Academy Manager, Dom Knighton, looks back on the 2023/24 season for Cambridge United Academy...
With the whole Academy now able to enjoy a well-deserved break throughout June, it provides a good opportunity to reflect on the past season.
This season we have seen four homegrown Academy graduates make their League One debuts for our Men’s First Team, which should provide inspiration for our young players within the programme and across the community.
We do however understand that the journey to success is non-linear, and we strive to continue to develop and implement a programme with this in mind. As an Academy, we are aiming to achieve 20% of First Team minutes made up of homegrown players by 2028. In season 2021/22 we achieved 2.7% and at the conclusion of 2023/24, we achieved 9.4% - demonstrating a positive upward curve and progress being made.
Academy Debuts
Glenn McConnell is a local lad who has developed all the way through our Academy and has received several international call-ups for the Republic of Ireland along the way.
He became the first player of our Academy players to make his League One debut this season, when he come on as a substitute away at Leyton Orient. He went on to make a handful of appearances throughout the season, positively impacting the game on each occasion, and giving U’s fans a glimpse of what he is capable of.
An unfortunate training ground injury put an end to Glenn’s campaign and demonstrated another example of the highs and lows that young footballer have to go through during a season, and the resilience required to overcome. After signing a new contract with the Club last month, Glenn will be raring to go ahead of 2024/25.
Like Glenn, Brandon Njoku also made his debut this season in the reverse fixture against Leyton Orient. He has had a different journey to this point, joining the club at 16 years old and having to move from Wembley to Cambridge following the conclusion of his GSCE’s.
He dealt with this major change seamlessly, adapting to a new city, new friends, and a new environment around the Club and within our education setting. Brandon has also spent a lot of time out on loan this season and while he has performed consistently, he has also had to demonstrate patience in awaiting First Team opportunities and we are pleased with how he has coped with this.
Following a successful loan spell with St Albans City in the Conference South, Second Year Scholar, George Hoddle was the fourth Academy player to make his debut away at Bristol Rovers. George was rewarded for his consistent performances whilst out on loan, in addition to his high training levels with the First Team. Alongside his football, George’s excellent work in the classroom has also stood out and he was rewarded with an inclusion in the LFE 11.
First Team Breakthroughs
Every individual journey and pathway to the First Team is different and Mamadou Jobe is a perfect example of this.
After joining the Academy as an Under 18, Mamadou’s path to the First Team was far from straight forward, as he was sent out on loan on five occasions and had to work his way up through the divisions. Last season he finally got his break, as he was recalled from his latest successful loan spell at Gateshead, and put straight into the starting XI away at Barnsley in a crucial 2-0 victory towards the end of the season. He played fantastically well over the course of the final month of the season, earning the First Team Player of the Month award.
First Team opportunities can happen straight away, or they can take time and require patience. Our players need to be able to handle either path and the experiences provided are vital to this part of their development. The way Mamadou came straight into the team was a credit first and foremost to himself, but also to the staff past-and-present who have worked closely with Mams, guiding him to this point.
Another huge First Team success story for the Academy is Liam Bennett, who was awarded Player of the Season. Liam has now made around 70 League One appearances and is a true professional who deserves everything that comes his way. His hard work and dedication to being the best he can be, consistently demonstrating unwavering self-belief is an inspiration to everyone. We could not wish for a better role model for our young Academy players.
Loans and Youth Cup
We have had 16 players experience senior loans across our Under 18s and Under 21s this season, providing excellent opportunities for our staff to watch players in environments that have stretched them holistically, in competitive environments. Our young players have been involved in cup finals, promotion fights, relegation battles and play-off competitions. These experiences cannot be replicated at Under 18 level.
We were disappointed to go out of the FA Youth Cup competition after extra-time against AFC Wimbledon this season, but the squad would have learnt so much from that game. Learning can happen in many different forms and one of our pillars is ensuring that we create challenge for our players. Although we never defer from wanting to win, we need to ensure that enough challenge exists to prepare our players for the next steps of their individual journey.
Schoolboy experiences
Although there are many success stories from our older age groups which are well publicised, our staff just as much pride and satisfaction supporting our younger players to achieve their potential while enjoying the journey they are on.
One area that we feel provides a truly exceptional and life changing experience for our players is the European Tour Programme. This season has seen the Academy attend eight tournaments across Denmark, Germany and Holland this season.
A real standout was attending the Pape Cup in Magdeburg, Germany for the 10th time, and our players walking out into the indoor arena in front of 6000 fans to compete against Europe’s elite. Part of our Academy Vision is creating lifelong memories and we are proud of the experiences our tours create.
New initiatives and opportunities
This season has also seen new initiatives launched such as our inaugural Academy Alumni Fixture, where we welcomed former Academy players back to the Club, to participate in a game of football hosted at the Club’s Training Ground.
The day was designed to officially launch our Alumni Programme, as we aim to reach far and wide to reconnect as many previous scholars as we can. We have also launched our parent forums this season, which has been introduced to increase communication with families across our younger age groups whilst continuing to look at innovative ways we can enhance their experiences.
We are also very grateful that this season we have also been welcomed into our brand-new training ground with state-of-the-art facilities, that will continue to benefit our young players for many years to come. The building has most certainly brought the Academy and First Team closer together and will continue to support the opportunities created for our young players.
Award Winners
This April we once again celebrated the holistic success of our scholars at the annual Terry Baker Awards evening. We celebrated all of our Second Year Scholars, whilst George Hoddle (Scholar of the Year), Liam Chadwick (Moment of the Year) and George Munday (Progress of the Year) picked up individual awards. We thank Valerie and the whole Baker family for their continued support of our Academy.
American Dreams
Whilst we have already reflected on internal pathways, it is also important to reflect on the external pathways that our Academy can support. Liam Chadwick departs the Academy at the conclusion of his scholarship and will be moving to America to commence a four-year scholarship at the University of Wisconsin, while competing for the Wisconsin Badgers in the D1 Big 10 Conference League. We believe that Liam can become a real inspiration for future Academy players by demonstrating the opportunities that are available.
Closing Notes
This Summer we see young professionals, Greg Sandiford, Harvey Beckett, Kai Yearn, Saleem Akanbi and Tom Finch departing the Club. These lads have progressed all the way through the Academy and we are very proud of the young men they have become. They all have very bright futures ahead of them. Dan Carey Evans, Patrick Staszewski, Mo Habib, Liam Chadwick and Ronan Ismaili will also be leaving at the conclusion of their scholarships.
We will continue to support every individual as they transition away from the Academy into their next steps. We are proud of each and everyone of them and thank them and their families for their commitment and support throughout their time at the Club. They have been inducted into the Academy Alumni and will always be welcome at Cambridge United.
Finally, I would like to thank our Academy Staff. We strive to recruit, develop and recognise our team of staff and are proud of our team. None of the above would be made possible without them consistently going above and beyond to support our players.
I hope everyone enjoys their break and we look forward to what we hope will be another successful 2024/25 season as we strive to enhance our Academy.