Southampton F.C. Under-21s and Academy or Saints U21s and Academy is the youth organisation run by

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

to encourage and develop young footballers in the south of England. Renowned players including

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...

, Theo Walcott, and

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

began their careers at this academy. The team is made up of under-21 and academy players, is effectively Southampton's second-string side, but is limited to three outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 21 per game following the introduction of new regulations from the 2012–13 season. They play in Premier League 2, Division 2. The team also competes in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

Premier League International Cup The Premier League International Cup is an English football competition for U23 players from across Europe. It was designed to provide players in English Category One academies with the opportunity to match themselves against other elite European ...

, Premier League Cup and the Hampshire Senior Cup. The under-18 players among other younger age groups make up the Academy team and play in the Premier League U18 First Division, South, Premier League U18 Cup and the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. Home fixtures are contested at

A.F.C. Totton Amalgamated Football Club Totton is a football club based in Totton, Hampshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association and is an FA Standard Chartered club. They are currently members of the . History The club ...

's Testwood Stadium with some fixtures being held at St. Mary's. Some games are played at the club's training facilities at Staplewood in Long Lane, Marchwood,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

if required. Since September 2023, the Under 21 team has been managed by

Adam Asghar Adam Asghar (born 26 July 1994) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is currently U-21 lead coach at Championship side Southampton. As a player, Asghar had spells with Motherwell, Alloa Athletic, Annan Athletic and Clydebank, a ...

, while since September 2023, the Under 18s have been managed by Calum MacFarlane.

Age categories

* Under 21 ''(professionals)'' * Under 18 * Under 16 * Under 15 * Under 14 * Under 13 * Under 12 * Under 11 * Under 10 * Under 9 * Under 8

International players

Amongst the players who passed through the Saints Academy and went on to represent their country since the turn of the Millennium are: *

Chris Baird Christopher Patrick Baird (born 25 February 1982) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who last played for Derby County and represented the Northern Ireland national football team from 2003 to 2016. His preferred position was righ ...

Richard Bakary Mohamed Richard Bakary (born 17 October 1997 in Porto-Novo, Benin) is a footballer who plays as a defender for A.F.C. Totton. Career Club career Having started his career as an attacking player he signed for Chelsea before Southampton swooped ...

Leon Best Leon Julian Brendan Best (born 19 September 1986) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He has played for the Republic of Ireland national football team. Best represented Ireland at under-21 level and won his first ful ...

Bartosz Białkowski Bartosz Marek Białkowski (; born 6 July 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Millwall. He began his career playing in his native Poland, before moving to Southampton in 2006. After six years at Southampton, h ...

Dexter Blackstock Dexter Anthony Titus Blackstock (born 20 May 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played most notably for Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest. Having represented England at youth international level, Bl ...

* Alan Blayney *

Faiq Jefri Bolkiah Faiq Jefri Bolkiah (born 9 May 1998) is a member of the House of Bolkiah, Bruneian Royal Family and a Bruneian professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Thai club Chonburi F.C., Chonburi. He has served as the cap ...

* Wayne Bridge * Calum Chambers *

Arron Davies Arron Rhys Davies (born 22 June 1984) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made one appearance for the Wales national team. Early life Davies was brought up in Llantwit Major, where he attended Llantwit ...

Yoann Folly Yoann Folly (born 6 June 1985) is a retired footballer. His previous clubs include St. Étienne in France, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle in England and Aberdeen in Scotland. Born in France, he represented Togo at interna ...

Danny Ings Daniel William John Ings (born 23 July 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Aston Villa. Ings started his career in the youth team of Southampton but was released as a schoolboy. He subsequently joined ...

Lloyd Isgrove Lloyd Jeffrey Isgrove (born 12 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays for Bolton Wanderers. Isgrove plays primarily as a winger, but he is also comfortable playing in other midfield positions and as a forward. He has one cap for ...

* Adam Lallana *

Scott McDonald Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983) is an Australian former professional footballer and is the current head coach for National Premier Leagues club Gold Coast Knights. Originally a striker, McDonald could also play as an attacking mid ...

David McGoldrick David James McGoldrick (born 29 November 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Derby County. He won 14 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team between 2014 and 2020, scoring one international goal. A train ...

Tyrone Mings Tyrone Deon Mings (born 13 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Aston Villa and the England national team. Mings started his career playing non-League football with Yate Town, having previousl ...

Bevis Mugabi Bevis Kristofer Kizito Mugabi (born 1 May 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell. He has previously played in the English Football League for Yeovil Town. Born in England, he represen ...

Jamal Musiala Jamal Musiala (born 26 February 2003) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. Nicknamed "Bambi", Musiala is known for his world-class dribbling a ...

Michael Obafemi Michael Oluwadurotimi Obafemi (born 6 July 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Swansea City and the Irish national team. Early life Obafemi was born in Dublin to Nigerian parents. Wh ...

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool. After rising to prominence with Southampton during the 2010–11 season aged 17, Oxlade-Chambe ...

* Andrejs Perepļotkins *

Lewis Price Lewis Peter Price (born 19 July 1984) is a retired Welsh international professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the First-Team Goalkeeping Coach for League One club Milton Keynes Dons. Apart from making 6 Premier Leag ...

Ben Reeves Benjamin Neil Reeves (born 19 November 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder, most recently for League Two club Gillingham. Born in England, he has been capped twice for the Northern Ireland national team. Club career ...

Luke Shaw Luke Paul Hoare Shaw (born 12 July 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Manchester United and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth system, Shaw made his first-team debu ...

Will Smallbone William Anthony Patrick Smallbone (born 21 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the Republic of Ireland national team. Club career Southampton 2017–2022 On 21 February 2017, ...

* Tim Sparv *

Nathan Tella Nathan Adewale Temitayo Tella (born 5 July 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Southampton. Career Early career Nathan Tella grew up in Stevenage, Hertfordshire and was educated at Edwinstree middle s ...

Jake Thomson Jake Samuel Thomson (born 12 May 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for AFC Stoneham. Before playing in non-league football, Thomson played in the Championship for Southampton. A youth international footballer for Engla ...

Yan Valery Yan Valery ( ar, يان فاليري; born 22 February 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Ligue 1 club Angers and the Tunisia national team. He began his senior career in England with Premier League club Southam ...

* Theo Walcott *

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse ...

* Ben White * Stuart Wilkin In the past, prior to the establishment of the academy, the Southampton youth system has produced other international players, including

Terry Paine Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English retired footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. H ...

Martin Chivers Martin Harcourt Chivers (born 27 April 1945) is an English retired professional footballer from the 1960s and 1970s. Playing career Southampton Chivers attended Taunton's Grammar School, Southampton, and wrote to his local club, Southampton f ...

, Steve Williams, Mick Channon, Matthew Le Tissier, Kevin Phillips,

and Dennis Wise. Four former Saints academy players featured in the England Under-21 match against Montenegro on 7 September 2007:

Martin Cranie Martin James Cranie (born 26 September 1986) is an English professional association football, footballer who is currently a free agent. He most recently played as a centre back and right back for EFL Championship, Championship club Luton Town F. ...

and Theo Walcott both started (with Walcott setting up the second goal) whilst

and

Andrew Surman Andrew Ronald Edward Surman (born 20 August 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made over 100 appearances for both Southampton and AFC Bournemouth. Surman also played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Walsall, ...

came on as second-half substitutes, with Surman scoring the final goal in a 3–0 victory, tapping the ball home in stoppage time from a knock-down by Blackstock. In England's international friendly against

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on 5 March 2014, three graduates of the Southampton F.C. Academy appeared as second-half substitutes:

(making his debut), Adam Lallana and

Present structure

Andy Goldie is the current Academy Director, having joined the club from

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

in July 2023. He is assisted by Natasha Patel, who returned to the club in 2023 following a spell at

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. The current academy set up has teams at all age groups from Under 8s all the way through to the professional B team, employing large number of coaches and educational staff. Iain Brunnschweiler is the current Coach Development Manager for the academy. Academy players from the age of 16 up until the age of 18 are often looked after by Host Families within the local area. Jack Chapman is the Head of Academy Recruitment, while Head of Recruitment Darren Mowbray and Director of Football Operations Jason Wilcox also oversee academy recruitment. The aim of the Southampton academy is to "...produce Premiership class players..." Southampton has regularly reached the latter stages of the

, as well as being successful in the

FA Premier Academy League The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member c ...

championship. In the 2010–2011 season the U18s were only just "...Pipped to the Title..." by one point on the last day of the season of the Group A league. Southampton had to win and Fulham had to draw or lose for Southampton to come top. After winning 1–3 away to Coventry City the U18s were dismayed to discover Fulham had come back from being 0–3 down versus Leicester City to win 5–3. The academy has joined up with local college

Sparsholt College Sparsholt College is a Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) college located at Sparsholt near Winchester, with a secondary campus in Andover, both in Hampshire in the south of England. The college provides courses from sixth form ...

to try to give those footballers who have missed out on a scholarship the opportunity to remain in the game and train and play matches with the Southampton Academy. In May 2013, Andre Villas-Boas, manager of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

praised the Southampton Academy for its ability to produce star players, describing it as "a great school of development" and comparing it to Sporting Lisbon. In April 2015, a

U21 side won the

U21 Premier League Cup The Premier League Cup is an English football competition run by the Premier League for under–21 sides. History The competition was created in 2013 as the U21 Premier League Cup, an U21 equivalent of the FA Youth Cup (an U18 competition com ...

, defeating a Blackburn Rovers U21 side in the two-legged final at St Mary's Stadium in front of more than 12,000 fans. Goals from Ryan Seager and Sam Gallagher cancelled out a

Matt Targett Matthew Robert Targett (born 18 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for Premier League club Newcastle United. Targett came through the Southampton academy and was named their ''Young Player of the Season'' in 2 ...

own goal to give Southampton a 2–1 victory after extra time to win the second edition of the cup. In September 2020, Southampton revamped their Under-23s programme to 'enhance the pathway into the first team for its younger players.' A 'structure and philosophical overhaul' saw the Under-23s side become a B team. The new B team will mirror the training programmes, coaching and style of play of the first team. Training and fixtures, where possible, will also be organised so it does not clash with the first team so the first team manager and coaches can watch the side train or play and also take part in coaching sessions. The side will still continue to participate in the same competitions as before the revamp. Under new club Director of Football Matt Crocker, individual player coaches have been brought-in to try and improve players coming through the academy. Lee Skyrme was appointed B team individual player coach in 2021, while Mikey Harris was appointed in the same role for the U18s in the same year. Harris was replaced in 2022 by Pete Haynes, with Harris having been promoted to U18 head coach.

Under-21 team squad

Players (excluding scholars) who will qualify as Under-21 team players in season 2023–24 (i.e. born on or after 1 January 2003) and who are outside the first team squad. * Squad numbers represent numbers given to players for first team and

matches only. * ± Denotes a player on an 'extended scholarship'. * * Denotes a player who is overage (born before 1 January 2003) and outside of the first team squad.

Out on loan

Under-21 team

Leagues

* Premier League 2, Division 2 **Champions: 2022–23 **2nd ''(promoted via playoffs)'': 2018–19

Cups

**Winners: 2014–15 *Southampton Senior Cup **Winners: 2017–18 *South Shields International Tournament **Winners: 2018–19

Under-18 squad

Academy 2nd Years 2023–24

* * = Professional contracts

Academy 1st Years 2023–24

* * = Professional contracts

U18 honours

Leagues

* U18 Premier League, Division 1 **Champions (South Group), National runners-up'': 2021–22

Cups

**Runners-up: 2004–05

Staff

; Academy Leads *Academy Director: Andy Goldie *Assistant Academy Director: Natasha Patel *Head of Academy Coaching: Ricky King *Head of Academy Recruitment: Jack Chapman *Head of Academy Medical Services: Tom Sturdy *Head of Player Strategy:

Olly Lancashire Oliver James Lancashire (born 13 December 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Southampton. Lancashire began his career as a youth player for Crystal Palace before joining Southampton's academy. He capta ...

*Coach Development Manager: Iain Brunnschweiler ; Under-21 / Under-18 management *U21 Coach:

*U21 Assistant Coach: Chris Allen *U18 Coach: Calum MacFarlane *U18 Assistant Coach:

*Development Coach: Pete Haynes *Development Goalkeeping Coach: Ryan Flood *Development Goalkeeping Coach: Steve Grinham

Academy graduates (2000–present)

A number of players from the Southampton F.C. Academy have gone on to have careers in professional football, whether at Southampton or at other clubs. The following is a list of players who have made their Southampton first-team debuts since the turn of the millennium. Players who have represented Southampton in only the

are not included in this list. Academy graduates who still play for Southampton, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are highlighted in green. Where players have made their debut in the same fixture, they are sorted alphabetically by surname.

References

External links

Southampton Under-23s
at saintsfc.co.uk
Southampton Under-18s
at saintsfc.co.uk
The Southampton FC academy way
– ''These Football Times'' (2015) {{Reserve and Youth football in England Professional Development League Academy Football academies in England Premier League International Cup