Liverpool F.C. Reserves and Academy

Liverpool Academy

Full name	Liverpool Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Mighty Reds
Founded	2014
Ground	The Academy, Kirkby
Manager	Barry Lewtas (U23) Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (U18)
League	Professional Development League 1
2021–22	4th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Liverpool F.C. Under 23s is the reserve & senior youth team of Liverpool F.C. It is the most senior level of the Liverpool academy beneath the first team. In the summer of 2012, the whole English reserve football system was overhauled and replaced with an Under 21 league system, the Professional Development League. Liverpool's reserve team became the Liverpool under 23 team and competes in the Professional Development League 1 which is also known by its sponsorship name of Barclays under 21 Premier League and Premier League 2. The team generally consists of Under-21 players at the club but at times senior players also play for the reserves when they are recuperating from injury. Following the introduction of new regulations from the 2012–13 season, only three outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 21 can play for the reserves regularly.

Liverpool F.C. Academy is the youth set up Liverpool Football Club. It trains players from the U6 age group ^[1] up to the U21 squad. The academy has separate head coaches in charge of development in the U6-U9, U10-U11, U12-U14 and U15-U16 age groups. At U21 and U18 level there are dedicated coaching teams managed by Michael Beale with the U21 position vacant as of 2 March 2020. Alex Inglethorpe was promoted from U21 manager to Academy Director in the summer of 2014 and holds overall responsibility for operation of the academy. The academy has won the FA Youth Cup, a competition for players of age 15 to 18, four times in 1996, 2006, 2007 and 2019.

Liverpool F.C. Academy is considered to be one of the most productive football academies of the richer clubs both in England and in the world. Various current and past Liverpool players have graduated through the academy, including Billy Liddell, Ronnie Moran, Ian Callaghan, Phil Thompson, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold, among many others.

Reserve team (Under 23s)

Liverpool Under 23s played in Premier League 2. The Reserves won the regional division title in 2000 and again 2008 winning also the national league that year. It competed in the Lancashire Combination from 1896 to 1911, with the exception of the 1898–99 season, in which it joined The Combination. From 1911 on, it took part in the Central League until becoming inaugural members of the Premier Reserve League North in 1999. The team also participated in the Liverpool Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup; the last time it took part in them was the 2009–10 season when it also won both competitions.

The last reserve team manager was Rodolfo Borrell, who was appointed in July 2011 and led the reserve team during its final season before taking over the newly formed under-21 side in July 2012. The reserves last played their home games at Prenton Park (the home of Tranmere Rovers); ^[2] in previous seasons the team has also played at the club's academy, the Halliwell Jones Stadium (home of Warrington Wolves), Haig Avenue (the home of Southport), Totally Wicked Stadium (the home of St Helens R.F.C.) and the Racecourse Ground (home of Wrexham).

The most successful Liverpool Reserves manager was Roy Evans. Evans spent most of his playing career as a reserve team player, making only 11 appearances for the first team. After an injury ended his career in 1974, he was appointed manager of the reserves by Bob Paisley. Evans subsequently led the reserves to victory in a series of Central League championships, including three in his first three seasons, a four in a row sequence from 1978, and two more in the early 1980s. Throughout the history of Liverpool FC, many of the club's best known players have progressed through the reserve team. These include people who at one point were first team squad members including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Jamie Carragher and Raheem Sterling.

The Academy

Main article: The Academy, Kirkby

The Academy

In 1998, a new state-of-the-art Youth Academy was opened in Kirkby, Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. It replaced the older, more informal youth system, and enables the club to focus their youth development and scouting, employing new techniques and FA standards.

Scouts attend many local youth matches looking for talented boys. A boy will then be invited to attend training sessions at the Academy. They are currently taken in as young as the age of six. Former England International player Jamie Carragher started at Liverpool when he was aged just nine, with Michael Owen joining at eleven, and Steven Gerrard joining at the age of eight. ^[3]

On the walls of the indoor centre hang the words 'Technique', 'Attitude', 'Balance', and 'Speed'. 'TABS' is the key word preached at The Academy. ^[4] Academy director Alex Inglethorpe has said the remit of the academy is to produce physically, technically, tactically and mentally elite players with enough quality to represent the senior side in the Champions League. ^[1] Liverpool won the 2005 Champions league with two locally born academy graduates starting in the final.

Academy partnerships

The Academy has a long-lasting affiliation with MTK Budapest's Sándor Károly Football Academy ^[5] and maintains a number of football schools worldwide through partnerships with football clubs and commercial and sports organisations. ^[6] LFC International Football Academy currently has branches in Scandinavia ^[7] (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Gran Canaria during winter), America ^[8] (Texas and Plymouth, the latter through an affiliate ^[9] with CS United Soccer Club), Egypt ^[10] (Cairo), South Africa ^[11] (Durban and Johannesburg), China ^[12] (Guilin), India ^[13] (Pune, in cooperation with DSK Shivajians), and Japan ^[14] (Tokyo). Previously schools were also run in Abuja, Belfast, Boston, Charlotte, Cyprus, Dublin, Hong Kong, Iceland, Jakarta, Katwijk, Lisbon, Madrid, Malta, Mumbai, Manila, Nairobi, Saint Vincent, and Singapore. ^[6]

Academy squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 51 FW   IRL Trent Kone-Doherty 52 MF   ENG Isaac Mabaya 53 MF   ENG James McConnell 57 DF   ENG Carter Pinnington 59 DF   WAL Terence Miles 60 DF   ENG Luca Furnell-Gill 61 MF   SKN Kyle Kelly 64 FW   USA Keyrol Figueroa 65 DF   ENG Amara Nallo 68 MF   NIR Kieran Morrison 69 DF   ENG Josh Davidson 70 MF   ENG Tommy Pilling 71 FW   ENG Jay Spearing 76 FW   ENG Jayden Danns 77 DF   ENG James Norris 79 MF   ENG Dominic Corness 83 MF   WAL Thomas Hill 85 MF   ENG James Balagizi 86 GK   ENG Reece Trueman 87 FW   ENG Oakley Cannonier 88 DF   ENG Lucas Pitt 89 DF   ENG DJ Esdaille 90 DF   ENG Lee Jonas 94 MF   ENG Michael Laffey

No. Pos. Nation Player 95 GK   ENG Harvey Davies 98 MF   ENG Trey Nyoni 99 MF   ENG Afolami Onanuga — GK   ENG Bailey Hall — GK   ENG Nathan Morana — GK   POL Kornel Miściur — GK   ENG Jacob Poytress — GK   ENG DJ Bernard — DF   ESP Wellity Lucky — DF   NGA Louis Enahoro-Marcus — DF   ENG Harry Evers — MF   ENG Emmanuel Airoboma — MF   ENG Ben Trueman — MF   ENG Clae Ewing — MF   ENG Scofield Lonmeni — MF   ENG Joe Upton — MF   ENG Oliver O'Connor — MF   ENG Joe Bradshaw — MF   ENG Ryan Cowley — FW   ENG Ranel Young — FW   EGY Kareem Ahmed — FW   WAL Prince Cissé — FW   ENG Josh Sonni-Lambie — FW   ENG Tyler Martin

Players listed in bold have made at least one senior first-team appearance.

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 44 DF   ENG Luke Chambers (at Wigan Athletic until 30 June 2025) [15] 48 DF   ENG Calum Scanlon (at Millwall until 30 June 2025) [16] 49 FW   ENG Kaide Gordon (at Norwich City until 30 June 2025) [17] 63 DF   WAL Owen Beck (at Blackburn Rovers until 30 June 2025) [18]

No. Pos. Nation Player 67 FW   WAL Lewis Koumas (at Stoke City until 30 June 2025) [19] 75 GK   POL Jakub Ojrzyński (at Spartakos Kitiou until 30 June 2025) [20] 91 MF   ENG Luca Stephenson (at Dundee United until 30 June 2025) [21] 93 GK   POL Fabian Mrozek (at Brommapojkarna until 1 January 2025) [22]

Staff

Current coaching and medical staff

Academy director: Alex Inglethorpe [23] Head of Academy business: Andrew Powlesland Head of Academy football operations: Nick Marshall Education manager: Caitlin Hawkins Academy player care manager: Marek Szmid Under 18 Education Officer: Ted Smith U23s manager: Barry Lewtas U23s goalkeeping coach: Mark Morris U18s manager: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson U18s and Academy goalkeeping coach: Neil Edwards U23s physiotherapist: Scott McAuley Head Academy physiotherapist & U23s head physio: Paul Kelly Head of Academy medical services: Brendan McCartan Performance coach: Yvie Ryan U18 assistant physiotherapist: Gregg Blundell U18 Lead physiotherapist: Phil Bolland Academy kit manager: Aubrey Rodgers U21 and loans physiotherapist: Tony Jones Head of pre-Academy recruitment: Steve Gorst Pre-Academy co-ordinator: Ricky Heywood Assistant Academy recruitment co-ordinator: Frederico Paciencia Academy U15 head coach : Lewis Nightingale Academy U14 head coach: Anthony Ryan Academy U12 head coach: Phil Charnock Academy U11 head coach: John Miles Academy U10 head coach: Josh Wesselby Academy U9 head coach: Gephte Mbolokele Head of coaching for foundation stage: John Thompson Assistant head of pre-Academy coach: Roy Smith Goalkeeping coach: Ian Dunbavin Lead pre-Academy coach: James Williams Nutritionist: Tom Maynard Academy advanced coaching centre of excellence: John Newby

In addition, the Academy employ staff from the first-team.

Reserve team manager history

• Bob Paisley (1954–1957)
• Joe Fagan (1957–1974)
• Roy Evans (1975–1984)
• Chris Lawler (1984–1986) ^[24]
• Phil Thompson (1986–1992)
• Sammy Lee (1993–1998)
• Joe Corrigan (1998–2002)
• Hughie McAuley (2003–2006)
• Gary Ablett (2006–2009)
• John McMahon (2009–2011)
• José Segura (caretaker) (2011)
• Rodolfo Borrell (2011–2012)
• Alex Inglethorpe (2012–2014)
• Michael Beale (2014–2016)
• Mike Garrity (caretaker) (2016–2017)
• Neil Critchley (2017–2020)
• Barry Lewtas (2020–present)

Awards

Liverpool Academy Players' Player of the Year

Players in bold are still playing for Liverpool.

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Ref(s)
2013–14	Jordan Rossiter	England	Midfielder	[25] [26]
2014–15	João Carlos Teixeira	Portugal	Midfielder	[27]
2015–16	Brad Smith	Australia	Defender	[28]
2016–17	Trent Alexander-Arnold	England	Defender	[29]
2017–18	Harry Wilson	Wales	Winger	[30]
2018–19	Not Awarded

Honours

Reserves League Champions The Central League: 16 (1956–57, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1989–90, Premier Reserve League National: 1 (2007–08) Premier Reserve League North: 2 (1999–2000, 2007–08) Lancashire Combination: 2 (1896–97, 1899–1900) Cup Winners Liverpool Senior Cup: 40 (1893, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1910*, 1912*, 1913, 1915, 1920, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1934*, 1936*, 1937, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1962, 1964*, 1968, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982*, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2010) Lancashire Senior Cup: 13 (1919, 1920*, 1924, 1931, 1933, 1944, 1947, 1956, 1959, 1973, 2010, 2017, 2022) Liverpool Challenge Cup: 4 (1954, 1959, 1960, 1961)

Youth League Champions Lancashire League Division One: 6 (1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1977–78, 1982–83) Lancashire League Division Two: 7 (1961–62, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1992–93) Lancashire League Division Three: 1 (1960–61) Cup Winners FA Youth Cup: 4 (1996, 2006, 2007, 2019) Liverpool Youth Cup: 3 (1954, 1956, 1958) Lancashire Division One League Cup: 3 (1960, 1966, 1967) Lancashire Division Two League Cup: 5 (1962, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1980) Lancashire Division Three League Cup: 1 (1961)

*Asterisk denotes a shared title.

Noted graduates

Established at Liverpool

Liverpool's youth system has only seen moderate success over the years; with only a few players who have come through it have gone on to feature in the first-team. The following players have gone on to play over ten competitive matches for the first team.

Pre-WW2 Harold Barton Cyril Done Alf Hanson Jack Parkinson Syd Roberts

1940s Bill Jones Billy Liddell Jimmy Payne Eddie Spicer

1950s Alan A'Court Eric Anderson Gerry Byrne Bobby Campbell Don Campbell Jimmy Melia Ronnie Moran Roy Saunders

1960s Alf Arrowsmith Phil Boersma Ian Callaghan Bobby Graham Chris Lawler Ian Ross Tommy Smith Phil Thompson

1970s Jimmy Case David Fairclough Colin Irwin Sammy Lee John McLaughlin

1980s Gary Ablett Mike Marsh Steve Staunton Ronnie Whelan

1990s Jamie Carragher Robbie Fowler Steven Gerrard Dominic Matteo Steve McManaman Michael Owen David Thompson Stephen Wright

2000s Dani Pacheco Darren Potter Emiliano Insúa Jay Spearing Martin Kelly Neil Mellor Stephen Warnock

2010s Andre Wisdom Brad Smith Jack Robinson Jon Flanagan Jordon Ibe Pedro Chirivella Raheem Sterling Suso Sheyi Ojo Trent Alexander-Arnold Ben Woodburn Curtis Jones Neco Williams Caoimhín Kelleher

2020s Nathaniel Phillips Rhys Williams Conor Bradley Stefan Bajcetic Bobby Clark Jarell Quansah

Established elsewhere

Many of the former Liverpool youth and reserve team players have found success with other clubs. None of these players became established members of the Liverpool first team.

1950s Joe Maloney Keith Burkinshaw

1960s Ted MacDougall

1970s John Gidman Tommy Tynan

1980s

Alan Harper Colin Russell Craig Hignett

Dave Watson Howard Gayle John Durnin

Mark Seagraves Mike Newell Nigel Adkins

Paul Jewell Brian Mooney Ken DeMange

Kevin Sheedy

1990s

Nicky Rizzo Alex Watson

Phil Charnock Ryan Lowe

Jim Magilton Paul Dalglish

Tony Warner Danny Williams

Gareth Roberts Jason Koumas

2000s

Besian Idrizaj Adam Hammill Alan Navarro Calum Woods Charlie Barnett Craig Lindfield Danny Guthrie

Danny O'Donnell David Mannix David Raven Ian Dawes Jack Hobbs James Smith Jon Newby Jon Otsemobor

Lee Peltier Max Harrop Michael Burns Paul Anderson Ray Putterill Ryan Crowther Sean Highdale Steven Gillespie

Steven Irwin Antonio Barragán Daniel Ayala Francisco Manuel Duran Godwin Antwi Miki Roqué Daniel Sjölund Christopher Buchtmann

Marvin Pourié Jimmy Ryan Richie Partridge Ronald Huth Ryan Flynn Astrit Ajdarević Zak Whitbread Layton Maxwell

2010s

Gerardo Bruna Dean Bouzanis Jake Brimmer Nikolay Mihaylov Jakub Sokolík Martin Hansen Nikola Saric Henoc Mukendi Adam Morgan Adam Phillips Alex Whittle Andy Firth Anthony Glennon Cameron Brannagan Connor Randall Conor Coady Craig Roddan

Daniel Trickett-Smith David Amoo Herbie Kane Isaac Christie-Davies Jack Dunn Jason Banton Jerome Sinclair Joe Maguire Jordan Lussey Jordan Rossiter Lloyd Jones Matty Virtue Michael Ihiekwe Michael Ngoo Nathan Eccleston Ovie Ejaria Robbie Threlfall

Ryan Kent Sam Hart Shamal George Stephen Darby Tom Brewitt Tom Ince Tyrell Belford Yan Dhanda Emmanuel Mendy Madger Gomes Mikel San José Rafael Páez Sergi Canós Lauri Dalla Valle Stephen Sama Toni Silva Yalany Baio

Andras Simon Kristóf Polgár Krisztián Adorján Krisztián Németh Patrik Poór Péter Gulácsi Zsolt Poloskei Alex O'Hanlon Conor Masterson Corey Whelan Daniel Cleary Joseph Rafferty Kristján Emilsson Victor Pálsson Bobby Adekanye Emeka Obi Edvard Tagseth

Ryan McLaughlin João Carlos Teixeira Paulo Alves Rafael Camacho Toni Gomes Alex Cooper Gary Mackay-Steven George Johnston Ryan Fulton Alexander Kačaniklić Kristoffer Peterson Yusuf Mersin Brooks Lennon Marc Pelosi Villyan Bijev Danny Ward Harry Wilson Jordan Williams

2020s

Yasser Larouci Dal Varešanović Jake Cain Liam Coyle

Luis Longstaff Oludare Olufunwa Tom Clayton Ki-Jana Hoever Morgan Boyes

References

1. "Alex Inglethorpe insists it is important for Liverpool FC to bring through local talent". Liverpool Echo. 7 September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
2. "Reserves Travel – Liverpool FC". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
3. "Photos: Jordan's rise through LFC's ranks". Liverpool F.C. 23 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
4. Griffiths, Ian (22 March 2003). "Just for kicks". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2006.
5. "Sándor Károly Football Academy" . Retrieved 24 March 2015. The Academy also has a partnership agreement with Liverpool FC. The Academy is regularly inspected by representatives of this outstanding club to be informed about the players' development first hand.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
6. "LFC International Academy – International Courses". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
7. "LFC International Football Academy Scandinavia". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
8. "LFC International Football Academy America". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
9. "CS United Soccer Club". CS United Soccer Club. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
10. "LFC International Football Academy Egypt". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
11. "LFC International Football Academy South Africa". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
12. "LFC International Football Academy Guilin". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
13. "LFC International Football Academy DSK Shivajians". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
14. "LFC International Football Academy Japan". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
15. "Luke Chambers joins Wigan Athletic on loan". Liverpool FC. 6 August 2024.
16. "Calum Scanlon joins Millwall on loan". Liverpool FC. 29 August 2024.
17. "Kaide Gordon completes loan switch to Norwich City". Liverpool FC. 31 August 2024.
18. "Owen Beck completes season-long loan move to Blackburn Rovers". Liverpool FC. 27 August 2024.
19. "Lewis Koumas signs new Liverpool contract and joins Stoke City on loan". Liverpool FC. 10 August 2024.
20. Lusby, Jack (1 September 2024). "Liverpool quietly agreed transfer deal after deadline day – they didn't even announce it". This is Anfield. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
21. "Luca Stephenson completes loan switch to Dundee United". Liverpool FC. 15 August 2024.
22. Shaw, Chris (26 July 2024). "Fabian Mrozek signs new contract with Liverpool and joins IF Brommapojkarna on loan". Liverpool FC.
23. "Academy, U21s and U18s". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
24. "Dynasty: The Joe Fagan Years 1983-1985". LiverpoolHistory.net. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
25. "Suarez bags treble at awards dinner". Liverpool F.C. 6 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015. Hot prospect Jordan Rossiter scooped the Academy Players' Player of the Year honour
26. "Rossiter: This prize means the world". Liverpool F.C. 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
27. "2015 Players Awards". Official Site Liverpool FC. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
28. "Quartet of accolades for Philippe Coutinho at LFC Players' Awards". Liverpool FC. 12 May 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
29. Shaw, Chris (9 May 2017). "Sadio Mane takes top prizes at LFC Players' Awards". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
30. Shaw, Chris (10 May 2018). "Mohamed Salah takes top prizes at LFC Players' Awards". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2018.

Sources

• Who's Who of Liverpool (2006): Tony Matthews
• LFCHistory.net

External links

News about the Academy at the Official Club Website Under-21s Fixtures Under-21s Results Under-18s Fixtures Under-18s Results

Liverpool Academy News Blog by Scott Taylor Under-21s League Table Under-18s League Table Liverpool Academy Youth League profile at UEFA.com The Liverpool FC academy way – These Football Times (2015)