Manchester United’s kids are all right after tough love in the lower leagues

N inety-seven percent of Premier League academy players never make a top-flight appearance. Those who drop out of elite environments can struggle to adapt to the different demands of the lower leagues. Manchester United’s professional development phase players, however, are finding out about life away from Carrington. Youngsters have been sent to train for up to a month at a time with lower-league clubs to open their eyes to the wider football world and enrich their education.

“If a player is in our programme from a really young age to 19, 20, they have only ever seen one version of what football looks like and the version at Manchester United is very different to what it might look like in the rest of the world,” United’s head of academy, Nick Cox, says.

“It is about showing the boys the realities of senior football. The reality of what it means to have to be selected, to be in a team on a regular basis because it is your job and you are fighting for your contract. That helps our boys should they be ready for our first team and it helps our boys if they are not ready for our first team and they have to go find a career away from us.”

Local clubs Stockport and Altrincham have been important allies, while Barrow, Doncaster and Ipswich have also welcomed players as part of the programme. Stockport’s training ground is a Peter Schmeichel throw away from Carrington. They have taken on three of the Premier League club’s centre-backs to be part of training, to see what it is like to face physical and wily League Two players on a daily basis.

“We have some really interesting stories. We have a goalkeeper who was a lorry driver two and a half years ago, a centre-half that can talk about life in non-league football. Whereas