Leeds United F.C. Under-21s and Academy

Leeds United Under-21s
Full name	Leeds United Football Club Under-21s
Nickname(s)	The Whites
Founded	1919
Ground	Thorp Arch
Capacity	N/A
Owner	49ers Enterprises
Chairman	Paraag Marathe
Manager	Scott Gardner
League	Premier League 2
2023–24	Premier League 2, 24th of 26
Website	http://www.leedsunited.com/
Home colours	Away colours

Leeds United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Leeds United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team.

As of the 2023–24 season, they play in the Premier League 2 : Division 1, the top tier of the Professional Development League, following promotion from Division 2 of the 2022–23 Professional U21 Development League.^[2]

History

The under-23s replaced the club's under-21 team in 2016, which had replaced the reserve team in 2012 following the English game's reform of the youth football and the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan. The club was initially awarded Category Two status but upgraded to Category One in 2020.^[3]

Player eligibility

For the 2024–25 season player eligibility is restricted to under-21 players born after 1 January 2003. Only players born after 1 January 2006 (primarily scholars), are eligible to play for the Under 18s.

Current players

Italics denotes player has received a call up to the international age group squad but did not or has yet to receive a cap at that level.

Young Professionals
Nat.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Pos.	International	Other
	Harry Christy	Harrogate, England	(2003-10-19) 19 October 2003 (age 21)	GK	England U15s
	Rory Mahady	Kirkcaldy, Scotland	(2006-08-16) 16 August 2006 (age 18)	GK	Scotland U19s
	Darryl Ombang	Leeds, England	(2005-07-11) 11 July 2005 (age 19)	GK	England U17s
	James Debayo	Hillingdon, London, England	(2005-08-10) 10 August 2005 (age 19)	DF	England U18s
	Connor Ferguson	Keighley, England	(2004-11-05) 5 November 2004 (age 20)	DF
	Reuben Lopata-White	Bradford, England	(2005-09-26) 26 September 2005 (age 19)	DF
	Diogo Monteiro	Geneva, Switzerland	(2005-01-28) 28 January 2005 (age 19)	DF	Portugal U19s
	Kris Moore	Leeds, England	(2003-11-13) 13 November 2003 (age 21)	DF
	Jeremiah Mullen	Leeds, England	(2004-06-17) 17 June 2004 (age 20)	DF	Scotland U21s
	Joe Richards	Leeds, England	(2005-10-17) 17 October 2005 (age 19)	DF
	Dan Toulson	Harrogate, England	(2005-10-18) 18 October 2005 (age 19)	DF
	Rhys Chadwick	England	(2007-02-19) 19 February 2007 (age 17)	MF
	Sam Chambers	Huddersfield, England	(2007-03-10) 10 March 2007 (age 17)	MF	Scotland U19s
	Cian Coleman	Pudsey, England	(2004-09-23) 23 September 2004 (age 20)	MF	Republic of Ireland U19s
	Charlie Crew	Cardiff, Wales	(2006-06-15) 15 June 2006 (age 18)	MF	Wales
	Connor Douglas	Leeds, England	(2005-10-08) 8 October 2005 (age 19)	MF
	Josh McDonald	Scotland	(2007-03-06) 6 March 2007 (age 17)	MF	Scotland U17s
	Max McFadden	Havering, London, England	(2005-10-02) 2 October 2005 (age 19)	MF
	Amari Miller	Birmingham, England	(2002-11-04) 4 November 2002 (age 22)	MF
	Joe Snowdon	Oldham, England	(2004-02-14) 14 February 2004 (age 20)	MF
	Lewis Pirie	Scotland	(2007-01-28) 28 January 2007 (age 17)	FW	Scotland U17s
	Marley Wilson	Leeds, England	(2005-11-07) 7 November 2005 (age 19)	FW	England U15s
2024–25 Out on Loan
	Sonny Perkins	Waltham Forest, London, England	(2004-02-10) 10 February 2004 (age 20)	FW	England U20s	Leyton Orient
	Darko Gyabi	Catford, London, England	(2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 (age 20)	MF	England U21s	Plymouth Argyle
	Luca Thomas	Crewe, England	(2004-09-16) 16 September 2004 (age 20)	FW		York City
2024–25 3rd Year Scholars
	Oscar Dawber	Wandsworth, London, England	(2005-09-25) 25 September 2005 (age 19)	DF
2024–25 2nd Year Scholars
	Alex Baird	England	(2007-08-01) 1 August 2007 (age 17)	GK	England U15s
	Joe Billett	Harrogate, England	(2006-09-10) 10 September 2006 (age 18)	DF
	Coban Bird	Pontefract, England	(2006-11-05) 5 November 2006 (age 18)	DF
	Devon Brockie	England	(2007-03-11) 11 March 2007 (age 17)	MF	Scotland U16s
	Lleyton Brown	England	(2007-01-29) 29 January 2007 (age 17)	FW
	Alfie Cresswell	England	(2007-07-14) 14 July 2007 (age 17)	DF
	Owen Grainger	Bridlington, England	(2007-07-12) 12 July 2007 (age 17)	GK	Northern Ireland U18s
	Harvey Vincent	England	(2007-03-20) 20 March 2007 (age 17)	MF	England U16s
2024–25 1st Year Scholars
	Louie Dudley	England	(2007-11-13) 13 November 2007 (age 17)	DF
	Will Firth	Australia	(2007-09-11) 11 September 2007 (age 17)	DF
	Josh Hamilton	England	(2007-09-15) 15 September 2007 (age 17)	DF	England U17s
	George Kenyon	England	(2008-03-23) 23 March 2008 (age 16)	GK
	Freddie Lane	England	(2007-09-24) 24 September 2007 (age 17)	MF
	Luke Matykiewicz	England	(2007-09-02) 2 September 2007 (age 17)	DF
	Jack Morris	England	(2008-01-25) 25 January 2008 (age 16)	DF
	Oliver Pickles	England	(2007-10-11) 11 October 2007 (age 17)	MF
	Jacob Render	England	(2008-03-20) 20 March 2008 (age 16)	MF
	Elton Simo	England	(2008-06-11) 11 June 2008 (age 16)	MF
Notable Others
	Sam Alker	England	(2009-03-13) 13 March 2009 (age 15)	MF	England U16s
	Oliver Boast	England	(2009-05-07) 7 May 2009 (age 15)	FW	England U16s
	Harry Gray	England	(2008-10-08) 8 October 2008 (age 16)	FW	England U16s
	Jacob Howard	England	(2009-03-29) 29 March 2009 (age 15)	DF
	Oliver Wood	England		MF

Graduates

The following list includes players who have graduated from Leeds' youth system to make their senior debut for the first team. Players who have represented their national team at senior level are highlighted in bold.^[4]^[5]

Other Professionals

Honours

Reserves

League

The Central League (Tier 1)
Winners (2): 1936–37, 1997–98
The Central League, Division One East (Tier 2)
Winners (2): 2008–09, 2009–10

Cup

West Riding Senior Cup
Winners (2): 1926–27, 1963–64

Under 23s

League

Premier League 2 Division 2 Champions (1): 2020–21
Professional Development League National Champions (1): 2018–19
Professional Development League North Division Champions (1): 2018–19

Under 18s

League

U18 Professional Development League North Division Champions (1): 2012–13
U18 Professional Development League North Division Champions (1): 2017–18

Cup

FA Youth Cup
Winners (2): 1992–93, 1996–97

Under 17s

League

FA Premier Academy League (Tier 1)
Winners (1): 2002–03

Cup

Milk Cup
Winners (1): 2002

Academy coaching staff

Position	Staff
Academy Manager	Adam Underwood^[6]
Head of Academy Coaching	Andy Foster
Head Of National Academy Recruitment	Lyndon Tomlinson
Head Of Emerging Talent	Craig Dean
Under 21s Manager	Paco Gallardo
Under 21s Coach	Michael Pujdak
Under 18s Manager	Scott Gardner
Under 18s Coach	Rob Etherington

Academy Directors

From	To	Name	Notes
1992	1997	Paul Hart
1998	2000	Alan Hill
1999	2000	Steve Beaglehole	Assistant
2000	2001	Brian Kidd
2000	2001	Clive Richards	Assistant
2001	2005	Gary Worthington	Assistant
2002	2004	Andy Ritchie
2004	2010	Neil Thompson
2009	2010	Daral Pugh	Assistant
2010	2011	Gwyn Williams	Acting
2011	2012	Chris Sulley
2012	2015	Steve Holmes
2015	2016	Paul Hart

Development Squad

From	To	Name	Notes
2012	2014	Neil Redfearn
2014	2015	Jason Blunt	Acting
2015	2016	Paul Hart
2016	2017	Jason Blunt	Under 23s Coach
2017	2020	Carlos Corberán	Under 23s Coach
2020	2022	Mark Jackson	Under 23s Coach

Reserves

From	To	Name	Notes
1948	1960	Willis Edwards
1967	1975	Cyril Patridge
1978	1980	Bryan Edwards
1980	1991	Peter Gunby
1995	1997	David Williams
1997	1998	Eddie Gray
2000	2003	Lucas Murtagh
2003	2005	Steve Agnew
2006	2006	David Geddis
2006	2010	Neil Thompson
2010	2012	Neil Redfearn

Under 19s & 17s and 18s & 16s

From	To	Name	Position
2000	2004	Pop Robson	Under 17s Coach (2000–01), Under 19s Coach (2001–04)
2006	2007	Steve Agnew	Under 18s Coach
2007		Paul Beesley	Under 18s Coach
2007	2009	Daral Pugh	Under 16s Coach Under 18s Coach (2007–09)
2009	2012	Neil Redfearn	Under 18s Coach
2012	2014	Richard Naylor	Under 18s Coach
2014	2015	Jason Blunt	Under 18s Coach
2015	2016	John Anderson	Under 18s Manager
2016	2017	Andy Gray	Under 18s Coach
2016	2020	Mark Jackson	Under 18s Coach
2020	present	Scott Gardner	Under 18s Coach

References

^ "San Francisco 49ers Enterprises Become Minority Investor". Leeds United Football Club. 24 May 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
^ Leeds United under-21 promotion
^ "The Premier League elite player performance plan – 'not perfect but lessons are being learned'". Leeds United. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^ "Leeds United Player Statistics". Leedsfans.org.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
^ "Leeds Squad Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
^ Lee Sobot (21 July 2017). "Leeds United look to Cyprus for new development coach". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 21 July 2017.

External links

[49ers-investor-1] "San Francisco 49ers Enterprises Become Minority Investor". Leeds United Football Club. 24 May 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.

[2] Leeds United under-21 promotion

[3] "The Premier League elite player performance plan – 'not perfect but lessons are being learned'". Leeds United. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

[4] "Leeds United Player Statistics". Leedsfans.org.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2021.

[5] "Leeds Squad Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 June 2021.

[Corberan_appointment-6] Lee Sobot (21 July 2017). "Leeds United look to Cyprus for new development coach". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 21 July 2017.

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