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

Leeds United Under-21s
Full nameLeeds United Football Club Under-21s
NicknameThe Whites
Founded1919 (1919)
GroundThorp Arch
CapacityN/A
Owner49ers Enterprises
ChairmanParaag Marathe
ManagerScott Gardner
LeaguePremier League 2
2023–24Premier League 2, 24th of 26
Websiteleedsunited.com

Leeds United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Leeds United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team.

As of the 2023–24 season, they play in the Premier League 2 : Division 1, the top tier of the Professional Development League, following promotion from Division 2 of the 2022–23 Professional U21 Development League.[1]

History

The under-23s replaced the club's under-21 team in 2016, which had replaced the reserve team in 2012 following the English game's reform of the youth football and the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan. The club was initially awarded Category Two status but upgraded to Category One in 2020.[2]

Player eligibility

For the 2026–27 season player eligibility is restricted to under-21 players born after 1 January 2005. Only players born after 1 January 2008 (primarily scholars), are eligible to play for the Under 18s.

Current players

Italics denotes player has received a call up to the international age group squad but did not or has yet to receive a cap at that level.

Young Professionals
Nationality Number Name Place of Birth Date of Birth Position International Other
Australia 58 Robbie Cook Australia 27 January 2007 GK
Scotland 48 Rory Mahady Kirkcaldy, Scotland 16 August 2006 GK Scotland U21
England 49 Darryl Ombang Leeds, England 11 July 2005 GK England U17
England 95 Oliver Wood England GK
England 57 Coban Bird Pontefract, England 5 November 2006 DF
England 50 Alfie Cresswell England 14 July 2007 DF
England 71 Louie Dudley England 13 November 2007 DF
Nigeria 62 Louis Enahoro-Marcus Benin City, Nigeria 6 September 2006 DF
Australia 72 Will Firth Australia 11 September 2007 DF
England 73 Joshua Hamilton England 15 September 2007 DF England U17
England 86 Jacob Howard England 29 March 2009 DF England U17
Wales 65 Jayden Lienou Wigan, England 8 April 2008 DF Wales U19
Northern Ireland — Luke Matykiewicz England 2 September 2007 DF Northern Ireland U19
England — Jack Morris England 25 January 2008 DF
Nigeria — Leonard Ngenge Lagos, Nigeria 12 September 2007 DF Nigeria
England — Sam Alker England 13 March 2009 MF England U16
England 47 Rhys Chadwick England 19 February 2007 MF
Scotland 42 Sam Chambers Huddersfield, England 10 March 2007 MF Scotland U19
Serbia — Edward Ibrović-Fletcher Leeds, England 26 September 2008 MF Serbia U19
England 75 Freddie Lane England 24 September 2007 MF
Scotland 55 Josh McDonald Scotland 6 March 2007 MF Scotland U17
England 72 Callum Mills England 19 September 2008 MF
England 78 Ollie Pickles England 11 October 2007 MF
England 79 Jacob Render England 20 March 2008 MF
England 60 Harvey Vincent England 20 March 2007 MF England U16
England 94 Loui Whitehead England 5 December 2008 MF
Italy 88 Kenneth Mensah England 5 January 2009 FW Italy U16
North Macedonia Ditmir Hodja North Macedonia 8 August 2008 FW North Macedonia U19
2026–27 Out on Loan
England 53 Reuben Lopata-White Bradford, England 26 September 2005 DF Altrincham
England 45 Harry Gray England 8 October 2008 FW England U17 Sheffield Wednesday
Wales Charlie Crew Cardiff, Wales 15 June 2006 MF Wales Walsall
England 74 George Kenyon England 23 March 2008 GK Pickering Town
2026–27 Scholars
England — George Banks England GK
England Joshua Woolfrey England 15 October 2009 GK
England — Liam Balmer England 8 November 2008 DF
England — Isaac Bridge England DF
England — Alex Massey England DF
England — Miller Megson England 25 March 2009 DF
England 91 Louie Philpott England 26 August 2009 DF
England — Aiden Thompson England 19 December 2008 DF
Wales Alfie Walker England 3 September 2009 DF Wales U17
England — Jacob Watson England DF
England — Oliver Bennett England 26 November 2009 MF
India — Joe Bhaskaran England MF
England — Marley Hazell-Schofield England MF
England — Owen Heywood England 4 March 2010 MF
Austria — Marlon Mensah England MF Austria U15
Republic of Ireland — Kai Morrall MF Republic of Ireland U16
England — Thomas Stockton England 20 February 2010 MF
England — Oluwatobi Johnson England FW
Cameroon 90 Carrick Njinko FW
England 93 Logan White England 21 September 2008 FW

Graduates

The following list includes players who have graduated from Leeds' youth system to make their senior debut for the first team. Players who have represented their national team at senior level are highlighted in bold.[3][4]

Other Professionals

Honours

Reserves

League

Cup

Under 23s

League

Under 21s

Cup

Under 18s

League

Cup

Under 17s

League

Cup

Academy coaching staff

Position Staff
Academy Manager Adam Underwood[5]
Head of Academy Coaching Andy Foster
Head Of National Academy Recruitment Lyndon Tomlinson
Head Of Emerging Talent Craig Dean
Under 21s Manager Paco Gallardo
Under 21s Coach Michael Pujdak
Under 18s Manager Graft
Under 18s Coach Rob Etherington

Academy Directors

FromToNameNotes
19921997Paul Hart
19982000Alan Hill
19992000Steve BeagleholeAssistant
20002001Brian Kidd
20002001Clive RichardsAssistant
20012005Gary WorthingtonAssistant
20022004Andy Ritchie
20042010Neil Thompson
20092010Daral PughAssistant
20102011Gwyn WilliamsActing
20112012Chris Sulley
20122015Steve Holmes
20152016Paul Hart

Development Squad

FromToNameNotes
20122014Neil Redfearn
20142015Jason BluntActing
20152016Paul Hart
20162017Jason BluntUnder 23s Coach
20172020Carlos CorberánUnder 23s Coach
20202022Mark JacksonUnder 23s Coach

Reserves

FromToNameNotes
19481960Willis Edwards
19671975Cyril Patridge
19781980Bryan Edwards
19801991Peter Gunby
19951997David Williams
19971998Eddie Gray
20002003Lucas Murtagh
20032005Steve Agnew
20062006David Geddis
20062010Neil Thompson
20102012Neil Redfearn

Under 19s & 17s and 18s & 16s

FromToNamePosition
20002004Pop RobsonUnder 17s Coach (2000–01),
Under 19s Coach (2001–04)
20062007Steve AgnewUnder 18s Coach
2007Paul BeesleyUnder 18s Coach
20072009Daral PughUnder 16s Coach
Under 18s Coach (2007–09)
20092012Neil RedfearnUnder 18s Coach
20122014Richard NaylorUnder 18s Coach
20142015Jason BluntUnder 18s Coach
20152016John AndersonUnder 18s Manager
20162017Andy GrayUnder 18s Coach
20162020Mark JacksonUnder 18s Coach
2020presentScott GardnerUnder 18s Coach

References

  1. ↑ Leeds United under-21 promotion
  2. ↑ "The Premier League elite player performance plan – 'not perfect but lessons are being learned'". Leeds United. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Leeds United Player Statistics". Leedsfans.org.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "Leeds Squad Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  5. ↑ Lee Sobot (21 July 2017). "Leeds United look to Cyprus for new development coach". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 21 July 2017.

53°55′00.7″N 1°20′13.5″W / 53.916861°N 1.337083°W / 53.916861; -1.337083

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.