| Full name | Leeds United Football Club Under-21s | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Whites | ||
| Founded | 1919 (1919) | ||
| Ground | Thorp Arch | ||
| Capacity | N/A | ||
| Owner | 49ers Enterprises | ||
| Chairman | Paraag Marathe | ||
| Manager | Scott Gardner | ||
| League | Premier League 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Premier League 2, 24th of 26 | ||
| Website | leedsunited | ||
|
| |||
Leeds United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Leeds United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team.
As of the 2023–24 season, they play in the Premier League 2 : Division 1, the top tier of the Professional Development League, following promotion from Division 2 of the 2022–23 Professional U21 Development League.[1]
History
The under-23s replaced the club's under-21 team in 2016, which had replaced the reserve team in 2012 following the English game's reform of the youth football and the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan. The club was initially awarded Category Two status but upgraded to Category One in 2020.[2]
Player eligibility
For the 2025–26 season player eligibility is restricted to under-21 players born after 1 January 2004. Only players born after 1 January 2007 (primarily scholars), are eligible to play for the Under 18s.
Current players
Italics denotes player has received a call up to the international age group squad but did not or has yet to receive a cap at that level.
| Young Professionals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nat. | Num. | Name | Place of Birth | Date of Birth | Pos. | International | Other | ||
 |
63 | Alex Baird | England | (2007-08-01) 1 August 2007 | GK | ||||
 |
58 | Robbie Cook | Australia | (2007-01-27) 27 January 2007 | GK | ||||
 |
48 | Rory Mahady | Kirkcaldy, Scotland | (2006-08-16) 16 August 2006 | GK | Scotland U21 | |||
|
56 | Darryl Ombang | Leeds, England | (2005-07-11) 11 July 2005 | GK | England U17 | |||
|
57 | Coban Bird | Pontefract, England | (2006-11-05) 5 November 2006 | DF | ||||
|
51 | Alfie Cresswell | England | (2007-07-14) 14 July 2007 | DF | ||||
|
71 | Louie Dudley | England | (2007-11-13) 13 November 2007 | DF | ||||
 |
62 | Louis Enahoro-Marcus | Benin City, Nigeria | (2006-09-06) 6 September 2006 | DF | ||||
 |
65 | Jayden Lienou | Wigan, England | (2008-04-08) 8 April 2008 | DF | Wales U19 | |||
|
53 | Reuben Lopata-White | Bradford, England | (2005-09-26) 26 September 2005 | DF | ||||
|
Leonard Ngenge | Lagos, Nigeria | (2007-09-12) 12 September 2007 | DF | Nigeria | ||||
|
47 | Rhys Chadwick | England | (2007-02-19) 19 February 2007 | MF | ||||
|
42 | Sam Chambers | Huddersfield, England | (2007-03-10) 10 March 2007 | MF | Scotland U19 | |||
|
50 | Charlie Crew | Cardiff, Wales | (2006-06-15) 15 June 2006 | MF | Wales | |||
 |
Edward Ibrovic-Fletcher | Leeds, England | (2008-09-26) 26 September 2008 | MF | Serbia U18 | ||||
|
55 | Josh McDonald | Scotland | (2007-03-06) 6 March 2007 | MF | Scotland U17 | |||
|
60 | Harvey Vincent | England | (2007-03-20) 20 March 2007 | MF | England U16 | |||
|
45 | Harry Gray | England | (2008-10-08) 8 October 2008 | FW | England U17 | |||
| 2026–27 Out on Loan | |||||||||
| 2025–26 2nd Year Scholars | |||||||||
|
74 | George Kenyon | England | (2008-03-23) 23 March 2008 | GK | ||||
|
72 | Will Firth | Australia | (2007-09-11) 11 September 2007 | DF | ||||
|
73 | Josh Hamilton | England | (2007-09-15) 15 September 2007 | DF | England U17 | |||
 |
— | Luke Matykiewicz | England | (2007-09-02) 2 September 2007 | DF | Northern Ireland U19 | |||
|
— | Jack Morris | England | (2008-01-25) 25 January 2008 | DF | ||||
|
75 | Freddie Lane | England | (2007-09-24) 24 September 2007 | MF | ||||
|
78 | Ollie Pickles | England | (2007-10-11) 11 October 2007 | MF | ||||
|
79 | Jacob Render | England | (2008-03-20) 20 March 2008 | MF | ||||
|
— | Elton Simo | England | (2008-06-11) 11 June 2008 | MF | ||||
| 2025–26 1st Year Scholars | |||||||||
|
95 | Oliver Wood | England | GK | |||||
|
— | Isaac Bridge | England | DF | |||||
|
86 | Jacob Howard | England | (2009-03-29) 29 March 2009 | DF | England U17 | |||
|
— | Miller Megson | England | (2009-03-25) 25 March 2009 | DF | ||||
|
91 | Louie Philpott | England | (2009-08-26) 26 August 2009 | DF | ||||
|
— | Aiden Thompson | England | (2008-12-19) 19 December 2008 | DF | ||||
|
— | Jacob Watson | England | DF | |||||
|
— | Sam Alker | England | (2009-03-13) 13 March 2009 | MF | England U16 | |||
 |
— | Joe Bhaskaran | England | MF | |||||
|
— | Edward Ibrović-Fletcher | Leeds, England | (2008-09-26) 26 September 2008 | MF | Serbia U19 | |||
 |
— | Marlon Mensah | England | MF | Austria U15 | ||||
|
89 | Callum Mills | England | (2008-09-19) 19 September 2008 | MF | ||||
 |
— | Kai Morrall | MF | Republic of Ireland U16 | |||||
|
94 | Loui Whitehead | England | (2008-12-05) 5 December 2008 | MF | ||||
 |
88 | Kenneth Mensah | England | FW | Italy U16 | ||||
 |
90 | Carrick Njinko | FW | ||||||
|
93 | Logan White | England | (2008-09-21) 21 September 2008 | FW | ||||
Graduates
The following list includes players who have graduated from Leeds' youth system to make their senior debut for the first team. Players who have represented their national team at senior level are highlighted in bold.[3][4]
- Harry Kewell
- Jamie McMaster
Kun Temenuzhkov- Tomi Ameobi
- Neil Aspin
- Lewis Bate
- Mick Bates
- David Batty
- Rod Belfitt
- Jason Blunt
- Rob Bowman
- Aiden Butterworth
- Sam Byram
- Alex Cairns
- Scott Carson
- Oliver Casey
- Jack Charlton
- Jack Clarke
- Terry Connor
- Lewis Cook
- Terry Cooper
- Andy Couzens
- Lewie Coyle
- Charlie Cresswell
- Leif Davis
- James Debayo
- Fabian Delph
- Tyler Denton
- Cody Drameh
- Ryan Edmondson
- Tom Elliott
- Gareth Evans
- Mark Ford
- Jamie Forrester
- Scott Gardner
- Robbie Gotts
- Archie Gray
- Harry Gray
- Simon Grayson
- Jimmy Greenhoff
- Sam Greenwood
- Tony Hackworth
- Grenville Hair
- Peter Hampton
- Terry Hibbitt
- Jonny Howson
- Will Huffer
- Norman Hunter
- Mark Jackson
- Jack Jenkins
- Simon Johnson
- Matthew Kilgallon
- Tom Lees
- Aaron Lennon
- John Lukic
- Paul Madeley
- Lee Matthews
- James Milner
- Alex Mowatt
- Ben Parker
- Tom Pearce
- Kalvin Phillips
- Paul Robinson
- Paul Reaney
- Frazer Richardson
- Scott Sellars
- Jamie Shackleton
- Kevin Sharp
- Paul Shepherd
- Alan Smith
- Peter Swan
- Charlie Taylor
- Mark Tinkler
- Simon Walton
- Noel Whelan
- Mallik Wilks
- Jonathan Woodgate
Ronaldo Vieira
Clarke Oduor
Pascal Struijk- Wesley Boyle
- Alfie McCalmont
- Bailey Peacock-Farrell
Tommy Knarvik- Robert Bayly
- Ian Harte
- Denis Irwin
- Gary Kelly
- Andy Keogh
- Simon Madden
- Alan Maybury
- Stephen McPhail
- Terry Phelan
- John Sheridan
- Eoghan Stokes
- Aidy White
Dominic Poleon- Billy Bremner
- Sam Chambers
- Andy Gray
- Eddie Gray
- Frank Gray
- David Harvey
- Peter Lorimer
- Stuart McKinstry
- Martin Woods
- Tommy Wright
Mateo Joseph- John Charles
- Charlie Crew
- Chris Dawson
- Neil Edwards
- Carl Harris
- Niall Huggins
- Matthew Jones
- Gary Speed
- Gary Sprake
- Byron Stevenson
- Terry Yorath
Other Professionals
- Adam Berry
- Shane Cansdell-Sherriff
- Bobby Kamwa
- Daniel Batty
- James Baxendale
- David Brown
- Liam Darville
- Max Dean
- Kevin Dixon
- Matty Edwards
- Josh Falkingham
- Craig Farrell
- Martin Foster
- Luke Garbutt
- Ben Gordon
- Will Hatfield
- Sean Hessey
- Sam Hird
- Elliot Kebbie
Nohan Kenneh- Liam Kitching
- Nathan Lowndes
- Sean McGurk
- Tom Newey
- Paul Pettinger
- Jamie Price
- Danny Rose
- Neil Ross
- Gavin Rothery
- John Scales
- David Seaman
- Harpal Singh
- Matthew Smithard
- George Swan
- Tom Taiwo
- James Tavernier
- Danny Ward
- Michael Woods
Adam Priestley- Romario Vieira
- Warren Feeney
- Alan Cawley
- Barry Corr
- Caleb Folan
- Paul Keegan
- Damian Lynch
- Henry McStay
- Ian Morris
- Tom Cairney
- Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen
- Oli McBurnie
- Andrew Milne
- Kevin Smith
- Jamie Winter
Chad Harpur- Max McMillan
- Kevin Aherne-Evans
- Lawrence Davies
- Ryan Nicholls
- Craig Stiens
Ethan Kachosa
Honours
Reserves
League
- The Central League (Tier 1) Winners (2): 1936–37, 1997–98
- The Central League, Division One East (Tier 2) Winners (2): 2008–09, 2009–10
Cup
- West Riding Senior Cup Winners (2): 1926–27, 1963–64
Under 23s
League
- Premier League 2 Division 2 Champions (1): 2020–21
- Professional Development League National Champions (1): 2018–19
- Professional Development League North Division Champions (1): 2018–19
Under 21s
Cup
- National League Cup Winners (1): 2024–25
Under 18s
League
- U18 Professional Development League North Division Champions (1): 2012–13
- U18 Professional Development League North Division Champions (1): 2017–18
Cup
- FA Youth Cup Winners (2): 1992–93, 1996–97
Under 17s
League
- FA Premier Academy League (Tier 1) Winners (1): 2002–03
Cup
- Milk Cup Winners (1): 2002
Academy coaching staff
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Academy Manager | Adam Underwood[5] |
| Head of Academy Coaching | Andy Foster |
| Head Of National Academy Recruitment | Lyndon Tomlinson |
| Head Of Emerging Talent | Craig Dean |
| Under 21s Manager | Paco Gallardo |
| Under 21s Coach | Michael Pujdak |
| Under 18s Manager | Graft |
| Under 18s Coach | Rob Etherington |
Academy Directors
| From | To | Name | Notes |
| 1992 | 1997 | Paul Hart | |
| 1998 | 2000 | Alan Hill | |
| 1999 | 2000 | Steve Beaglehole | Assistant |
| 2000 | 2001 | Brian Kidd | |
| 2000 | 2001 | Clive Richards | Assistant |
| 2001 | 2005 | Gary Worthington | Assistant |
| 2002 | 2004 | Andy Ritchie | |
| 2004 | 2010 | Neil Thompson | |
| 2009 | 2010 | Daral Pugh | Assistant |
| 2010 | 2011 | Gwyn Williams | Acting |
| 2011 | 2012 | Chris Sulley | |
| 2012 | 2015 | Steve Holmes | |
| 2015 | 2016 | Paul Hart |
Development Squad
| From | To | Name | Notes |
| 2012 | 2014 | Neil Redfearn | |
| 2014 | 2015 | Jason Blunt | Acting |
| 2015 | 2016 | Paul Hart | |
| 2016 | 2017 | Jason Blunt | Under 23s Coach |
| 2017 | 2020 | Carlos Corberán | Under 23s Coach |
| 2020 | 2022 | Mark Jackson | Under 23s Coach |
Reserves
| From | To | Name | Notes |
| 1948 | 1960 | Willis Edwards | |
| 1967 | 1975 | Cyril Patridge | |
| 1978 | 1980 | Bryan Edwards | |
| 1980 | 1991 | Peter Gunby | |
| 1995 | 1997 | David Williams | |
| 1997 | 1998 | Eddie Gray | |
| 2000 | 2003 | Lucas Murtagh | |
| 2003 | 2005 | Steve Agnew | |
| 2006 | 2006 | David Geddis | |
| 2006 | 2010 | Neil Thompson | |
| 2010 | 2012 | Neil Redfearn |
Under 19s & 17s and 18s & 16s
| From | To | Name | Position |
| 2000 | 2004 | Pop Robson | Under 17s Coach (2000–01), Under 19s Coach (2001–04) |
| 2006 | 2007 | Steve Agnew | Under 18s Coach |
| 2007 | Paul Beesley | Under 18s Coach | |
| 2007 | 2009 | Daral Pugh | Under 16s Coach Under 18s Coach (2007–09) |
| 2009 | 2012 | Neil Redfearn | Under 18s Coach |
| 2012 | 2014 | Richard Naylor | Under 18s Coach |
| 2014 | 2015 | Jason Blunt | Under 18s Coach |
| 2015 | 2016 | John Anderson | Under 18s Manager |
| 2016 | 2017 | Andy Gray | Under 18s Coach |
| 2016 | 2020 | Mark Jackson | Under 18s Coach |
| 2020 | present | Scott Gardner | Under 18s Coach |
References
- Leeds United under-21 promotion
- "The Premier League elite player performance plan – 'not perfect but lessons are being learned'". Leeds United. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- "Leeds United Player Statistics". Leedsfans.org.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- "Leeds Squad Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- Lee Sobot (21 July 2017). "Leeds United look to Cyprus for new development coach". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
External links
- Official Leeds United F.C. website – Reserve Player Profiles
- Official Leeds United F.C. website – Academy Player Profiles
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