The Youth Of Today

United’s youth revival signals a cultural shift – but can it survive success?

In the 34th minute of what had, up to that point, been a fairly low-key League Two encounter between Cambridge United and Crewe Alexandra in late November, Mamadou Jobe was summoned from the bench to replace the injured Michael Morrison.

The substitution in itself was not particularly notable; players, especially those of Morrison’s vintage, pick up injuries all the time in the depths of the League Two winter. What was perhaps more significant was that it meant the U’s had three academy graduates - Jobe, George Hoddle, and Glenn McConnell - on the pitch at the same time. If you factor in Liam Bennett, not a player from the youth scheme per se, but one where United would rightly claim much credit for his development, and more than a third of the team had come through the ranks at the Abbey Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Ben Phillips

We all believe, in the Neil-olution?

It’s difficult to recall the last time this occurred in a meaningful fixture. You might even need to go back to the glory days of the Jezolution, when Jez George corralled a crop of his CRC graduates, including a young Josh Coulson and Luke Berry, into a functioning team that was just about able to secure enough points to stave off relegation from the Conference. Jordan Patrick’s winner against Hayes and Yeading in April 2011 will live long in the memory of the few who were in attendance.

United’s turn to youth goes against the grain in a division where squads are getting older as managers call on experienced heads. Indeed, with the honourable - and admirable - exception of November’s opponents Crewe (five youth products were in their starting lineup), no other team has fielded as many academy graduates as the U’s in League Two on that day.