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West Bromwich Albion F.C. Reserves and Academy

West Bromwich Albion Reserves and Academy are the youth teams of West Bromwich Albion. The reserve team is made up of under-23 players, and is effectively West Bromwich Albion's second-string side. The under-18 players among other younger age groups make up the academy team. They play in the Premier League 2 Division 2, the second tier of reserve team football in England.

Academy staff and hierarchy[edit]

Position	Name
Academy Manager		Richard Stevens
Head of Academy Coaching		Mick Halsall
U-23s Manager		Richard Beale
U-23s Coach		Chris Brunt
U-23s Coach		Deon Burton
U-18s Manager		Leigh Downing
Professional Phase Goalkeeping Development Coach		Boaz Myhill
Head of Academy Recruitment		Tom Brady

History[edit]

In the 1882–83 season, Albion fielded a reserve side for the first time; the club's second team played 24 matches and went through the season undefeated.^[1] Due to the club's financial situation, the reserves had their wages halved early in the 1885–86 season, and by January 1886 the payments made to reserve players were withdrawn altogether. This resulted in Albion's second team refusing to play against Small Heath Alliance and the game was cancelled. Some of the players were suspended as a result of their actions, but were later re-instated.^[2] The Albion reserves first competed in The Central League in 1921 and won the competition seven times.^[3]

Albion's Youth team first entered the FA Youth Cup in 1952–53. In their first game in the competition, they defeated Brush Sports by a 10–1 scoreline.^[4] They reached the final in 1954–55 and 1968–69, losing to Manchester United and Sunderland respectively. Albion won the competition for the only time in their history in 1975–76, beating local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers 5–0 on aggregate in the two-legged final. Albion came close to reaching the final of the competition during the 2018–19 season after an impressive cup run for the first time in 43 years, only to lose to Manchester City 4–2 in the semi-final under youth coach Mike Scott. Albion would have another successful cup run in 2020-21 season only to lose to Aston Villa in the semi-final 4–1. Albion won the U23s Premier League Cup for the first time in their history under Richard Beale during the 2021-22 season beating local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in a penalty shootout 5–4.^[5] Since April 2013, the club's academy has been based in the former Tom Silk Building in Halfords Lane, close to The Hawthorns.^[6]

Academy squads[edit]

Under-23 squad[edit]

As of 10 Jul 2024^[7]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 MF  ENG Harry Whitwell 38 MF  ENG Akeel Higgins 41 FW  ENG Layton Love 42 DF  ENG Josh Shaw 43 DF  ENG Reece Hall 44 GK  WAL Ronnie Hollingshead 45 MF  ENG Kevin Mfuamba 46 FW  ENG Reyes Cleary 47 MF  ENG Fenton Heard — GK  ENG Ben Cisse

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ITA Muhamed Diomande — DF  ENG Evan Humphries — DF  ENG Jamal Mohammed — DF  ENG Deago Nelson — DF  WAL Alex Williams — MF  ENG Archie Kirton — MF  ENG Matthew Richards — FW  SCO Eseosa Sule — FW  ENG Adriel Walker

Out on loan[edit]

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

Under-18 squad[edit]

As of 6 Jul 2024^[8]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  IRL Louis Brady — GK  ENG Liam Wilkes — DF  ENG Abdul Abudu — DF  ENG Idrissa Dauda — DF  NZL Noah DuPont — DF  ENG Adam Letlat — DF  ENG Alfie Maughan — DF  WAL Rhys Morrish — DF  ENG Corey Sears — MF  ENG Sam Beedie

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Charlie Blackshields — MF  ENG Fran Cherchi — MF  ENG Matthew Crowther — MF  ENG Cole Deeming — MF  AUT Souleyman Mandey — MF  ENG Rio Parmar — FW  WAL Ollie Bostock — FW  ENG Dan Chimeziri — FW  ENG Adam Okorodudu — FW  ENG Divine Onyemachi

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• West Bromwich Albion Under-23s at wba.co.uk
• West Bromwich Albion Under-18s at wba.co.uk