ‘Strip! How Football Got Shirty’, celebrating the ‘design, fashion and technology of football shirts’, with the world’s largest curated exhibition of shirts on view.

There’s even a ‘Hall of Shame’ for the shirts, which in recent days, has lived up to its name. A rare Celtic shirt from 1991-92 was brazenly stolen from a display – the perpetrator was even caught on camera doing it. The great thing about this collection is that it has been sourced from ordinary supporters – this Celtic shirt belongs to a fan, not a club or museum (which doesn’t make a theft from these places any less wrong, mind – but stealing from a fan, rather than a faceless entity, is more personal). The museum has contacted the police in the hope it can recover it. (UPDATE, 4/3/2020: The shirt has been reunited with its owner after it was posted back to the museum, anonymously!) 

So, all-in-all, I would heartily recommend you pay a visit to the museum if you have the remotest interest in football history (if you’ve read this far, it’s clear you have!). Aside from what I’ve mentioned, there are interactive games throughout the museum to get involved with, as well as regular events and talks from football professionals and experts about anything vaguely to do with the game we love. Speaking of which…

After coming into contact with pouring rain on my exit from the museum, I make my way (quickly) to The Pilcrow Pub, nearby on Hanover Street. This craft beer bar is held in what I described on Twitter as ‘a posh shed’. The part of the site it sits on was once home to (what I suspect, from the past imaging on Google Street View), a social security centre. The building was levelled and a paved open space (with benches) was created, the pub being added later. Speaking about the pub – it’s a cracker. It feels snug, yet there’s plenty of room for you to move around, sit down and shake yourself off like a wet dog. I treat myself to a pint of porter that cost the best part of a fiver and whose name I’ve long forgotten (just like all the girls gone by).

Later, I make my way towards Piccadilly station for the tram, stopping off at a few more hostelries on the way – Port Street Beer House was a nice place (now this was a snug pub, until I learned that there were  was an additional floor upstairs!) After a quick pint in The Waldorf, near the station, I just about make the last tram in time for kick-off at Old Trafford – I get to the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand with 10 minutes to spare but I’m met by a closed turnstile, massive queues and a half-and-half scarf-selling fella.

Now, I wasn’t expecting either of these things; it’s a youth game, so what’s going on? Surely the coin this man would make won’t be enough to cover his time and the expense of selling his wares? I can understand if the senior sides were playing in the same league (so he can sell them on another occasion), but that’s obviously not the case. As for the turnstile, I learn from those queuing that apparently, more people have turned up than what was expected, so they had to close off one section and open up another. In the end, I was glad I turned up when I did – although I missed the first 5-or so minutes, I was sat with the vast majority of the Wigan support, which was healthy in number and in voice.

Judging by the rowdiness of some of the Wiganers, it seems they had the same pre-match idea as me (though I doubt they were paying a fiver for a pint of porter just so they could hide in a posh shed to avoid the rain). Later, I learn that there were around 2,500 Wiganers here, making up a crowd of over 3,500 – that can’t be right? It felt that there were at least 5,000 in here, as the United supporters (the majority of whom were sat in the opposite side of the stand) were also in good voice. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but there’s a part of me that’s disappointed that more people didn’t turn out – especially with it being free entry. With the high prices to see their side at OT these days, occasions such as this is a great opportunity for people, who wouldn’t normally be able to afford to go, to experience a night here.

It’s a pretty competitive start; with Latics star man, Joe Gelhardt, nursing an injury (so isn’t in the squad for tonight), and winger, Mackenzie O’Neil (who has also impressed me during this run), not being in the squad, I was fearing the worst – but the lads gave as good as they got. United have the first chance when striker, Adoyeji Sotona, headed just over, followed by Wigan’s Kyle Joseph having a header cleared off the line, from a corner by Luke Robinson. 

United slowly take charge of the game; their intricate passing too quick, as the Wigan players show patience and only press when they need to. Sam Tickle in the Latics goal is called into action as he makes a save low down from a shot, but he has no chance with the next shot – Shola Shoretire driving the ball into the corner from just inside the penalty area. In celebration, the United players slide over to where us (the majority of Wigan supporters) are sat, playfully mocking us. They receive boos in return – all pantomime stuff, as this is the biggest crowd they’ve (probably) played in front of.

Just as it seems United were building up to a second goal, Latics finally get their foot on the ball and start to dictate the play – Jensen Weir in midfield being the constant conduit. They have the ball in the net, but the flag was up for offside. Then a slipped pass through to Joseph is slightly too heavy as the United keeper comes out to smother, colliding with the striker. The pressure was now relentless; Wigan win a corner that isn’t cleared, the ball finding its way to Tom Costello on the left; his cross is flicked on by a defender marking Joseph and lands at the feet of Sean McGurk at the back post – and he hammers it off the crossbar and in. The noise that greeted the ball hitting the net was akin to a first-team game and I had to laugh when the Latics players went over to the United supporters to taunt them. Ah, the armour that being young provides, I remember that. 

It stays a finely poised 1-1 at half-time; although United looked good early on, Latics were actually bossing the game leading up to the equaliser – so there’s hope amongst those of us not going for a snack at half-time that the lads can pull off a result here. I wile the time away by checking out a few things on the internet – namely United’s squad. It turns out the ‘Tahith Chong-lookalike’ (big hair) in midfield for them is Hannibal Mejbri; a £5m (rising to £10m) signing from Monaco. This just shows the gulf between the youth set-ups here – whilst we’re trying to establish a good reputation of developing players so we can attract lads overlooked by United, City, Liverpool and Everton, United can just drop £5m on a lad barely out of school. And as I said, we bossed them about for a good period in that first half. 

Oh, how I wish that continued! United come out with renewed vigour in the second half, retaking the lead after a simple ball over-the-top wasn’t dealt with and Adoyeji Sotona got in front of James Carragher to bear down on goal, finishing with aplomb in the top corner. As I’ve mentioned the son of Jamie, I should mention that the nephew of his Sky Sports sparing mate, Gary Neville, is on the bench for United – Harvey (son of Phil) wouldn’t get on, however. Still, it provides an intriguing titbit, I suppose – and makes those of us who remember their dads being young players, feel very old!

Speaking of dads, Mr Tickle must be pleased, as his son, Sam, is keeping his side in the game – before the second goal for United, he has to save a freak own goal from occurring after Carragher smashes a clearance against his centre-back partner, Louis Isherwood. The keeper then has to stick out a leg when a deflected shot sends him diving the wrong way.  United then hit the post in their search for a third; Sotona has most of the goal to aim for, but can’t quite get enough on the ball as he slides a cross onto the upright.

For their part, Latics worked hard but couldn’t create any clear-cut opportunities – I suspect it would have been a different story if Gelhardt and O’Neil were involved. As it was, United held on despite some late pressure; going through to their first semi-final since 2012. For us, our record-breaking run in this competition is over and despite the slight disappointment, there’s a sense of pride that the club is able to field a youth team that can genuinely compete against the very best in the business – this is a club that spends more on U18 players than we can on first-team players, after all!

The lads and staff all come over to clap us, as we clap them – what an experience for them, regardless of what happens in their career from here. I’ve enjoyed watching these youth games, so I’ll endeavour to take more in when I can – it’s great to support your club in a less-pressurised situation (or threatening atmosphere), as a first-team game. 

I eventually made my way back to Victoria (rather than Piccadilly) and had a quick scoop in the on-site Beer House before retiring home for some rest. I’m off out early in the morning…

Manchester United U18 2

(Shoretide, 24. Sotona, 50) 

Wigan Athletic U18 1

(McGurk, 39) 

Attendance: 3681

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Wigan Athletic U18 vs. Birmingham City U18

I wasn’t planning on covering Wigan Athletic’s progress through the FA Youth Cup – this is a groundhopping blog after all – but following the announcement that the U18’s Fifth Round tie at home to Birmingham City would take place at the Lancashire FA’s ground in Leyland, this was the perfect opportunity to combine the youth team’s strive through the competition with a visit to a football ground I haven’t been to before.

The County Ground in Leyland used to be home to Leyland Motors FC – the works team of the automotive brand that played in the Lancashire Combination from 1933 until 1980. The club then joined the Cheshire County League for two seasons before becoming founder members of the North West Counties League. They were solid members of the league up until the early-90’s (changing their name to ‘Leyland DAF-SGL’ in 1990, for some reason) before being demoted in 1992 to take up residence in the West Lancashire League.

Despite another name change in 1993 (to the much-more sensible ‘Leyland Motors Athletic’) they never really progressed, left the league in 2001 and quietly folded. All that remains of the Leyland brand is the British Commercial Vehicle Museum that sits next door to the County Ground – being an evening game, I sadly could not have a mooch around the former Leyland Motors factory. Maybe another time.

The Lancashire FA moved their headquarters from Blackburn to the County Ground in 1998, since establishing an impressive base from which to host youth football, develop coaches and train referees. Each of their County Cup Finals are played here and often, the youth and development sides of some of their members play matches here – Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers regularly have their U23’s at this ground, for example. Our own U23’s recently played a Premier League Cup match here recently too – a magnificent 3-0 win against Liverpool (which I watched live on LFC TV).

The reason for that (and tonight’s) switch has been due to the DW Stadium ‘hosting several matches in a short space of time’ – the condition of the pitch being kept in mind. Although I’m delighted to be doing a bit of groundhopping, part of me is frustrated for the youth team that they cannot play at the stadium tonight – the Rugby League season has started (Rugby League is supposed to be a SUMMER sport, by the way), with Wigan Warriors playing at home last Friday and Latics playing at home this weekend, there really isn’t any other option but to protect the pitch. My frustration also has nothing to do with me living a 15-minute walk away from the stadium too!

Finishing work at 17.30, I hop onto the 17:47 train to Leyland for the 13-minute journey and I’m in the pub by 18.05 (ironically, I probably would have left it to the last minute if the game was being held at the DW!) My choice of the Leyland Lion, the town’s generic Wetherspoons, wasn't just so I could get some inexpensive tea and a pint – it’s situated just around the corner from the County Ground. The name of the pub is taken from the Leyland-made bus that ferried people around in the 1920’s – as all ‘Spoonses do, the locality is celebrated throughout the pub, with the history of certain aspects of Leyland and its industry, maintained in frames upon the wall.

So I’m already in my element with so much history within easy reach – and it gets better when I spy the menu. I notice a pint of Greene King’s best, ‘Ruddles’ going for £1.49, but I’m drawn to pushing the boat out and plump for a pint of ‘Echoes of Symmetry’ by Salopian Brewery for £2.15. This dark, rich, malty 5% ale will be just the ticket (antidote?) to wash down my upcoming fish and chips with – the name of the brewery reminding me of Shrewsbury and them being beaten by what was effectively the Liverpool U23 side in the FA Cup last night (ten of that Liverpool side played in the 3-0 defeat to Wigan U23’s, by the way!)

The County Ground is certainly an impressive facility; paying £3 on entry, my first sight is of the 500-seat stand on the opposite side of the ground, with the rest (save for an area directly behind one of the goals where there’s a shelter) being open standing. The turnstile side of the ground is taken up by the LFA’s offices, education centre, commercial suites, as well as the changing rooms. There’s also an open bar a few feet from the turnstile and naturally, a café hut – I’ll be visiting there later.

An all-weather pitch sits behind the goal without the shelter, which aside from providing an additional facility for the community to use, is also a good source of income for the LFA, you’d imagine.  Although the ground is used on a fairly regular basis for the LFA’s representative sides and County Cup matches, I feel like the town of Leyland would benefit from having their own team playing here – this facility is certainly step 3 standard.

Tonight’s match sees Latics come up against Birmingham City; both sides already play each other in the Professional Development League (North), with Latics leading the division by some distance and Birmingham being 9^th in the 11-team division. Wigan Athletic have never reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup before – and expectations have never been so high. I take my seat in the corner of the stand and I quickly learn that I’m sat amongst the parents of the players – with a good portion of Wigan’s team being Scouse, you can imagine…the beautiful sounds they make whilst encouraging their sons. 

Scouse power works, however – Wigan take the lead after just 5 minutes when the Birmingham goalkeeper doesn’t deal with a corner and Scotland U19 forward, Kyle Joseph, heads in. First-teamer, 17-year-old Joe Gelhardt, is the most notable name on the teamsheet and here, after 13 minutes of play, he embarks on a jinking run that ends with him being unceremoniously hacked down – penalty. Gelhardt dusts himself down to take the kick and score – sending the ball into the corner. What struck me, before him taking the kick, was the sheer silence from the crowd – usually, you’ll have sections of the ground booing and screaming obscenities. On this occasion, the situation was reminiscent of a golfer attempting a putt – a respectful quiet aired, and he placed the ball in.

We’ve had a decent week at Wigan Athletic; the first team have won two consecutive games (a last-minute winner last Tuesday against Sheffield Wednesday before an unprecedented 1-0 win at high-flying Leeds at the weekend), giving the club renewed hope of avoiding the drop. We even, somehow, kept hold of star left-back, Antonee Robinson, despite him being on the verge of signing for AC Milan – the transfer collapsing due to them needing more time to complete the medical. This fast, aggressive, attacking play from the U18’s is making the week even better. England U19 international, Jensen Weir, has a free-kick that hits the bar, whilst the Birmingham goalkeeper got his bearings right to make a great save from a header from a corner.

Throughout the first-half, it seemed like only a matter of time until a third goal was on the way – and it did arrive, in some style, right at the end. Gelhardt picks the ball up, side-to-goal, 25-yards out. He turns inside before hitting a shot that looked high, but it dipped just at the right moment to nest in the top corner, distributing that spot 'where the owl sleeps' (as they say in Brazil). Latics have got one (giant) boot in the quarter-final – and it could have been so much more too.

Being around the parents of the players has allowed me to experience a football 'whos-who' – first-team manager Paul Cook was sat behind me in the first half, as were some of his coaching staff and other club officials, and as I made my way back to the stand for the start of the second half with my brew, I followed Jamie Carragher round the ground – his son, James, is playing at centre-back for Latics (he didn't strike me as particularly ‘big’, did Jamie – that must be because I myself am an absolute beast, obviously). Later, I'd learn that a number of first-team players were here too – including the aforementioned Robinson. By all accounts, he has a great attitude – he had also sat in the away end at Leeds on Saturday, hours after the move to Italy collapsed. He could have so easily sulked, but instead endeavours to support the club. This is the type of person every side needs; I'm glad he's still here but I hope he gets his move in the summer too, because he deserves it – and we get plenty of money for him!

I mentioned this briefly in the blog from the Wigan U18 game against Spurs – one of the benefits of the club making a major investment in the youth set-up is that we’ll be able to attract more talented youngsters. The bigger clubs will always have a draw for simply being who they are, but if you (as a club) can have facilities that are almost on-a-par with them, you’ll be able to offer them a more realistic gateway into professional football – and once they’re playing in the first team, they’re in the shop window. Whilst Robinson came through Everton's youth system, the principle is similar – he never played a game for Everton in the Premier League, came to us (on-loan initially) before singing permanently and 6 months later, AC Milan want to double our money to take him off our hands. It's a model that clubs like ours will have to adopt if we want to survive and build in The Championship, as the TV money gap is growing ever-wider at the top of the game.

Birmingham start the second half much better; Sam Tickle (his dad must be Mr Tickle!) in the Latics goal has to field a few long-range shots – comfortably, but you can’t win the lottery if you don’t have a ticket. Their coach (former Watford and West Brom left-back, Paul Robinson) has clearly had a go at them (within FA safeguarding guidelines, obviously), as they seem to have upped the tempo, putting more pressure on the Wigan backline. They struggle to get beyond it, however and Latics seem quite content (evidently, what with them being 3-0-up!) with catching them on the break. On one such occasion, Gelhardt finds space 20 yards out, shoots, the ball comes back off the post but Sean McGurk is well-placed to volley the ball home. It was a fine cap on a brilliant performance from Wigan’s U18’s – they move into the last eight where (we later learn) they’ll be away to Manchester United. I’m definitely going to that one – with the way they’re playing, these lads shouldn't be fearing any team at the moment.

Down the road from the County Ground is the welcome sight of a micro bar – so it would be rude of me not to indulge in it whilst I while away the time until my train home. The Market Ale House (because it’s located next to the town’s marketplace, funnily enough) brilliantly lies next door to a Galloways pie shop – Wigan’s very own corner of Leyland! Sadly, it’s way past the shop’s closing time but I fill up my senses with a pint of Mobberely Brewhouse's ‘Boom Juice’, a fruity beer with a ‘hint of orange’ for £3.20 – nice stuff. Check out this great blog on the Market Ale House from a more experienced Beer Ponce than me – I’m still in the 'youth team' when it comes to poncing around these establishments!

All-in-all, a great night – I’m definitely going to return to Leyland for a match; as we get to the ‘business end’ of the season, I’ll be looking out for some of the County Cup finals and hopefully be able to visit on a weekend so I can spend more time exploring the town, and going for tea at Galloways. 

Wigan Athletic U18 4 
(Joseph, 5. Gelhardt, 13 (pen), 45. McGurk, 75) 

Birmingham City U18 0

Attendance: 366

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Wigan Athletic U18 vs. Tottenham Hotspur U18

Happy New Year! As we’re now in the future (‘2020’ sounds somewhat Science Fictiony to me), I thought it would be a good idea to look towards the next decade and see what kind of players our teams are producing. Fortunately for me, Wigan Athletic U18’s have made it to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup and tonight, they face a stern test against Tottenham Hotspur U18’s.

Despite our current struggles in The Championship, there’s much hope that we’re about to establish a fruitful production line of players at the club – already this season, 17-year-old forward Joe Gelhardt has made several appearances from the bench, most notably scoring the equaliser at Hull in a 2-2 draw. Whilst he isn’t the tallest, he has a great low-centre-of gravity and natural strength; his floating around the forward line and general bullishness has even seen him being compared to Wayne Rooney.

At the start of the season, Latics were given ‘Category 2’ status under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). This enabled the youth team to join the Professional Development League (the second tier of U18 football, basically), playing matches against clubs from around the country rather than just the North West. At the time of writing, Latics’ U18’s sit top of their group, 8 points clear of second – so the hope that we can produce players for the first-team is understandably high right now.

Speaking about the club’s progression to Cat 2, this was only made possible thanks to plans to develop a dedicated indoor facility for the Academy – Stadium Way, created inside a former Powerleague centre – opened yesterday. Containing a full-size pitch, gym, several outdoor pitches, office space, classrooms and amenities for parents and families, the facility will be given over for community use at various times in the year too.

My one major criticism of the club during our time in the Premier League was that we did not invest sufficiently into the infrastructure with the television riches we received – the old training ground (now being the main base for the academy) was upgraded in increments, whilst we didn’t really have much of an academy set-up. I felt we missed out on a source of talent during those years – instead of taking a risk and paying out (often over-the-odds) for foreign or lower league players, we could have dipped into the youth set-up for squad depth. These players would be used to the club, played in positions and roles that would have suited the style of play – Callum McManaman (man-of-the-match in the 2013 FA Cup Final) being a rare example of a youth player coming through our system during those years.

All that’s in the past though and now, as Wigan is located in a favourable position in the North West, there’s optimism that we can attract the best youngsters around, especially now that we've got these facilities (for one, they’ll have far more chance of playing in the first team here than for Liverpool and Manchester United, for example). Even if the worst comes to the worst and we get relegated to League One (yet again) at the end of the season, the infrastructure will still be there to support the first team squad, meaning that the club has players to come into the team as they sell others off. Every club should be striving to have such facilities, one day, I hope everyone will.

My interest in youth development (at least at the professional level) was peaked as I attended an England U18 international at the then-named JJB Stadium in 2000 as they took on France. I’ve posted the back of the programme below for you to have a look at (see how many players – as well as a glaring error with one of the sides – you can recognise), but my abiding memory was of a French team that toyed with England for most of the game, eventually winning 3-0 – all the goals scored by Djibril Cisse. He looked simply unplayable – quick and strong, he helped himself to his goals in the style of a seasoned professional and he seemed destined to play at the very top levels of the game.

 

(click to enlarge)

Since then, I followed Cisse’ progress – I got really excited when he signed for Liverpool in 2004, acting like an expert because I ‘discovered’ him. Sadly, I think injury probably put paid to what would have been a great top-level career for him but despite that, he didn’t do too badly (winning the FA Cup, Champions League and Super Cup with The Reds, as well as becoming the Lord of the Manor of Frodsham). Big up to Jermaine Defoe who is one of very few players in those squad lists that is still active as a professional today (although, they’re now all aged 37/38, to be fair!)

Aside from Gelhardt, another one of our England U18 internationals is Jensen Weir. A central midfielder, Weir is the son of former Rangers and Everton centre-back, David (no doubt irking his dad by switching from Scotland’s U17’s last season!) – and as I arrive at the stadium and grab a teamsheet, I see he’s in the team for tonight. Gelhardt is also starting, having been drafted in from the first team, with our other youth internationals – MacKenzie O’Neil (Northern Ireland), Kyle Joseph and Luke Robinson (Scotland) also in the team for today. We even have another ex-footballer’s son, James Carragher – offspring of Liverpool legend, Jamie – playing at the back too.

This fourth round tie is a huge test for these players, however; Spurs (a Category 1 club – they must have an indoor training centre in space or something) are 2^nd in the U18 Premier League and beat lastyear’s FA Youth Cup winners, Liverpool, in the last round of this competition. Incidentally, our U18’s went out last season’s competition with a defeat to Liverpool – however, after winning 12 games on the bounce at a higher level this season, I’ve detected a quiet confidence from the comments by the staff that we’ll give them a game.

And we certainly did – right from the kick-off, Latics were direct and aggressive in their pressing, dominating the ball in the opening 15 minutes, deservedly going ahead through a Weir free-kick. Having scored one in the 8-1 victory over Croydon in the last round, he’s marked himself as a bit of a specialist to this novice youth team watcher. There was a bit of fortune to the goal, though – the ‘foul’ for the free-kick looked like a good tackle from the Tottenham lad (indeed, it got some applause from some in the crowd). Then, the shot took a deflection on its way towards goal, wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

Spurs have clearly marked Gelhardt out as the danger man, as he has no less than two players a time on his case whenever he receives the ball – he handles it okay and is linking up with Joseph well. I like the look of Joseph (no, not in that way!); he’s tall, got a bit of pace about him and he seems to be a bit of shithouse – nothing nasty, like leaving a foot in, but he seems to enjoy barrelling into defenders.

As the half wore on, both sides had long spells with the ball, but not creating much in the way of clear-cut chances. Latics did make the Spurs keeper work with a few shots from distance that he handled comfortably, with everything else blocked. The best of the blocked chances being a volley from lively winger, Sean McGurk, that would have taken the net off if the ball had hit it. Instead, a defender was left with a sore knee.

The away side come out fighting in the second half, putting pressure on the defence with some through-ball attempts, but Carragher managed things well (where have we heard that before?) Latics have a great chance for a second McGurk cut inside from the right, his shot from just inside the area hitting the crossbar. Picking the ball up from the byline, Gelhardt proceeded to drive towards the area, past a defender, laying it off to O’Neil, who in turn laid to it off to Joseph – who smashed the ball in the corner of the net! It was a brilliant, well-worked goal that was a sure-fire sign of a side that were confident in front of goal – the very antithesis of the first team at the moment!

Spurs try to rally but the Wigan team are now bursting with confidence and are buzzing around, nipping the ball off their increasingly-frustrated opponents. They do have a decent shot from distance, but home goalie, Sam Tickle, gathers the ball well. Late on, Latics think they have a third when O’Neil turns in Gelhardt's deflected shot – the players run to the corner to celebrate, only for it to be ruled offside. A comical scene then transpires as they all sprint back from the corner and back into position!

The match finishes 2-0 to Wigan, the players taking the well-deserved applause of the majority of the 668 crowd (later, I would learn this was the highest of the night in the FA Youth Cup). Hopefully, the fifth round will see us get another home draw and a four-figure crowd – if they hand in a performance like tonight, it’ll certainly please many of our supporters who have been bereft of slick, attacking football and goals of late.

Whatever happens, I’ll look forward to reading back this report in 2040 to see how many of tonight’s players made a decent career for themselves – remember, I and I alone discovered these players!

Wigan Athletic U18 2

(Weir, 17. Joseph, 62) 

Tottenham Hotspur U18 0

Attendance: 668

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