Revealing the Manchester United youth training empire: the century-old talent production line behind the 4321 records

In the world of football, leading Manchester United's youth training camp is by no means an ordinary behind-the-scenes work.

Manchester United's profound tradition in cultivating young football talents is unique in English football and no one can compare with it. It is also because of this that those who take on this important task face the high expectations that are far from comparable positions in other clubs.

"This is not just an ordinary football club, it is an institution with far-reaching significance," said Nicky Bart. He served as head of Manchester United's youth training camp from 2016 to 2019, and he himself grew up from Manchester United's youth training system. He also won the Youth FA Cup with the team in 1992. "You have to have a deeper understanding of its history and understand what it means to represent this football club."

Now, Manchester United is desperately in need of a newcomer to take on this unique responsibility. Nick Cox took over Bart's job six years ago, and now, once a suitable successor is found, he will leave Manchester United and head to Everton as technical director. This undoubtedly became a major challenge facing Manchester United football director Jason Wilcox.

At Manchester United, there are few changes in the work leading the youth training camp. Before Bart, Brian McClell served as the company for a full decade. Before McClair, Rice Colshaw, as a close colleague of Sir Alex Ferguson, was in charge of the youth training camp for many years and also participated in the design of Manchester United's famous Carrington training base.

Eric Harrison has carefully cultivated the famous "92 Golden Generation" during his 27 years of playing for Manchester United, and his name has been recorded in Manchester United's legendary history. Jimmy Murphy was actively promoting the club's youth policy under Sir Matt Busby from 1946 to 1964. Today, his statue stands outside Old Trafford Stadium, and a building named after him at the Carrington Training Base.

They are all important parts of Manchester United's brilliant youth system. The history of this system can be traced back to 1937, and since then, it has begun a glorious journey of local players being selected for the first-team roster. This record has now extended to 4,321 games, and is recognized as the longest record in world football. Although maintaining this tradition should not be a decisive factor in Ruben Amorin or any Manchester United coach when selecting players, the person who succeeds Cox must be sensitive and respectful to this tradition.

"I think outsiders can also bring different skills and ideas to this job." Bart then added, "I often take Kieran McKenna as an example. He grew up at Tottenham and joined Manchester United as the head coach of the under-18 youth team in 2016, and brought new ideas. But fundamentally, you have to understand the club's 'DNA', that is, its beliefs, ideas and style."

"You don't have to stay here like me, as I am, but you have to be a person who respects the club enough to say sincerely, 'This is more important than me, I will work hard to learn, and also leave my own mark.'"

Manchester United's youth training camp has a unique set of ideas behind it, but at the practical level, the job has become quite large and complex.

Cox's scope of responsibility is almost the same as that of the sports director, but he is responsible for the younger age group. Currently, the number of employees in the youth camp has decreased, ranging from about 60 to 70, with about 100 part-time employees and host families that provide accommodation for players. There are 210 players in the youth training camp, and about 500 players in the development center and community programs. Top youth training camps like Manchester United can operate as much as £10 million per year. In addition, there are expenses such as compensation to sign players from other clubs and employees' wages.

Simply put, this job requires supervision of recruitment, retention, coaching guidance, medical insurance, logistics arrangement, player education, life care and other aspects. Essentially, this is a strategic leadership role that requires extensive knowledge in all areas and is able to integrate that knowledge.

recruitment is one of the key links. This not only requires the ability to identify players' talents, but also requires the right players to be retained, give them contracts with the right period, and plan a clear development path for them. People in charge of youth training camps spend several hours a week studying players in each age group, imagining what they might become in two or three years, and also considering how the youth training camp can provide strong support to the first team based on the characteristics or vacancy of the first team.

Manchester City took another different approach while serving as youth training camp director at Wilcox (2017-2023). They knew that players were unlikely to enter Guardiola's first team, so they established a model that prioritized player development and trading. From Manchester United's perspective, the difficulty lies in doing both the things that are good at delivering players to the first team and earning income by selling players. Anthony Ellanda, for example, played 55 times for Manchester United's first team and then moved to Nottingham Forest for £15m, and the club could also get more income through additional terms. Similarly, Manchester United can benefit from Real Madrid if they sign Alvaro Carreras from Benfica for €50 million.

The head of Manchester United's youth training camp has the right to sign a 12-year-old player from the grassroots level, but if you want to sign a player who may have to pay a large fee, you need to communicate with the senior management to ensure that the player has sufficient development prospects. Ultimately, the youth training camp manager is responsible for all results.

It is crucial to work at this age and understand and master relevant rules and regulations.. He wondered if he still had the job and if so, how much rainbow candy should be ordered.

There are also some calls to the youth training camp from loaned teenagers who want to know how to bake a slice of bread.

The more serious problem is that some players who are injured or have a cold in the middle of the night will want to ask how to inform the head coach. At this age and in a new environment, children are sometimes afraid to let others down.

The children also missed Manchester United's match by being locked up at the club's partner Ashton Riverside School because they forgot to wear tie or skip French class.

However, this job also has a brilliant side. In 2022, employees saw a group of eight-year-old children gathering together excitedly on the training ground. When I got closer and looked closely, it turned out that it was former Brazilian international Kaka who came to play football and relax after taking the UEFA coaching course in Carrington.

Another time, Cox arrived at the reception and was told that Robbie Williams wanted to visit. It turned out that the star suddenly came here before performing near the Manchester United Stadium.

Amorin has provided first-team debut opportunities for Cheedo Obie and Aiden Heevin (both from Arsenal), Harry Amas (from Watford) and locally trained Taylor Frederickson, and hopes that the youth training camp's talent delivery production line will remain strong. However, according to Wilcox's instructions, the youth team will not be asked to play his three-back system, and he hopes that the youth team will focus on developing high-quality talents rather than copying the exact lineup of the first team.

who will be responsible for all this is still unclear, but Barth has no doubt about what kind of person Manchester United should look for.

"You can't feel like the one who is wearing the 'Emperor's new clothes' that you are right." He said, "You have to take the baton as much as possible, try to add something new to it, and then pass it on when your moment passes."

"The most important thing to be a young player is to respect others, play exciting, brave football, and learn to play victorious football. I think there are too many times in youth football that people focus not only on victory, but more on development. Development does account for 60% to 70%, but you have to learn how to win games."

"If you have not won the championship year after year or almost won the championship, how can you expect to do it in the first team? If you are not a winner, you can't succeed at Manchester United."