Deadbat
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Academy / Development side
A huge thanks to @goodpinch (twitter handle) for his help in some of this section and as always has helped me a fair bit to fill in the gaps etc. Indeed, a good section of below was taken from @goodpinch who gave me lots of details on the competitions, form and players! He gave me all the details on competitions, how the teams fared at each age group and all the player stats. Fantasitc research!
Also, the brilliant roster that Ball_Sup completes and updates. Most of the factual stuff comes from them- the opinions on players are from myself! However, I would not have been able to do the below without their help!
The sides a U23 and u18 level have been very successful in what they have done in terms of results, performances and player production up the age groups if you like. Granted we would prefer to be playing better teams at this level but can only beat what you are up against and to be top of both age groups is quite an achievement. We have had long unbeaten runs at both levels too. This is all against a backdrop of a number of players going on loan or being involved in the first team. The net effect is the u18’s move up to the u23’s and this makes the results even more incredible. Big credit to the coaches and the players. Yes, it is often seen as about preparing players and trying to find 1st team talent but even at the big clubs not everyone breaks through. If you get one player from a squad/age group to be a regular eventually at first team level then you have done well. We of course have to compete with a number of clubs who have better set ups and facilities.
Overcoming these inferior facilities and not being a Grade 1 Academy is going to be a challenge but as Lester and Geary have pointed out the coaching quality will remain high throughout the levels even if we don’t have the best pitches/changing rooms and gymnasiums/hydrotherapy etc.
The fact the Academy is Category B when most at this level and some lower is Category A means we are not going to get the top talent and teams like Burnley and Leeds are both now Category A. However, with the reputation of the club’s production and the coaches there present hopefully if we can move into the next level, we can produce top level players again. That has to be way forward. Despite some feeling we have not had as many come through in recent years, we do not realise how well we did to produce Maguire, Walker, Brooks, Calvert Lewin, Ramsdale etc. Jebbison, Gordon, Seriki have all played first team games for players that are very young and all came through the ranks even if signed from other academies. I saw a stat after the Bournemouth game that saw we had gone 94 games where we had a player who came through the academy (so they count Sharp/Ramsdale even though they left and came back) either starting or coming off the bench and this game saw this run ended. That is still quite a stat and wonder how many other teams could have such a ‘run.’ There are clearly things working well but it is just frustrating we cannot make that next step in terms of level they play at and the facilities. This would help us attract even more talent.
Derek Geary ran the u18’s for a few years and then when Lester was elevated to the first team was named head of the academy operations but despite this different overseeing role, he seemed to be still managing/coaching the u18’s? I am assuming that is not the plan longer term but not heard of a new u18 coach being appointed? The game I saw Geary was very much still running things on the touchline.
At the U23 level since Heckingbottom has moved on, United named Michael Collins as the coach at this level. Collins had a brief spell as Bradford manager and seems to have hit the ground running with results and performance. It is probably forgotten about as we have not seen him involved day to day or heard from him but we appointed Adie Boothroyd as a coach/mentor and consultant. His last job in league football he was sacked by Northampton and had struggled to get results out of a talented England U21 side. However, Lester recently said this about Boothroyd, Lester added: "He's a soundboard for Del because he's had those top managerial positions. He's a soundboard for Micky because he's done that level with England. He sits with staff and sees where they want to go and what they want to be. He sits with players; he coaches in the morning and assists Micky in the afternoon with the sessions. He does a bit of everything. He's been a busy man. He loves it and he's impressed with our academy. To be fair, a lot of people are when they come and see how we work."
Some of the u18’s/u23’s interchange – many are at different points buts it’s not uncommon for players to feature for both too and of course some have been around the first team. We have not used many senior players as overage players for the u23’s but not many teams too. I recall Stevens playing in a game and also Guedioura and Norrington Davies featuring too for a game. Also featuring were Jebbison and Ndiaye but have not included any what I would term ‘first team pool’ players in the section below.
---
Season summaries
The Blades continued to run an Elite Player Performance Plan Category 2 academy and therefore its younger pros and scholars once again competed at both U23 and U18 age categories in the Premier League's Professional Development League. This season there were 17 clubs with Category 2 academies, split into two regional sections - North and South. The Blades were placed in the North section and played the other seven teams in their section home and away, plus the nine teams in the South section once - a total of 23 league games. The two teams finishing highest in the two sections qualified for the playoffs to determine the national champions. The U23s made a return to the Premier League Cup, a competition mainly for those Category 1 clubs who aren’t playing in UEFA youth competitions but with a number of invited non-Category 1 clubs to make up the numbers. As for the U18s, alongside the 70th annual FA Youth Cup, they also took part in the inaugural League Cup.
Competitions
U23 Professional Development League (“U23PDL”)
The Blades set about defending their title with a very good return of six wins and two draws from the opening ten games before Heckingbottom moved into his first team role. Micky Collins took temporary charge for the next couple of games which saw a win and a defeat before he was given the role permanently. In the remaining games of the season, the Blades took 25 of a possible 33 points to win the North title for a successive season and qualify for the national playoffs. The Blades had home advantage in the semi final and decided to play South runners-up, Bristol City, at the York Community Stadium. Unfortunately Bristol City won the tie 1-0 with an 89th minute goal, ending the Blades season.
Premier League Cup (“PLC”)
The U23s were placed in a group with two category 1 academies, Burnley and Everton, together with category 2 newcomers, Peterborough United. Playing each opponent home and away, the Blades found themselves bottom of the group with just one win from the first four games. However, victories in the final two games was enough to see qualification to the knockout stages. The round of 16 handed the Blades an away trip to face Derby County at Loughborough University Stadium. Despite the problems facing the Rams, their U23 side were still formidable opponents, competing in the top flight of the category 1 academy league system. The Blades gave it a good go though, taking them to extra time before succumbing to a 4-3 defeat and ending their campaign.
U18 Professional Development League (“U18PDL”)
The team continued the good form which had seen an unbeaten run of nine league games at the end of the previous season when the team finished just outside of the playoffs. Despite remaining unbeaten during the first ten games, seven ended all square and the team found themselves behind the frontrunners. But then the Blades went on an incredible run, winning twelve of their remaining thirteen games to win the North league title for the first time since 2017 and qualify for the national playoffs. The other game in that run was drawn, annoyingly due to an opposition equaliser deep into injury time! An incredible unbeaten league season. The Blades had home advantage in the playoff semi final and decided to play South runners-up, Colchester United, at Bramall Lane. Despite being 1-0 down at half time the Blades turned it on to win 5-1 and set up a final against South champions, Charlton Athletic. Again, the Blades had home advantage in the final which was played at Shirecliffe, and again, they were 1-0 down at half time and turned it around this time to win 2-1 and take the national championship, also for the first time since 2017.s I say quite a number moved between u16-u18-u23 action so a number are interchangeable.
FA Youth Cup (“FAYC”)
The Blades entered the competition at the third round stage and Bramall Lane saw a tie against fellow category two academy, Millwall. After 90 minutes and, subsequently, 120 couldn’t find a winner, the match went to penalties, Cal Hiddleston was the hero, keeping three out in a 6-5 victory. The fourth round saw a tough trip to Goodison Park against category 1 academy, Everton. Despite a brave performance including a late goal from Sai Sachdev, the Blades went out 2-1. U18 Professional
Development League Cup (“U18PDLC”)
The U18s were placed in a group with Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Peterborough United. Playing each opponent just once, the Blades struggled and finally crashed out of the competition, finishing bottom of the group with just a solitary point.
U23
U18
A huge thanks to @goodpinch (twitter handle) for his help in some of this section and as always has helped me a fair bit to fill in the gaps etc. Indeed, a good section of below was taken from @goodpinch who gave me lots of details on the competitions, form and players! He gave me all the details on competitions, how the teams fared at each age group and all the player stats. Fantasitc research!
Also, the brilliant roster that Ball_Sup completes and updates. Most of the factual stuff comes from them- the opinions on players are from myself! However, I would not have been able to do the below without their help!
The sides a U23 and u18 level have been very successful in what they have done in terms of results, performances and player production up the age groups if you like. Granted we would prefer to be playing better teams at this level but can only beat what you are up against and to be top of both age groups is quite an achievement. We have had long unbeaten runs at both levels too. This is all against a backdrop of a number of players going on loan or being involved in the first team. The net effect is the u18’s move up to the u23’s and this makes the results even more incredible. Big credit to the coaches and the players. Yes, it is often seen as about preparing players and trying to find 1st team talent but even at the big clubs not everyone breaks through. If you get one player from a squad/age group to be a regular eventually at first team level then you have done well. We of course have to compete with a number of clubs who have better set ups and facilities.
Overcoming these inferior facilities and not being a Grade 1 Academy is going to be a challenge but as Lester and Geary have pointed out the coaching quality will remain high throughout the levels even if we don’t have the best pitches/changing rooms and gymnasiums/hydrotherapy etc.
The fact the Academy is Category B when most at this level and some lower is Category A means we are not going to get the top talent and teams like Burnley and Leeds are both now Category A. However, with the reputation of the club’s production and the coaches there present hopefully if we can move into the next level, we can produce top level players again. That has to be way forward. Despite some feeling we have not had as many come through in recent years, we do not realise how well we did to produce Maguire, Walker, Brooks, Calvert Lewin, Ramsdale etc. Jebbison, Gordon, Seriki have all played first team games for players that are very young and all came through the ranks even if signed from other academies. I saw a stat after the Bournemouth game that saw we had gone 94 games where we had a player who came through the academy (so they count Sharp/Ramsdale even though they left and came back) either starting or coming off the bench and this game saw this run ended. That is still quite a stat and wonder how many other teams could have such a ‘run.’ There are clearly things working well but it is just frustrating we cannot make that next step in terms of level they play at and the facilities. This would help us attract even more talent.
Derek Geary ran the u18’s for a few years and then when Lester was elevated to the first team was named head of the academy operations but despite this different overseeing role, he seemed to be still managing/coaching the u18’s? I am assuming that is not the plan longer term but not heard of a new u18 coach being appointed? The game I saw Geary was very much still running things on the touchline.
At the U23 level since Heckingbottom has moved on, United named Michael Collins as the coach at this level. Collins had a brief spell as Bradford manager and seems to have hit the ground running with results and performance. It is probably forgotten about as we have not seen him involved day to day or heard from him but we appointed Adie Boothroyd as a coach/mentor and consultant. His last job in league football he was sacked by Northampton and had struggled to get results out of a talented England U21 side. However, Lester recently said this about Boothroyd, Lester added: "He's a soundboard for Del because he's had those top managerial positions. He's a soundboard for Micky because he's done that level with England. He sits with staff and sees where they want to go and what they want to be. He sits with players; he coaches in the morning and assists Micky in the afternoon with the sessions. He does a bit of everything. He's been a busy man. He loves it and he's impressed with our academy. To be fair, a lot of people are when they come and see how we work."
Some of the u18’s/u23’s interchange – many are at different points buts it’s not uncommon for players to feature for both too and of course some have been around the first team. We have not used many senior players as overage players for the u23’s but not many teams too. I recall Stevens playing in a game and also Guedioura and Norrington Davies featuring too for a game. Also featuring were Jebbison and Ndiaye but have not included any what I would term ‘first team pool’ players in the section below.
---
Season summaries
The Blades continued to run an Elite Player Performance Plan Category 2 academy and therefore its younger pros and scholars once again competed at both U23 and U18 age categories in the Premier League's Professional Development League. This season there were 17 clubs with Category 2 academies, split into two regional sections - North and South. The Blades were placed in the North section and played the other seven teams in their section home and away, plus the nine teams in the South section once - a total of 23 league games. The two teams finishing highest in the two sections qualified for the playoffs to determine the national champions. The U23s made a return to the Premier League Cup, a competition mainly for those Category 1 clubs who aren’t playing in UEFA youth competitions but with a number of invited non-Category 1 clubs to make up the numbers. As for the U18s, alongside the 70th annual FA Youth Cup, they also took part in the inaugural League Cup.
Competitions
U23 Professional Development League (“U23PDL”)
The Blades set about defending their title with a very good return of six wins and two draws from the opening ten games before Heckingbottom moved into his first team role. Micky Collins took temporary charge for the next couple of games which saw a win and a defeat before he was given the role permanently. In the remaining games of the season, the Blades took 25 of a possible 33 points to win the North title for a successive season and qualify for the national playoffs. The Blades had home advantage in the semi final and decided to play South runners-up, Bristol City, at the York Community Stadium. Unfortunately Bristol City won the tie 1-0 with an 89th minute goal, ending the Blades season.
Premier League Cup (“PLC”)
The U23s were placed in a group with two category 1 academies, Burnley and Everton, together with category 2 newcomers, Peterborough United. Playing each opponent home and away, the Blades found themselves bottom of the group with just one win from the first four games. However, victories in the final two games was enough to see qualification to the knockout stages. The round of 16 handed the Blades an away trip to face Derby County at Loughborough University Stadium. Despite the problems facing the Rams, their U23 side were still formidable opponents, competing in the top flight of the category 1 academy league system. The Blades gave it a good go though, taking them to extra time before succumbing to a 4-3 defeat and ending their campaign.
U18 Professional Development League (“U18PDL”)
The team continued the good form which had seen an unbeaten run of nine league games at the end of the previous season when the team finished just outside of the playoffs. Despite remaining unbeaten during the first ten games, seven ended all square and the team found themselves behind the frontrunners. But then the Blades went on an incredible run, winning twelve of their remaining thirteen games to win the North league title for the first time since 2017 and qualify for the national playoffs. The other game in that run was drawn, annoyingly due to an opposition equaliser deep into injury time! An incredible unbeaten league season. The Blades had home advantage in the playoff semi final and decided to play South runners-up, Colchester United, at Bramall Lane. Despite being 1-0 down at half time the Blades turned it on to win 5-1 and set up a final against South champions, Charlton Athletic. Again, the Blades had home advantage in the final which was played at Shirecliffe, and again, they were 1-0 down at half time and turned it around this time to win 2-1 and take the national championship, also for the first time since 2017.s I say quite a number moved between u16-u18-u23 action so a number are interchangeable.
FA Youth Cup (“FAYC”)
The Blades entered the competition at the third round stage and Bramall Lane saw a tie against fellow category two academy, Millwall. After 90 minutes and, subsequently, 120 couldn’t find a winner, the match went to penalties, Cal Hiddleston was the hero, keeping three out in a 6-5 victory. The fourth round saw a tough trip to Goodison Park against category 1 academy, Everton. Despite a brave performance including a late goal from Sai Sachdev, the Blades went out 2-1. U18 Professional
Development League Cup (“U18PDLC”)
The U18s were placed in a group with Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Peterborough United. Playing each opponent just once, the Blades struggled and finally crashed out of the competition, finishing bottom of the group with just a solitary point.
U23
Player Statistics
(Updated 5th May)Player | Starts | Subs | Goals |
| Tom Angell | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Oliver Arblaster | 18 | 1 | 2 |
| Hassan Ayari | 14 | 6 | 7 |
| Jean Belehouan | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhian Brewster | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Andre Brooks | 26 | 2 | 3 |
| Zak Brunt | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| Jili Buyabu | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Angelo Cappello | 21 | 0 | 4 |
| Harvey Cullinan | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| George Dickinson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Miguel Freckleton | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Leo Gaxha | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Nickseon Gomis | 27 | 0 | 1 |
| Kyron Gordon | 14 | 0 | 4 |
| Kamarl Grant | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Adlene Guedioura | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Antwoine Hackford | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Owen Hampson | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kurtis Havenhand | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Daniel Jebbison | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Kacper Lopata | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Lankshear | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| Frankie Maguire | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| Louie Marsh | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Iliman N'Diaye | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Harrison Neal | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhys Norrington-Davies | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| William Osula | 8 | 2 | 9 |
| Sydie Peck | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| Finley Potter | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sai Sachdev | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Femi Seriki | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Regan Slater | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Josh Smith | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Smith | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Charlie Staniland | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Enda Stevens | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Starbuck | 19 | 1 | 1 |
| Trialist | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Luther Williams | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Theo Williams | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Goalie | Starts | Sub | Clean Sheets | Conc |
| Jordan Amissah | 9 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Marcus Dewhurst | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Jake Eastwood | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Cal Hiddleston | 12 | 0 | 6 | 14 |
U18
Player Statistics
(Updated 11th May)Player | Starts | Subs | Goals |
| Beau Anderson | 16 | 0 | 1 |
| Tom Angell | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Oliver Arblaster | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Sam Aston | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Tyrese Bailey-Green | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Barratt | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Billy Blacker | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| George Dickinson | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| Ben Drake | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Antwoine Hackford | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Owen Hampson | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| Kurtis Havenhand | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Will Lankshear | 16 | 3 | 20 |
| Brandon Ly | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Fernando Macedo | 11 | 5 | 3 |
| Louie Marsh | 14 | 1 | 4 |
| Johnny Oluleye | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Sydie Peck | 16 | 0 | 10 |
| Finley Potter | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Levis Pitan | 19 | 1 | 1 |
| Sai Sachdev | 17 | 1 | 2 |
| Ethan Slater | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Smith | 22 | 1 | 8 |
| Charlie Staniland | 20 | 2 | 0 |
| Trialist | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Waldron | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Luther Williams | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Theo Williams | 24 | 0 | 8 |
Goalie | Starts | Sub | Clean Sheets | Conc |
| Luke Faxon | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Henry Hampshaw | 15 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| Cal Hiddleston | 10 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
