The All New Spurs U21, U18 & Other Youth News Thread

BK007 said:

If City and Chelsea academies are so good, why do we see none of their players ever?

I know opportunities are rare but never hear about any of them.

Click to expand...

BK007 said:

How many of our Academy players train with the first team?

And how does that reflect on the dynamic with those who don't get the opportunity? How does it all work, anyone know? I mean, surely they need to be integrated with the players they will be playing with mostly?

Click to expand...

BK007 said:

If City and Chelsea academies are so good, why do we see none of their players ever?

I know opportunities are rare but never hear about any of them.

Click to expand...

BK007 said:

If City and Chelsea academies are so good, why do we see none of their players ever?

I know opportunities are rare but never hear about any of them.

Click to expand...

Romulus said:

im talking about the teams they can put out at this level. im a big youth follower and trust me they have good teams

Click to expand...

Spursidol said:

Previous rounds in FAYC - won 3-0 at The Hawthorns (Tyles Walker hatrick, son of Des Walker ex E CB), won 2-0 v Burney at home

Notts Forest have a Category 2 Academy - 4th (midtable) in their league with 8 wins out of 17 games and a GD of 31-23.

They've produced a number of decent players over the years - including Michael Dawson and Jermain Jenas - most recently Jamal Lascalles who Spurs were strongly linked with before he signed for Newcastle and loaned back.

Spurs should have better players and prevail but it could be a tough match

Click to expand...

TottenhamLegend said:

Windy has come up with a cracking Georgiou song!

38 seconds in.

Because youuuuuuuuu're Georgiou
I'd do anything for you
Because youuuuuuuuu're Georgiou
I know you'll get us through



Love it!

Click to expand...

Luka Van der Bale said:

These under 18-19 age groups are their first of any real quality. Be interesting to see how they integrate them.

Edit: although Chelsea seem to have held a bit of a stranglehold on the FA Youth Cup recently from memory.

Click to expand...

danielneeds said:

Seems Kieran McKenna could be a rising star as a coach too. Great to see the club identify a young academy player who had to stop playing through injury as someone with leadership potential.

Click to expand...

"Kieran McKenna is keen to stay in football after having to call an end to his blossoming professional career due to a persistent hip injury. The talented midfielder has been on the books of Tottenham Hotspur for the past seven years but after two years of injury misery, and after receiving medical advice following hip surgery, he has taken the decision to end his professional playing career.

The talented midfielder built a big reputation at Enniskillen Town, Ballinamallard Youth and as captain of the Fermanagh Milk Cup junior side, and he joined the Premier League club in 2002 on a scholarship before turning professional in August 2003. He progressed well through the ranks at the North London club and was part of the side that won the Barclay"s Premier League South in 2005-06, captaining the team on a number of occasions while he also captained Northern Ireland at U21 level as well as representing his country at U14, U16, U19 and U20.

However, the hip problem stopped him pushing on for first team recognition at Spurs and he says that in the end he had no choice but to call it a day.

'Obviously I"m very disappointed as I have a lot of unfilled ambitions but at the same time I have had seven good years at Tottenham which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Over the past two years though I have had two operations and two years of intensive rehab and it got to the stage where I did everything humanly possible and I just had to make the decision,' he said.
McKenna though is not about to sit around and feel sorry for himself. He is already planning the next stage of his life with the aim being to get involved in coaching, while he has received an unconditional offer to attend Loughborough University later this year to study Sports Science.

You see, while he was at Tottenham he continued on with his studies and completed his A-Levels receiving two A grades.
'I"m definitely glad that I got those now and I"ll be going to Loughborough to study Sports Science. My aim is to stay in football although it will be from a different aspect,' said McKenna.

In the immediate future Kieran, whose contract at Tottenham ends this season, is doing his coaching badges and is also helping out with coaching at Tottenham.

'My contract runs out soon and I"ll be getting physio support until the end of the season. It is two months since my operation so I"m still doing rehab and I"m also coaching some of the younger teams at Tottenham so that is keeping me busy while the club is also putting me through my coaching badges. In the summer I hope to do some coaching abroad and Tottenham have put me in touch with people in the US,' said McKenna.

He added: 'I"ve had seven years as a professional footballer and I"ve made a lot of good contacts. I"ve a lot of good friends on the coaching staff and the playing staff at Tottenham and I"ll stay in contact with everyone and I"m sure they will come in useful in the future.'

And Kieran would eventually like to help other locals to make it as professionals.

'Hopefully I"ll be involved in football back home and be able to try and get others across the water,' he said.

The midfielder obviously made a big impression at Tottenham who have been keen to help him with the direction he now wants to take, and Development Coach Clive Allen spoke highly of Kieran on the club website.

'He is a player and person that you know every single day, whether training or playing, was 100 percent committed about everything he did.

'That is why it is so disappointing and sad that he suffered an injury that has curtailed his career. Knowing the lad and the type of person he is, he will do very well in whatever he decides to do.

'We will look to help him in any way we can, but it is with real sadness that I talking about him like this because I loved the character of the person and commitment. I have to say that you wouldn"t go far wrong if you had 11 of the Kieran McKenna-type in your team,' said Allen.

A determined and committed character, who is also intelligent and articulate, don"t be surprised if Kieran rises to the top of the game as a coach."

Click to expand...

jambreck said:

Totally agreed.

I really like what I've seen and heard of McKenna. I was very sorry to see Chris Ramsey leave but, with hindsight, it might have been a blessing because it has allowed McKenna to step up.

In interviews on Spurs TV, the bloke is clearly confident and very intelligent (I found an old interview with the Spurs official site when he was 17 in which he was asked how he got on at school. Answer: 10 GCSE's, of which 4 A-stars and six A's; and a B in Business Studies A level - far above the average professional footballer). He subsequently earned a degree in Sports Science from Loughborough University. He's a good communicator too. That's vital in a coach.

I also found the following article on SC, originally posted by jedimonkey 20 months ago. It's worth reposting, I think:



A future Academy Director on our hands? Or maybe even a first team coach? Either way, I'm glad that he's at Spurs and on the rise.

Click to expand...

jambreck said:

Chelsea have done well in the Youth Cup. But they haven't been anything like as good as Spurs in the Academy league until this season.

They do now have a very good team but a big difference between us and Chelsea is the number of players in their academy who they have bought / pinched from other clubs - both English and foreign.

Click to expand...