Leicester City F.C. Under-21s and Academy

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	Leon McSweeney (Under-21s) Adam Barradell (Under-18s) Matt Goodwin (Under-16s)
League	Premier League 2 and Premier League U18
Website	http://www.lcfc.co.uk
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 play in Premier League 2.

Leicester City F.C. Academy are the youth team of Leicester City directed by Jon Rudkin. 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 30 August 2024^[16][17]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 38 MF  WAL Oli Ewing 46 MF  ENG Arjan Raikhy 47 DF  ENG Joe Wormleighton 49 MF  ENG Henry Cartwright 50 DF  ENG Harvey Godsmark-Ford 53 MF  ENG Ben Grist 54 FW  ENG Kian Pennant 56 MF  BER Deniche Hill 57 DF  ENG Thomas Wilson-Brown

No. Pos. Nation Player 61 GK  ENG Harry French 62 MF  ENG Jayden Joseph 64 DF  ENG Bobby Amartey 66 MF  ENG Logan Briggs 69 DF  ENG Mirsad Ali 71 GK  RSA Stevie Bausor 77 MF  ENG Olabade Aluko 82 FW  NIR Reece Evans — FW  GHA Nathan Opoku

Out on loan

As of 26 July 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Silko Thomas (at Wigan Athletic until 30 June 2025) 48 FW  WAL Chris Popov (at Barrow until 30 June 2025) 51 GK  ENG Brad Young (at Hartlepool United until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player 55 MF  JAM Brandon Cover (at Port Vale until 30 June 2025) 58 FW  ENG Amani Richards (at Exeter City until 30 June 2025)

Under-18s

As of 10 July 2024^[18]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Lewis McNab 63 DF  NIR Liam McAlinney — DF  ENG Bade Aluko — DF  ENG Reiss Khela — DF  ENG Kevon Gray 59 DF  ENG Jahmari Lindsay 65 MF  ENG Toby Onanaye 86 MF  ENG Louis Page — MF  ENG Kaleb Dyke — MF  ENG Tommy Neale

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  NIR Ryan Donnelly — MF  ENG Jake Donohue — MF  ENG Alfie Fisken 91 FW  ENG Jake Evans 93 FW  ENG Jeremy Monga — FW  CIV Yassine Toure — FW  ENG Tristen Thomas — FW  ENG Kirsten Otchere — FW  ENG Cheyenne Loureiro 73 FW  CZE Josh King

Staff

As of 06 December 2024^[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 Vacant Head of Education Matthew Clarke Lead Coach Under-21s Leon McSweeney Lead Pro Development Coach Under-18s Adam Barradell Assistant Coach Under-18s Andy King 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 Vacant

Notable Graduates

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

• Sep Smith (1929)
• Don Revie (1945)
• Frank McLintock (1959)
• Graham Cross (1961)
• Peter Shilton (1966)
• David Nish (1966)
• Steve Whitworth (1970)
• Gary Lineker (1979)
• Emile Heskey (1995)
• Richard Stearman (2004)
• Conrad Logan (2005 for Boston United)
• Andy King (2007)
• Joe Mattock (2007)
• Max Gradel (2007 for Bournemouth)
• Billy Mckay (2008 for Hinckley United)
• Sam Clucas (2009 for Lincoln City)
• Jeffrey Schlupp (2011 for Brentford)
• Liam Moore (2011 for Bradford City)
• George Taft (2011 for Kettering Town)
• Ben Chilwell (2015)
• Hamza Choudhury (2016 for Burton Albion)
• Harvey Barnes (2016)
• Josh Knight (2019 for Peterborough United)
• Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (2020)
• Luke Thomas (2020)
• Calvin Bassey (2020 for Rangers)
• Leon James (2020 for Ratchaburi Mitr Phol)
• Sidnei Tavares (2021)
• Khanya Leshabela (2021)
• Kasey McAteer (2021)
• Wanya Marçal (2022)
• Jakub Stolarczyk (2022 for Dunfermline Athletic)
• Ben Nelson (2022 for Rochdale)

Honours

U21

• Premier League 2 Division 1
  • Runner-up: 2019–2020
• U21 Professional Development League 2 North Division
  • Winners (1): 2012–2013

Academy

• HKFC International Soccer Sevens
  • Shield Winners (1): 2011–2012
  • Cup Winners (2): 2012–2013, 2016–2017
  • Plate Winners (1): 2013–2014
• U15 Premier League Category 2 National Trophy
  • Winners (1): 2012–2013
• U16 Premier League Cup
  • Winners (1): 2023-2024

References

1. "Leicester City Academy chief proud of emerging talent". Leicester Mercury. 5 September 2009.
2. "English football Hall of Fame – Frank McLintock". National Football Museum. 2009.
3. "U21s Seal Top Spot With 3–0 Win". lcfc.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
4. "Under-21s Edged Out By Cardiff". lcfc.com. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
5. "Foxes Secure Hong Kong Sevens Crown". lcfc.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
6. "Leicester awarded Category One academy status". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
7. "Premier League International Cup launched". premierleague.com. 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
8. "Report: Leicester City 2 Benfica 0". lcfc.com. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
9. "Development Squad". lcfc.com. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
10. "Choudhury Makes Maiden England U21s Appearance". lcfc.com. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
11. "Trevor Peake: The Man Behind The Magic". lcfc.com. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
12. "'It's All About Performance For City's Under-18s'". lcfc.com. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
13. "Liverpool Defeat For City Under-23s in PL2". lcfc.com. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
14. "Man City begin PL2 title defence at Liverpool". premierleague.com. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
15. "Costly Everton Defeat For Young Foxes". LCFC.com. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
16. "LCFC Men U21s". Leicester City F.C. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
17. "Wigan Athletic vs Leicester City U21 live score, H2H results, standings and prediction". sofascore.com. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
18. "Leicester City retained list in full". LeicestershireLive. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
19. "Academy Staff". lcfc.com. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.