Leicester City F.C. Under-21s

Full name	Leicester City Football Club Under-21s and Academy
Nickname(s)	The Foxes
Ground	Leicester City F.C. Training Ground, Seagrave
Capacity	499
Owner	King Power
Chairman	Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
Manager	Ben Petty (Under-21s) Adam Barradell (Under-18s) Matt Goodwin (Under-16s)
League	Premier League 2 and Premier League U18
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Leicester City Under-21s are the former reserve team of Leicester City. The team mainly consists of under-21 players at the club, although senior players occasionally play in the reserve side, for instance when they are recovering from injury. The Under-21s team are managed by Ben Petty and they play in Premier League 2.

Leicester City F.C. Academy are the youth team of Leicester City directed by Jon Rudkin and managed by Adam Barradell. Leicester City's academy has held Category 1 status under the Elite Player Performance Plan since July 2013.

History

Although less famous than the likes of Manchester United or West Ham United's youth systems, the Leicester City Academy has been one of the more productive academies in the East Midlands. England internationals Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker, David Nish, Steve Whitworth, Emile Heskey, Ben Chilwell and Harvey Barnes as well as Don Revie, who played for and managed England^[1] all began their careers with the Foxes. Frank McLintock, a Scottish international, former footballer of the year and a double winning captain with Arsenal, who was described by Bob Paisley as the "player of the decade" at the end of the 1970s also came through the Foxes' ranks.^[2] Leicester's all-time top appearance makers Graham Cross and Sep Smith were also among notable products of the academy.

On 8 April 2013, Leicester City Under 21s won the newly formed 2012–13 Professional Development League 2 with a game to go, qualifying for the knockout stage.^[3] However they exited the national play-off at the semi-final stage, after losing 3–2 to Cardiff.^[4]

On 26 May 2013, the Leicester City Development Squad & Academy won the HKFC International Soccer Sevens cup, beating Newcastle United Reserves and Academy 2–0 thanks to goals from Michael Cain and Harry Panayiotou. The latter also went on to win player of the tournament.^[5] On 4 July, it was announced that Leicester City's academy had been awarded category one status, the highest level under the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan.^[6]

By finishing 6th in the 2013–14 Professional U21 Development League, Leicester City U21s qualified for the inaugural, 2014–15 edition, of the Premier League International Cup, being drawn in Group C with Manchester City, Benfica and Schalke 04.^[7] On 24 November 2014, Leicester City U21s became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals, after defeating Schalke 04 and Benfica, both 2–0 at the King Power Stadium.^[8]

After having almost been relegated from Premier League 2 Division 1 in 2016–2017, Leicester Under 23s went on to finish third in PL2, while also getting to the semi-finals of the Premier League Cup.^[9] In addition, several of the under 23's gained first team experience under manager Claude Puel with Harvey Barnes and Hamza Choudhury playing prominent roles towards the end of the 2017–2018 season. This subsequently lead to Hamza Choudhury gaining his first England Under 21s cap during the Toulan Tournament.^[10]

On 13 June 2020 the club announced that long-serving coach Trevor Peake was stepping down from his role as Under-18s coach after 17 years of service.^[11] Former under 12–16 Youth Development Phase Coach Adam Barradell took responsibility of the Under-18s during the summer of 2020.^[12]

Having been in Premier League 2 Division 1 since its establishment as part of the Elite Player Performance Plan Leicester Under 23s were relegated to Division 2 on 10 May 2021 following a season that saw a number of under 23's players promoted to train with the first team due to a substantial injury list.^[13] However, following an expansion of Premier League 2 Division 2 to 14 clubs, Leicester Under 23s were reinstated to the top division for the upcoming 2021–2022 season despite finishing second from bottom during the previous season.^[14]

On 24 April 2023, after losing 1–4 against Everton, Leicester Under 23s were relegated to Division 2.^[15]

Players

Under-21s

As of 20 September 2023^[16][17]

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 Will Alves 38 MF  WAL Oli Ewing 39 FW  ZIM Tawanda Maswanhise 43 DF  IRL Shane Flynn 44 MF  ENG Sammy Braybrooke 46 MF  ENG Silko Thomas 47 MF  ENG Arjan Raikhy 48 DF  ENG Joe Wormleighton 49 FW  WAL Chris Popov 50 MF  ENG Henry Cartwright 52 DF  WAL Iestyn Hughes 54 FW  ENG Kian Pennant

No. Pos. Nation Player 55 DF  ENG Harvey Godsmark-Ford 56 DF  NED Paul Appiah 58 MF  JAM Brandon Cover 59 MF  BER Deniche Hill 61 GK  ENG Brad Young 64 DF  ENG Thomas Wilson-Brown 69 DF  ENG Mirsad Ali 70 MF  ENG Amani Richards 71 GK  IRL Arlo Doherty 74 DF  ENG Bobby Amartey 82 FW  NIR Reece Evans 85 MF  ENG Olabade Aluko

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 DF  ENG Lewis Brunt (at Mansfield Town until the end of the 2023–24 season) 57 MF  USA Zach Booth (at Volendam until the end of the 2023–24 season)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  GHA Nathan Opoku (at OH Leuven until the end of the 2023–24 season)

Under-18s

As of 28 June 2023^[18]

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  ENG Karl Daley 81 GK  ENG Harry French 68 DF  ENG Jahmari Lindsay — DF  ENG Bailey Aisthorpe — DF  ENG Jesper Kutshienza — DF  ENG Oliver Murch — DF  ENG Tom Sams

No. Pos. Nation Player 65 MF  ENG Ben Grist — MF  ENG Bradley Grant 67 MF  ENG Jack Lewis — MF  ENG Cody Read — FW  ENG Kartell Dawkins — FW  ENG Jahquan Springer

Staff

As of 6 October 2022^[19]

Academy Team Management Role Person Academy Director Jon Rudkin Academy Manager Ian Cawley Head of Academy Coach Development Paul Cheney Head of Academy Player Development Paul McGuiness Head of Education Matthew Clarke Lead Coach Under-21s Ben Petty Lead Pro Development Coach Under-18s Adam Barradell Lead Youth Development Coach Under-16s Matt Goodwin Assistant Lead Youth Development Coach Rodney Ballantine Academy Goalkeeper Coach Glyn Thompson Academy Strength and Conditioning Coach Michael Cheverton Head Academy Physiotherapist Ben Harwood Head of Academy Sports Science Kevin Paxton Academy Lead Sport Scientist Gary Capes Academy Lead Performance Analyst Ryan DeFreitas Academy Head Scout Bill Wall Loans Manager Robert Huth

Notable Graduates

Current Leicester City players in bold. Year of senior debut given in parentheses.

Honours

References