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Liverpool F.C. Reserves and Academy

Liverpool F.C. Under 23s is the reserve & senior youth team of Liverpool F.C. It is the most senior level of the Liverpool academy beneath the first team. In the summer of 2012, the whole English reserve football system was overhauled and replaced with an Under 21 league system, the Professional Development League. Liverpool's reserve team became the Liverpool under 23 team and competes in the Professional Development League 1 which is also known by its sponsorship name of Barclays under 21 Premier League and Premier League 2. The team generally consists of Under-21 players at the club but at times senior players also play for the reserves when they are recuperating from injury. Following the introduction of new regulations from the 2012–13 season, only three outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 21 can play for the reserves regularly.

Liverpool F.C. Academy is the youth set up Liverpool Football Club. It trains players from the U6 age group^[1] up to the U21 squad. The academy has separate head coaches in charge of development in the U6-U9, U10-U11, U12-U14 and U15-U16 age groups. At U21 and U18 level there are dedicated coaching teams managed by Michael Beale with the U21 position vacant as of 2 March 2020. Alex Inglethorpe was promoted from U21 manager to Academy Director in the summer of 2014 and holds overall responsibility for operation of the academy. The academy has won the FA Youth Cup, a competition for players of age 15 to 18, four times in 1996, 2006, 2007 and 2019.

Liverpool F.C. Academy is considered to be one of the most productive football academies of the richer clubs both in England and in the world. Various current and past Liverpool players have graduated through the academy with the likes of Billy Liddell, Ronnie Moran, Ian Callaghan, Phil Thompson, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold, among many others.

Reserve team (Under 23s)[edit]

Liverpool Under 23s played in Premier League 2. The Reserves won the regional division title in 2000 and again 2008 winning also the national league that year. It competed in the Lancashire Combination from 1896 to 1911, with the exception of the 1898–99 season, in which it joined The Combination. From 1911 on, it took part in the Central League until becoming inaugural members of the Premier Reserve League North in 1999. The team also participated in the Liverpool Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup; the last time it took part in them was the 2009–10 season when it also won both competitions.

The last reserve team manager was Rodolfo Borrell, who was appointed in July 2011 and led the reserve team during its final season before taking over the newly formed under-21 side in July 2012. The reserves last played their home games at Prenton Park (the home of Tranmere Rovers);^[2] in previous seasons the team has also played at the club's academy, the Halliwell Jones Stadium (home of Warrington Wolves), Haig Avenue (the home of Southport), Totally Wicked Stadium (the home of St Helens R.F.C.) and the Racecourse Ground (home of Wrexham).

The most successful Liverpool Reserves manager was Roy Evans. Evans spent most of his playing career as a reserve team player, making only 11 appearances for the first team. After an injury ended his career in 1974, he was appointed manager of the reserves by Bob Paisley. Evans subsequently led the reserves to victory in a series of Central League championships, including three in his first three seasons, a four in a row sequence from 1978, and two more in the early 1980s. Throughout the history of Liverpool FC, many of the club's best known players have progressed through the reserve team. These include people who at one point were first team squad members including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Jamie Carragher and Raheem Sterling.

The Academy[edit]

In 1998, a new state-of-the-art Youth Academy was opened in Kirkby, Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. It replaced the older, more informal youth system, and enables the club to focus their youth development and scouting, employing new techniques and FA standards.

Scouts attend many local youth matches looking for talented boys. A boy will then be invited to attend training sessions at the Academy. They are currently taken in as young as the age of six. Former England International player Jamie Carragher started at Liverpool when he was aged just nine, with Michael Owen joining at eleven, and Steven Gerrard joining at the age of eight.^[3]

On the walls of the indoor centre hang the words 'Technique', 'Attitude', 'Balance', and 'Speed'. 'TABS' is the key word preached at The Academy.^[4] Academy director Alex Inglethorpe has said the remit of the academy is to produce physically, technically, tactically and mentally elite players with enough quality to represent the senior side in the Champions League.^[1] Liverpool won the 2005 Champions league with two locally born academy graduates starting in the final.

Academy partnerships[edit]

The Academy has a long-lasting affiliation with MTK Budapest's Sándor Károly Football Academy^[5] and maintains a number of football schools worldwide through partnerships with football clubs and commercial and sports organisations.^[6] LFC International Football Academy currently has branches in Scandinavia^[7] (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Gran Canaria during winter), America^[8] (Texas and Plymouth, the latter through an affiliate^[9] with CS United Soccer Club), Egypt^[10] (Cairo), South Africa^[11] (Durban and Johannesburg), China^[12] (Guilin), India^[13] (Pune, in cooperation with DSK Shivajians), and Japan^[14] (Tokyo). Previously schools were also run in Abuja, Belfast, Boston, Charlotte, Cyprus, Dublin, Hong Kong, Iceland, Jakarta, Katwijk, Lisbon, Madrid, Malta, Mumbai, Manila, Nairobi, Saint Vincent, and Singapore.^[6]

Academy squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 42 MF  ENG Bobby Clark 44 DF  ENG Luke Chambers 48 DF  ENG Calum Scanlon 49 FW  ENG Kaide Gordon 51 FW  IRL Trent Kone-Doherty 52 MF  ENG Isaac Mabaya 53 MF  ENG James McConnell 56 GK  CZE Vitezslav Jaros 57 DF  ENG Carter Pinnington 59 DF  WAL Terence Miles 60 DF  ENG Luca Furnell-Gill 63 DF  WAL Owen Beck 65 DF  ENG Amara Nallo 67 FW  WAL Lewis Koumas 68 MF  NIR Kieran Morrison 69 DF  ENG Josh Davidson 70 MF  ENG Tommy Pilling 74 GK  ENG Oscar Kelly 75 GK  POL Jakub Ojrzyński 76 FW  ENG Jayden Danns 77 DF  ENG James Norris 79 MF  ENG Dominic Corness 80 MF  ENG Tyler Morton 83 MF  WAL Thomas Hill 85 MF  ENG James Balagizi

No. Pos. Nation Player 86 FW  ENG Harvey Blair 87 FW  ENG Oakley Cannonier 88 DF  ENG Lucas Pitt 89 DF  FRA Billy Koumetio 90 DF  ENG Lee Jonas 91 MF  ENG Luca Stephenson 93 GK  POL Fabian Mrozek 95 GK  ENG Harvey Davies 98 MF  ENG Trey Nyoni 99 MF  ENG Afolami Onanuga — GK  ENG Nathan Morana — GK  POL Kornel Miściur — GK  ENG Jacob Poytress — GK  ENG Reece Trueman — DF  ESP Wellity Lucky — DF  NGA Louis Enahoro-Marcus — DF  ENG Harry Evers — MF  ENG Michael Laffey — MF  SKN Kyle Kelly — MF  ENG Emmanuel Airoboma — MF  ENG Ben Trueman — MF  ENG Clae Ewing — FW  ENG Ranel Young — FW  USA Keyrol Figueroa — FW  EGY Kareem Ahmed

Players listed in bold have made at least one senior first-team appearance.

Out on Loan[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Staff[edit]

Current coaching and medical staff[edit]

In addition, the Academy employ staff from the first-team.

Reserve team manager history[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Joe Fagan (1957–1974)

Roy Evans (1975–1984)

Chris Lawler (1984–1986)^[16]

Phil Thompson (1986–1992)

Sammy Lee (1993–1998)

Joe Corrigan (1998–2002)

Hughie McAuley (2003–2006)

Gary Ablett (2006–2009)

John McMahon (2009–2011)

José Segura (caretaker) (2011)

Rodolfo Borrell (2011–2012)

Alex Inglethorpe (2012–2014)

Michael Beale (2014–2016)

Mike Garrity (caretaker) (2016–2017)

Neil Critchley (2017–2020)

Barry Lewtas (2020–present)

Awards[edit]

Liverpool Academy Players' Player of the Year[edit]

Players in bold are still playing for Liverpool.

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Ref(s)
2013–14	Jordan Rossiter	England	Midfielder	[17][18]
2014–15	João Carlos Teixeira	Portugal	Midfielder	[19]
2015–16	Brad Smith	Australia	Defender	[20]
2016–17	Trent Alexander-Arnold	England	Defender	[21]
2017–18	Harry Wilson	Wales	Winger	[22]
2018–19	Not Awarded

Honours[edit]

*Asterisk denotes a shared title.

Noted graduates[edit]

Established at Liverpool[edit]

Liverpool's youth system has only seen moderate success over the years; with only a few players who have come through it have gone on to feature in the first-team. The following players have gone on to play over ten competitive matches for the first team.

Established elsewhere[edit]

Many of the former Liverpool youth and reserve team players have found success with other clubs. None of these players became established members of the Liverpool first team.

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Who's Who of Liverpool (2006): Tony Matthews
• LFCHistory.net

External links[edit]