Manchester United's youth academy: '4000 reasons' to celebrate

As Manchester United get ready to face Everton on December 15 (7:30pm IST), 11 of the 28 players in the club's first team squad are graduates from its famed youth academy. This means that it is impossible to name an 18-man squad for the match without at least one academy player. And that ensures that the match against Everton will be the 4,000^th successive senior game for the club with a home-grown player in the match-day squad. The incredible run started in 1937. The list of famous names—Duncan Edwards, Bill Foulkes, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs, Garry Neville, David Beckham, and Paul Scholes, among many others—speaks for itself.

While the club—today the third richest in the world, behind Real Madrid and Barcelona—has struggled to re-establish its dominance on the pitch following the retirement of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, things are definitely looking up, after back-to-back wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. At the forefront of this mini revival are two academy graduates—Marcus Rashford, 22, (England) and Scott McTominay, 23, (Scotland). In fact, the ongoing season has seen debuts for 10 academy graduates, and home-grown players have accounted for over a third of the total minutes played by all first-team players.

United fans around the world will be happy to see this renewed focus on youth that has been the hallmark of the club. It has served United well in the past, helping it to win more trophies than any other English team. Expectations had weighed United down post Ferguson's retirement, with the administration straying from the club's DNA. Even the signing of academy graduate Paul Pogba, who was bought back from Juventus for a then world-record transfer fee of £89 million, invoked mixed reactions. It was a flexing of United's financial muscle. But there was a time when money was a huge issue for United.

The decline in the club's fortunes that started in the 1920s continued into the early 1930s. In the 1930/1931 season, United made its worst start in history, losing the first 12 league games. This included thrashings by Huddersfield Town (6-0) and Newcastle United (7-4). The team ended the season with 27 defeats out of 42 league matches, conceding 115 goals. The patience of the fans was severely tested and the finances deteriorated so much so that there was no money to pay the players. Bankruptcy was a real threat. The club's saviour was James Gibson, who manufactured uniforms for the army. He invested £30,000 and took control of the struggling Reds.

The manager was given money to spend. However, there was no immediate improvement, and in 1933/1934, United was on brink of being relegated into the third division for the first time, only to escape on the last day of the season. Though Gibson had brought back some sort of financial stability, money was still tight and the club needed to find players for the future. And Gibson knew exactly what to do. Together with club secretary Walter Crickmer, he set about putting in place a formal system for developing young players. The Manchester United Junior Athletic Club took flight in the 1937/1938 season. Both Gibson and Crickmer would sadly pass away in the Munich air disaster in 1958. But not before they had overseen the beginnings of United's fabled youth policy.

The remarkable 82-year run with academy players in the match-day squad was uncovered by football historians Tony Park and Steve Hobin, while writing the book Sons of United. Said Park: “While we were writing the book, we kept uncovering statistics like, for example, in 1957, 10 players from the youth system played in a first-team game. I started looking back game-by-game through each season, and worked out that, 'hang on, we’ve had a youth player in every single game here.'” He said he went back until he found the game in 1937 where youth players were missing from the line-up. The criteria to define a home-grown player has three parts—he must have been signed before 18, played at a junior level for the team, and not played for another team first at the senior level.

United's executive vice chairman, Ed Woodward, said that the 4,000-game milestone was an opportunity to reflect on some of the teams and individuals who have helped bring so much success and to remember the importance of developing the next generation of young players. Nicky Butt, former England and United midfielder and head of first team development at the club, said everyone at the club plays a vital role in the development of a player and should be proud of the milestone. “So much goes into the development of an individual player; there are coaches, scouts, kit men, chefs, ground staff, teachers, landladies, drivers and so much more,” said Butt, who was part of the famous batch of academy graduates dubbed the Class of 92, alongside Giggs, Neville and Beckham.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said that giving young players a chance was a tradition that the club is proud of. “It is part of our DNA and you learn that very quickly when you join the club. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing a player who has come through our academy thriving on the football pitch,” said the former United striker. “Young players can only surprise you and impress you when you give them a chance to show their talent. It is a milestone that we are proud of and long may it continue!”

Heading into the clash with Everton, United are at the sixth position in the Premier League table with 24 points in 16 games—25 points behind league leaders Liverpool. Solskjaer will be hoping that his youthful squad can emulate some of the greats to get United into the top four, and next season's UEFA Champions League.