Academy Briefing: Two weekend wins
As two more young Reds departed on loan moves to gain further experience in senior football, Manchester United’s Under-18s and Under-21s enjoyed success over the weekend, with FA Youth Cup progress headlining our regular Academy Briefing.
Here’s all you need to know…
FA YOUTH CUP PROGRESS
Our U18s progressed to the FA Youth Cup fifth round with a 5-2 victory over Preston North End on Friday night.
The young Reds had convincingly seen off Coventry City in round three - scoring three goals in the opening 12 minutes - and wasted no time in proving themselves against North End, who were 4-1 winners over Liverpool back in December to reach this stage.
After another fast start established a four-goal half-time lead, Adam Lawrence's side overcame a second-half resurgence from the visitors to triumph and set up a fifth-round tie between the competition’s two most successful clubs: United, with 11 all-time titles, and Chelsea, the nine-time Youth Cup winners. United will be the home side.
U18s 90 in 20: United v Preston North End
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U21s START 2025 WITH VICTORY
Our U21s earned a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in Saturday’s Premier League 2 meeting at Carrington.
A minute's applause was observed before kick-off, and the young Reds wore black armbands, to mark the passing of United legend Denis Law.
Sam Mather opened the scoring with the only goal of the first half, directly from a free-kick.
Bradley Burrowes levelled the game for the visitors, before Mather notched the winner from the penalty spot.
MORE LOAN EXITS
Two more young United forwards have earned loan moves for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign.
Ethan Williams will gain his first experience of senior football while at Cheltenham Town in League Two. Ethan scored the winning goal for our Under-18s in last May’s national league final at Stamford Bridge, having played a key role in the group’s unprecedented trio of trophies.
Williams signed a professional contract at United in July 2024 and has since built on last season’s 26 goal contributions (17 goals, nine assists) across the Professional Development Phase (U17-U21).
After playing in the first-team's pre-season fixture against Rosenborg in Norway, Ethan netted three times in our UEFA Youth League campaign, which ended in December with a narrow aggregate defeat to AZ Alkmaar. He made his Cheltenham debut on Friday as a 63rd-minute substitute in defeat at Harrogate Town.
A stunner in Lithuania!
Check out this angle of Ethan Williams's swerving strike in Lithuania for the U19s on Wednesday night...
Striker Joe Hugill already has 43 senior appearances to his name, having spent time at Altrincham, Burton Albion and, most recently, Wigan Athletic. He’s now joined Carlisle United, also in League Two, where he’ll link up with Academy alumnus Callum Whelan.
Good luck to all our players out on loan, all of whom are, of course, tracked and receive regular communication with United staff.
COMING UP
Our U21s play our final game of this season’s Premier League International Cup on Tuesday night, hosting Nordsjaelland at Altrincham’s J. Davison Stadium.
Tickets are available (£3 adults, £1.50 65+ and kids) for the 19:00 GMT kick-off here.
The game will not be shown live on MUTV, but you can find updates, report and reaction on ManUtd.com and the United App.
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Travis Binnion’s side cannot progress from the group stages, but will aim to end the campaign on a high before returning to league action on Sunday with an away trip to Brighton (16:00 GMT kick-off).
The U18s, meanwhile, are at Wolves on Saturday (11:30 GMT kick-off).
MUTV INFO AT A GLANCE
Tuesday 21 January | UNITED U21s v Nordsjaelland | 19:00 | Not live on MUTV