FA Youth Cup
FA Youth Cup
Manchester United are the FA Youth Cup’s record winners with 11 successes, the most recent of these coming in 2021/22.
1952-57: THE BUSBY BABES
The competition began in 1952, as an innovative attempt to inject youth football with a bit more vitality. For those not yet ready for first-team duties, it provided something a little juicier than reserve games. Essentially mimicking the structure of the FA Cup, it offered knockout football, a sense of jeopardy, a hint of grandeur.
Its romantic reputation was not quite present in the early days, but United did much to jumpstart its relevance. Much like Real Madrid fired the early years of the European Cup – by winning the first five editions – United and their brilliant young teams, as overseen by legendary coach Jimmy Murphy, cast a bewitching spell over the Youth Cup from 1952 to 1957.
The period was dominated by one figure: Duncan Edwards. The brilliant boy-man from Dudley is rightly recognised as one of English football’s greatest-ever talents, and if you want to know why, you could do worse than starting with his Youth Cup exploits. What came later – for United’s first team and England – was special, but his early feats were just as phenomenal.
The competition began in 1952, as an innovative attempt to inject youth football with a bit more vitality. For those not yet ready for first-team duties, it provided something a little juicier than reserve games. Essentially mimicking the structure of the FA Cup, it offered knockout football, a sense of jeopardy, a hint of grandeur.
Its romantic reputation was not quite present in the early days, but United did much to jumpstart its relevance. Much like Real Madrid fired the early years of the European Cup – by winning the first five editions – United and their brilliant young teams, as overseen by legendary coach Jimmy Murphy, cast a bewitching spell over the Youth Cup from 1952 to 1957.
The period was dominated by one figure: Duncan Edwards. The brilliant boy-man from Dudley is rightly recognised as one of English football’s greatest-ever talents, and if you want to know why, you could do worse than starting with his Youth Cup exploits. What came later – for United’s first team and England – was special, but his early feats were just as phenomenal.
Our Youth Cup-winning side of 1955, pictured before the semi-final first leg at Chelsea.
He drove United to wins in 1953, 1954 and 1955 with the kind of one-man heroics you’d typically find in a stack of Marvel comics. United were First Division champions in 1952, but the youth team had little trouble living up to any perceived expectations.
Led by Edwards and fellow future first-teamers Eddie Colman, David Pegg and Billy Whelan, the Reds overwhelmed Wolverhampton Wanderers 9-3 over the inaugural final’s two legs. The following year the cast changed slightly, but Pegg and Edwards again led the way – the latter scoring a hat-trick against Bradford Park Avenue in the third round and Duncan doing the same in the next, in a replay against Rotherham.
Again, Wolves were the opponents in the final. A 4-4 draw in the first leg confirmed that the Black Country club’s class of ’54 were a sterner test, but a Pegg penalty settled the tie in United’s favour at Molineux. Edwards was a first-team regular by 1954/55, but still young enough to compete in the Youth Cup – despite some pushback from the rest of the clubs. A third consecutive triumph followed that season, with a 7-1 aggregate victory over West Bromwich Albion in the final.
Even without Edwards, United were magisterial. Chesterfield were beaten in 1956, and then West Ham thrashed in 1957. Busby and Murphy’s lads were seemingly unstoppable – champions of England at senior level, and the only club to lift the Youth Cup in its first five years of existence.
George Best celebrates a goal against Manchester City in the 1964 semi-final at Maine Road.
1964: GEORGE THE GENIUS
Munich changed everything, inevitably. The booming youth culture Busby and Murphy had created was shattered in one devastating afternoon in Bavaria, but the Reds were not done. It took time, but our next Youth Cup triumph was spearheaded by another bona fide genius. Best was very different to Edwards in terms of style, but magic poured forth from his talent with the same ease. Over 50,000 fans watched the two-legged Youth Cup semi-final with Manchester City in 1964. A hat-trick from Albert Kinsey built a ruthless 4-1 victory in the first leg, and Best and David Sadler (2) earned a narrow 4-3 win in the return, completing a comfortable aggregate victory.
The Northern Irishman was already a first-team regular at just 17, and both he and David Sadler – a hat-trick hero in the final against Swindon – were the driving forces behind the club’s sixth Youth Cup crown.
Both would reach their zenith in 1968, as United lifted England’s first European Cup. But, sadly, United’s golden relationship with the Youth Cup was set for a long and quiet spell.
The Class of '92 celebrate after beating Crystal Palace in a two-legged final.
THE CLASS OF ’92
We would have to wait until 1992 for the next magical generation, but what a generation it would prove to be. Plenty of youth talent was produced during the fallow years, mind you – Mark Hughes and Norman Whiteside to name but two – and there were two defeats in finals, in 1982 and 1986. But in the early 1990s, Alex Ferguson hit one of the all-time youth talent motherlodes.
David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville were all part of the Youth Cup final victory over Crystal Palace in 1992, and Phil Neville captained the Reds to an eighth Youth Cup in 1995. By 1996, every member of that aforementioned quintet were Premier League champions, as was Paul Scholes, a Youth Cup runner-up in 1993.
Our winning team of 2003, featuring players like Phil Bardsley, Chris Eagles and Tom Heaton.
2003, 2011 & 2022: INTO DOUBLE FIGURES
The trophy was claimed for a ninth time in 2003, when Phil Bardsley, Chris Eagles, Paul McShane and Kieran Richardson were among the players who helped to defeat Middlesbrough 3-1 over two legs.
Our tenth FA Youth Cup was secured in 2011. Jesse Lingard, Ravel Morrison and Paul Pogba led the way on that occasion and an astonishing 54,893 watched the Reds beat Sheffield United 6-3 on aggregate at Bramall Lane and Old Trafford. A future captain of our senior team, Harry Maguire, was in the young Blades' line-up.
After an 11-year wait, United returned to the final in 2022. By then, it was a one-legged affair and Travis Binnion's team made home advantage count as a record crowd for the competition, 67,492, watched a thrilling 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest, courtesy of an early goal by captain Rhys Bennett and a late double by Alejandro Garnacho.