AZ Gull
@SeagullsAcademy @seagullsacademy.bsky.social
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[Albion] U21s V Northampton Town (Papa John’s Trophy)
- Thread starter Mackenzie
- Start date
AZ Gull
@SeagullsAcademy @seagullsacademy.bsky.social
Forest Green Rovers currently leading 1-0, 28 minutes played.
AZ Gull
@SeagullsAcademy @seagullsacademy.bsky.social
FGR 2-0 up with a few minutes left.
Kuipers Supporters Club
Well-known member
Shame.
On the plus side, only three academy teams made it through
On the plus side, only three academy teams made it through
Shame it is, but there it is. Pity we can't temporarily recall all our loanees just for this competiton!
AZ Gull
@SeagullsAcademy @seagullsacademy.bsky.social
There’s a surprise both Walsall and FGR qualify, who’d have thought it!
Walsall had advanced to round 2 already (before tonight's match).
Round 2 is seeded, with the group winners being drawn at home to a group runner-up.
There was absolutely no advantage to Walsall to deliberately lose tonight (in fact quite the opposite).
Cowfold Seagull
Fan of the 17 bus
Well it was all good senior match experience for the youngsters if nothing else. Hopefully that will hold them in good stead.
Cowfold Seagull
Fan of the 17 bus
Just the simple fact that the lads are competing in senior football, playing against men, is a big step up in itself. League Two is far from a pushover.
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo
I believe in Joe Hendry
- Oct 4, 2003
- 12,212
It's a really good test for the youngsters to test themselves against teams playing League football. It shows just how tough a step up it is as since academies have been allowed to enter only 3 have made it to the 4th round (Quarter Finals stage) of the competition, Chelsea (17-18), Man City (18-19) and Leicester (19-20).
Our academy has made it out of the group stages once, getting to round 3 in 16-17 beating AFC Wimbledon in the second round before going out to Coventry in the 3rd.
It certainly shows the value of us getting our most promising players out on loan playing senior men's football as the test of playing against seasoned pro's week in week out far outweighs playing against kids of a similar age.
..... or even how important a proper Football Combination League (that was the ainm of the old reserve League, IIRC) could be! PL2 as an U23 league is more or less a misnomer - apart from when we include Crofty (or now Dicker) as a permitted over-age player, the team is nothing like a team of genuine U23 players - more like an U21 team really. More senior youngsters are either in the 1st. team squad or out on loan.
Cowfold Seagull
Fan of the 17 bus
Absolutely.
maltaseagull
Well-known member
To put a little more perspective on it, the commentator said there were 6 academy players playing for Northampton so not even league 2 really.
Having said that, the two front players Ferguson and Tolaj both look very promising and might be worth a gamble in the first team.
There is a lot of talent coming through that squad and bodes well for the future.
Nobby Cybergoat
Well-known member
- Jul 19, 2021
- 8,754
This is true.
Let's not think we're playing the first teams of these league 1 and 2 teams.
They have more league games and smaller squads than we do and we make wholesale changes for (more prestigious) trophies.
In reality we're playing against mostly fringe players and youth teams. Our last opponents fielded a 15 year old
Our young players have a long way to go before being able to influence matches in the Premier League