# Leeds United F.C. Under-21s and Academy

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.

## 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.

## Player eligibility

For the 2024–25 season player eligibility is restricted to under-21 players born after 1 January 2003. Only players born after 1 January 2006 (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. | Name | Place of Birth | Date of Birth | Pos. | International | Other |
| | Harry Christy | Harrogate, England | (2003-10-19) 19 October 2003 (age 21) | GK | England U15s | |
| | Rory Mahady | Kirkcaldy, Scotland | (2006-08-16) 16 August 2006 (age 18) | GK | Scotland U21s | |
| | Darryl Ombang | Leeds, England | (2005-07-11) 11 July 2005 (age 19) | GK | England U17s | |
| | Alfie Cresswell | England | (2007-07-14) 14 July 2007 (age 17) | DF | | |
| | James Debayo | Hillingdon, London, England | (2005-08-10) 10 August 2005 (age 19) | DF | England U18s | |
| | Connor Ferguson | Keighley, England | (2004-11-05) 5 November 2004 (age 20) | DF | | |
| | Reuben Lopata-White | Bradford, England | (2005-09-26) 26 September 2005 (age 19) | DF | | |
| | Diogo Monteiro | Geneva, Switzerland | (2005-01-28) 28 January 2005 (age 20) | DF | Portugal U20s | |
| | Kris Moore | Leeds, England | (2003-11-13) 13 November 2003 (age 21) | DF | | |
| | Joe Richards | Leeds, England | (2005-10-17) 17 October 2005 (age 19) | DF | | |
| | Dan Toulson | Harrogate, England | (2005-10-18) 18 October 2005 (age 19) | DF | | |
| | Rhys Chadwick | England | (2007-02-19) 19 February 2007 (age 18) | MF | | |
| | Sam Chambers | Huddersfield, England | (2007-03-10) 10 March 2007 (age 18) | MF | Scotland U19s | |
| | Cian Coleman | Pudsey, England | (2004-09-23) 23 September 2004 (age 20) | MF | Republic of Ireland U19s | |
| | Connor Douglas | Leeds, England | (2005-10-08) 8 October 2005 (age 19) | MF | | |
| | Josh McDonald | Scotland | (2007-03-06) 6 March 2007 (age 18) | MF | Scotland U17s | |
| | Max McFadden | Havering, London, England | (2005-10-02) 2 October 2005 (age 19) | MF | | |
| | Amari Miller | Birmingham, England | (2002-11-04) 4 November 2002 (age 22) | MF | | |
| | Joe Snowdon | Oldham, England | (2004-02-14) 14 February 2004 (age 21) | MF | | |
| | Lewis Pirie | Scotland | (2007-01-28) 28 January 2007 (age 18) | FW | Scotland U17s | |
| | Marley Wilson | Leeds, England | (2005-11-07) 7 November 2005 (age 19) | FW | England U15s | |
| 2024–25 Out on Loan ||||||||||
| | Charlie Crew | Cardiff, Wales | (2006-06-15) 15 June 2006 (age 18) | MF | Wales | Doncaster Rovers |
| | Darko Gyabi | Catford, London, England | (2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 (age 21) | MF | England U21s | Plymouth Argyle |
| | Luca Thomas | Crewe, England | (2004-09-16) 16 September 2004 (age 20) | FW | | Halifax Town |
| 2024–25 2nd Year Scholars ||||||||||
| | Alex Baird | England | (2007-08-01) 1 August 2007 (age 17) | GK | England U15s | |
| | Joe Billett | Harrogate, England | (2006-09-10) 10 September 2006 (age 18) | DF | | |
| | Coban Bird | Pontefract, England | (2006-11-05) 5 November 2006 (age 18) | DF | | |
| | Devon Brockie | England | (2007-03-11) 11 March 2007 (age 18) | MF | Scotland U16s | |
| | Lleyton Brown | England | (2007-01-29) 29 January 2007 (age 18) | FW | | |
| | Owen Grainger | Bridlington, England | (2007-07-12) 12 July 2007 (age 17) | GK | Northern Ireland U18s | |
| | Harvey Vincent | England | (2007-03-20) 20 March 2007 (age 17) | MF | England U16s | |
| 2024–25 1st Year Scholars ||||||||||
| | Louie Dudley | England | (2007-11-13) 13 November 2007 (age 17) | DF | | |
| | Will Firth | Australia | (2007-09-11) 11 September 2007 (age 17) | DF | | |
| | Josh Hamilton | England | (2007-09-15) 15 September 2007 (age 17) | DF | England U17s | |
| | George Kenyon | England | (2008-03-23) 23 March 2008 (age 16) | GK | | |
| | Freddie Lane | England | (2007-09-24) 24 September 2007 (age 17) | MF | | |
| | Luke Matykiewicz | England | (2007-09-02) 2 September 2007 (age 17) | DF | | |
| | Jack Morris | England | (2008-01-25) 25 January 2008 (age 17) | DF | | |
| | Oliver Pickles | England | (2007-10-11) 11 October 2007 (age 17) | MF | | |
| | Jacob Render | England | (2008-03-20) 20 March 2008 (age 16) | MF | | |
| | Elton Simo | England | (2008-06-11) 11 June 2008 (age 16) | MF | | |
| Notable Others ||||||||||
| | Sam Alker | England | (2009-03-13) 13 March 2009 (age 16) | MF | England U16s | |
| | Oliver Boast | England | (2009-05-07) 7 May 2009 (age 15) | FW | England U16s | |
| | Harry Gray | England | (2008-10-08) 8 October 2008 (age 16) | FW | England U17s | |
| | Jacob Howard | England | (2009-03-29) 29 March 2009 (age 15) | DF | England U16s | |
| | Kenneth Mensah | England | | FW | France U16s | |
| | Marlon Mensah | England | | MF | Austria U15s | |
| | Oliver Wood | England | | GK | | |

## 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.
* 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
* 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
* Ronaldo Vieira
* Simon Walton
* Noel Whelan
* Mallik Wilks
* Jonathan Woodgate
* 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 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 |
| 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 | Scott Gardner |
| 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 |
| 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 |