Academy Briefing: Pre-season schedule confirmed

Our Academy pre-season schedule has been confirmed.

The Under-18s began last Saturday with a Carrington fixture against QPR, while the Under-21s' first friendly action came against Macclesfield on Thursday 17 July.

The U18s will now play Norwich City (19 July), Swansea City (26 July) and Watford (1 August). The U21s are set to take on Charlton Athletic (25 July), Fleetwood Town (29 July) and Rochdale (2 August).

Fans can buy tickets for the latter game - against Rochdale on Saturday 2 August - here. This is an unsegregated fixture, meaning there is no designated section for United supporters.

NEW UNDER-18s LEAD COACH CONFIRMED

Academy graduate Darren Fletcher has been confirmed as a our new Under-18s lead coach.

The former Scotland international came through at United in the early 2000s, became our 164th graduate and, over a 13-year senior Old Trafford career, won five Premier League titles, two League Cups, the FA Cup, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.

He formally returned to the club, after stints at Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, in 2021 and has taken various coaching and management roles since. He now replaces Adam Lawrence as lead coach of the U18s, who compete in the U18 Premier League, U18 Premier League Cup and FA Youth Cup.

Director of football Jason Wilcox said the club are “delighted” to have Darren leading the U18s group and he will “further enhance our ability to produce world-class players ready to excel at Manchester United.”

Fletcher first took charge of the U18s for last week’s friendly fixture against QPR, having also led the group on a training camp at the adidas global headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

BRUNO BACKS FLETCHER FOR SUCCESS

United captain Bruno Fernandes wished Fletcher luck in the role after watching a trending clip from our new Lifeblood Short: Class of 2025 film.

Sharing footage of Fletcher’s speech to the U18s, Bruno wrote on Instagram Stories: “Top class as a person and a well-deserved new role that suits him and will bring loads of success to the youth of the club.”

WATCH OUR LATEST SHORT FILM

You can watch the full Lifeblood short film now, across all platforms, including YouTube. It also features advice from current first-team goalkeeper Tom Heaton, Travis Binnion (Head of Player Development & Coaching) and introduces fans to the new scholars.

LOAN DEPARTURES

Best of luck to Sonny Aljofree (Notts County), Dan Gore (Rotherham United), Enzo Kana-Biyik (Lausanne-Sport) and Habeeb Ogunneye (Newport County), who have secured season-long loan moves and will benefit from senior experience elsewhere across 2025/26. They will remain in close contact and be supported at their respective clubs.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CUP DRAW COMPLETED

The draw for the 2025/26 National League Cup has taken place, with the competition in its second year. Our Under-21s will compete and benefit from tackling senior opponents from the top tier of non-league football in England.

United are in Group A and will meet Morecambe, Rochdale, Solihull Moors and Tamworth, all away from home. The other sides in the group - Blackburn Rovers, Burnley and Everton - will not face us.

Last season, Travis Binnion’s Reds enjoyed a stellar group-stage campaign, winning all four games, before a tough quarter-final defeat to Sutton United.

UNDER-16s TO VISIT HONG KONG

Our Under-16s will once again have the opportunity to visit Hong Kong through the club’s long-standing partnership with The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

During the fifth JC Youth Football Academy Summit, United’s U16 squad will participate in a week-long cultural and football exchange programme, including two friendly matches. The group will be joined by former Reds in Peter Schmeichel and Phil Jones, who will join in with some of the activities and give valuable advice to the players.

You can get an idea of how incredible this trip is for our young players by watching Lifeblood: U16s in Hong Kong or 2023’s excellent film, Young Reds in Hong Kong.