As Tyler Fredricson proudly became Manchester United’s 254th Academy graduate, two of his team-mates who preceded him in that distinguished list were recently presented with debut frames in Carrington’s Graduate Lounge.
Chido Obi’s appearance at Tottenham Hotspur in February made him graduate no.252, with Harry Amass following exactly one month later away at Leicester. Both have since made further appearances, with Harry starting alongside Tyler in defence in Sunday’s Old Trafford match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Chido coming off the bench.
Congratulations to all three, and especially to Tyler, whose composure and quality was evident on debut.
You can watch interviews with Harry, Chido and Nick Cox, Director of Academy, below, as well as finding key updates on our Under-18s and Under-21s. The latter have a crucial play-off match later this week, and you can attend!
OBI AND AMASS RECEIVE DEBUT FRAMES
There are several landmarks in any young player’s journey at the Academy, and the staff endeavour to mark each of those moments appropriately. Whether it be the presentation of the club blazer as you sign a scholarship or the pen you sign your first professional contract with, it’s an important part of recognising each step towards a senior career in the game.
When a player makes their first-team debut, their photo goes up on the wall in the Graduate Lounge at Carrington, where the name of every Academy graduate is emblazoned.
“Football is forward-thinking, fast-moving and everyone’s thinking about next week, next game, next contract, where we might get to in the league etc.”
explained Nick Cox.
“The staff will be the same, and the players will be the same. We’re always looking for what’s next, so how do we help 254 make that debut?
“But it’s important that we take some time to live in the present moment to celebrate what I think is magical. I said to the boys: they’ve joined an exclusive club of players who’ve graduated from the youth team into the first team. And you can only get into that club through talent, hard work, determination, and persistence. Money can’t buy your way into that club, you can only get there by having something special and having a special character as well.
“What I think’s incredibly powerful is the boys can look at the names on that wall and they can pull out some legends, but if you go to the bottom of that wall, they’re actually looking at their mates. They’re looking at players they’ve played in the same team as. So it takes this really difficult challenge, really magical thing that not many people get to do, and it normalises it and it makes it real, and it’s a real sense of motivation to think: ‘my friends can do it, I can do it, too’. That’s the beauty of this club. There was a month between these debuts, right? So it’s competitive. That’s the environment we have here. The fact the boys can compete with each other is a really powerful part of what happens here, and that’s not the case at many football clubs.”
Watch more insight from Nick, and reaction from Obi and Amass, here.
FREDRICSON BECOMES GRADUATE 254
Just as we were celebrating two graduates, another young Red made his first-team debut. Congratulations to Tyler Fredricson, who acquitted himself fantastically as he started at Old Trafford in Sunday’s unfortunate 1-0 defeat to Wolves.
Tyler was one of four graduates in the starting line-up, alongside Amass, his team-mate in the youth sides, and Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, who played with each other in the U18s, too.
Earlier in the week, Mainoo scored another crucial goal for the club, just two days before his 20th birthday, to help Ruben Amorim’s senior side progress into the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. Well done, Kobbie!
U18s COME FROM BEHIND TO WIN
In a week of dramatic comebacks, Adam Lawrence’s U18s side showed their character to wrestle three points off Derby County in a thrilling Good Friday encounter. You can watch highlights of the 4-3 victory below.
ACADEMY REMEMBERS JOE THOMPSON
Everyone at the Academy was devastated at the passing of alumnus and friend Joe Thompson.
Our U18s wore black armbands and held a minute’s applause to remember Joe, whose presence was always sure to light up the rooms and corridors of Carrington. We will miss him dearly.
U21s TO HOST EVERTON IN PL2 PLAY-OFFS
United will host Everton in the Premier League 2 play-offs round of 16 at Leigh Sports Village this weekend.
The match will be played on Friday 25 April (19:00 BST) and will be shown live on MUT.
Tickets are available here from LSV’s website and fans are encouraged to attend and support Travis Binnion’s side.
Our fifth-placed finish in the division means we play the 12th-placed Toffees, who we have yet to come up against this season.
Our U18s also play Everton in their next game, in Saturday’s U18 Premier League away match at Finch Farm. This game won't be shown live on MUTV, but we'll have updates and reaction for you later in the day.