Leicester City F.C. Under-23s and Academy

Leicester City F.C. Under-23s

Full name	Leicester City Football Club Under-23s and Academy
Nickname(s)	The Foxes
Ground	King Power Stadium Belvoir Drive Training Complex Holmes Park
Capacity	King Power Stadium
Owner	King Power International
Chairman	Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha
Manager	Steve Beaglehole (Under-23s) Trevor Peake (Under-18s)
League	Professional Development League
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Leicester City Under-23s are the former reserve team of Leicester City. The team mainly consists of under-23 players at the club, although senior players occasionally play in the reserve side, for instance when they are recovering from injury. The Under-23s team are managed by Steve Beaglehole and they play in Premier League 2.

Leicester City F.C. Academy are the youth team of Leicester City, directed by Jon Rudkin and managed by Trevor Peake. Leicester City's academy has had category one 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 and Emile Heskey, 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.

The academy is overseen by director Jon Rudkin, with Steve Beaglehole currently holding the position of 'Development Coach', working in the new Under-21 league set up from the summer of 2012. Trevor Peake and Chris Tucker currently look after the Under-18s, whilst Kevin Fogg and Paul Cheney are in charge of the under 16s and below.^[3][4] 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.^[5] However they exited the national play-off at the semi-final stage, after losing 3–2 to Cardiff.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

After having almost been relegated from Premier League 2 Division 1 in 2016–2017, Leicester Under 23's went on to finish third in PL2, while also getting to the semi-finals of the Premier League Cup^[11]. 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^[12].

The Players

Under 23s

As of 03 September 2018^[13][14][15]

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

No. Position Player 34 DF Josh Knight 35 DF Callum Elder 38 MF Hamza Choudhury 39 DF Darnell Johnson 40 GK Viktor Johansson 42 GK Rhys Davies 46 MF Callum Wright 48 MF Lamine Sherriff 49 MF Kieran Dewsbury-Hall 51 MF Liandro Martis 52 FW Ryan Loft 53 DF Louis Ramsay 54 FW Raul Uche

No. Position Player 55 MF Tyrese Shade 58 MF Conor Tee 59 MF Thakgalo Leshabela 60 DF Calvin Ughelumba — GK Jakub Stolarczyk — DF Sam Hughes — DF Alex Pașcanu — MF Faiq Bolkiah — MF Habib Makanjuola — FW Josh Felix-Eppiah — FW Admiral Muskwe — FW Layton Ndukwu

Out on Loan

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

No. Position Player — GK Max Bramley (at Telford United until 30 June 2019) — GK Daniel Iversen (at Oldham Athletic until 30 June 2019) — DF Elliott Moore (at OH Leuven until 30th of June 2019)

No. Position Player — MF Harvey Barnes (at West Bromwich Albion until 30 June 2019[16]) — MF Kamal Sowah (at OH Leuven until 30th of June 2019) — MF George Thomas (at Scunthorpe United until 30 June 2019)

Staff

^[17]

Under-23 Management & Captaincy
Role	Person
Under-23 Manager	Steve Beaglehole
Under-23 Coach	Ben Petty
Under-23 Captain	Darnell Johnson

Academy Team Management Role Person Academy Director Jon Rudkin Academy Manager Ian Cawley Head Of Technical Coaching Dmitri Halajko Head Of Academy Coach Development Paul Cheney Lead Pro Development Coach Under-18s Trevor Peake 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 Tom Williams Head Academy Physiotherapist Ben Harwood Assistant Academy Physiotherapist Guy Rogers Head of Academy Sports Science Kevin Paxton Academy Lead Sport Scientist Gary Capes Academy Lead Analyst Ryan DeFreitas Academy Analyst Paul Mitchell Academy Sport Psychologist Karl Steptoe Academy Recruitment Bill Wall Lead Foundation Coach Stuart McClarty Head of Education Ian Cawley Children’s Officer Dale Bradshaw Academy Administrator Debbie Collins Academy Operations Co-ordinator Gina Carrelli

Notable Graduates

Current Leicester City players in bold.

Honours

• Premier Academy League
  • Winners: 2006-07
  • Group B Winners: 2009-10, 2011-12
  • Group B Runners Up: 2008-09, 2010-11
  • PL2 Division 1 Third Place: 2017-2018
• HKFC International Soccer Sevens
  • Shield Winners: 2011-12
  • Cup Winners: 2012-13, 2016-17
  • Plate Winners: 2013-14
• U21 Professional Development League 2 North Division
  • Winners: 2012-13
• U15 Premier League Category 2 National Trophy
  • Winners: 2012-13

References