Manchester City U19

History

The club's first youth team was set up by Albert Alexander in the 1920s, known as the 'A' Team. From 1951 the 'A' team competed in the Lancashire League against reserve and youth teams of other clubs from North West England. From 1955 a second youth team, the 'B' team, typically comprising younger players than the 'A' team, competed in Division Two of the Lancashire League.

Youth football in England was restructured by the Football Association in 1997, with the introduction of the Academy system. Current International Youth Academy Director Jim Cassell joined from Oldham Athletic in July 1997 and was responsible for building Manchester City's youth structure, which gained Academy accreditation in 1998.

In its new incarnation, the 'A' and 'B' teams were replaced with 'Under-19' and 'Under-17' teams, which competed in the FA Premier Youth League. Since gaining FA approval in 1998 the academy has produced 84 players for Manchester City's first team, 38 of whom have gained full international honours, including England internationals Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Joey Barton, Daniel Sturridge, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis.The academy not only produces players for Manchester City but also players that have the talent to make the grade elsewhere, with players such as Ben Mee who's had a successful career at Burnley and Brentford, Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United, Kelechi Iheanacho at Leicester and Kieran Trippier formerly at Burnley, Spurs, Atlético Madrid and now at Newcastle United.