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

For other uses, see Leeds United (disambiguation).

Leeds United Under-21s
Full nameLeeds United Football Club Under-21s
Nickname(s)The 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 2025–26 season player eligibility is restricted to under-21 players born after 1 January 2004. Only players born after 1 January 2007 (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
Nat. Name Place of Birth Date of Birth Pos. International Other
Australia Robbie Cook Australia (2007-01-27) 27 January 2007 GK
Scotland Rory Mahady Kirkcaldy, Scotland (2006-08-16) 16 August 2006 GK Scotland U21s
England Darryl Ombang Leeds, England (2005-07-11) 11 July 2005 GK England U17s
England Alfie Cresswell England (2007-07-14) 14 July 2007 DF
England Louis Enahoro-Marcus Benin City, Nigeria (2006-09-06) 6 September 2006 DF
Wales Jayden Lienou Wigan, England (2008-04-08) 8 April 2008 DF Wales U18s
England Reuben Lopata-White Bradford, England (2005-09-26) 26 September 2005 DF
England Rhys Chadwick England (2007-02-19) 19 February 2007 MF
Scotland Sam Chambers Huddersfield, England (2007-03-10) 10 March 2007 MF Scotland U19s
England Connor Douglas Leeds, England (2005-10-08) 8 October 2005 MF
England Darko Gyabi Catford, London, England (2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 MF England U21s
Scotland Josh McDonald Scotland (2007-03-06) 6 March 2007 MF Scotland U17s
Scotland Lewis Pirie Scotland (2007-01-28) 28 January 2007 FW Scotland U17s
England Marley Wilson Leeds, England (2005-11-07) 7 November 2005 FW England U15s
2024–25 Out on Loan
Wales Charlie Crew Cardiff, Wales (2006-06-15) 15 June 2006 MF Wales Doncaster Rovers
2024–25 2nd Year Scholars
England Alex Baird England (2007-08-01) 1 August 2007 GK England U15s
England Coban Bird Pontefract, England (2006-11-05) 5 November 2006 DF
Scotland Devon Brockie England (2007-03-11) 11 March 2007 MF Scotland U16s
England Harvey Vincent England (2007-03-20) 20 March 2007 MF England U16s
2024–25 1st Year Scholars
England Louie Dudley England (2007-11-13) 13 November 2007 DF
Australia Will Firth Australia (2007-09-11) 11 September 2007 DF
England Josh Hamilton England (2007-09-15) 15 September 2007 DF England U17s
England George Kenyon England (2008-03-23) 23 March 2008 GK
England Freddie Lane England (2007-09-24) 24 September 2007 MF
England Luke Matykiewicz England (2007-09-02) 2 September 2007 DF Northern Ireland U18s
England Jack Morris England (2008-01-25) 25 January 2008 DF
England Oliver Pickles England (2007-10-11) 11 October 2007 MF
England Jacob Render England (2008-03-20) 20 March 2008 MF
England Elton Simo England (2008-06-11) 11 June 2008 MF
Notable Others
England Sam Alker England (2009-03-13) 13 March 2009 MF England U16s
England Harry Gray England (2008-10-08) 8 October 2008 FW England U17s
England Jacob Howard England (2009-03-29) 29 March 2009 DF England U16s
Italy Kenneth Mensah England FW Italy U16s
Austria Marlon Mensah England MF Austria U15s
England Oliver Wood England GK

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 Scott Gardner
Under 18s Coach Rob Etherington

Academy Directors

From To Name Notes
1992 1997 Paul Hart
1998 2000 Alan Hill
1999 2000 Steve Beaglehole Assistant
2000 2001 Brian Kidd
2000 2001 Clive Richards Assistant
2001 2005 Gary Worthington Assistant
2002 2004 Andy Ritchie
2004 2010 Neil Thompson
2009 2010 Daral Pugh Assistant
2010 2011 Gwyn Williams Acting
2011 2012 Chris Sulley
2012 2015 Steve Holmes
2015 2016 Paul Hart

Development Squad

From To Name Notes
2012 2014 Neil Redfearn
2014 2015 Jason Blunt Acting
2015 2016 Paul Hart
2016 2017 Jason Blunt Under 23s Coach
2017 2020 Carlos Corberán Under 23s Coach
2020 2022 Mark Jackson Under 23s Coach

Reserves

From To Name Notes
1948 1960 Willis Edwards
1967 1975 Cyril Patridge
1978 1980 Bryan Edwards
1980 1991 Peter Gunby
1995 1997 David Williams
1997 1998 Eddie Gray
2000 2003 Lucas Murtagh
2003 2005 Steve Agnew
2006 2006 David Geddis
2006 2010 Neil Thompson
2010 2012 Neil Redfearn

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

From To Name Position
2000 2004 Pop Robson Under 17s Coach (2000–01),
Under 19s Coach (2001–04)
2006 2007 Steve Agnew Under 18s Coach
2007 Paul Beesley Under 18s Coach
2007 2009 Daral Pugh Under 16s Coach
Under 18s Coach (2007–09)
2009 2012 Neil Redfearn Under 18s Coach
2012 2014 Richard Naylor Under 18s Coach
2014 2015 Jason Blunt Under 18s Coach
2015 2016 John Anderson Under 18s Manager
2016 2017 Andy Gray Under 18s Coach
2016 2020 Mark Jackson Under 18s Coach
2020 present Scott Gardner Under 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 article 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.