The FA Youth Cup is one of the world’s most prestigious and storied youth football tournaments. Its alumni stretches from United’s own Busby Babes – five-time consecutive winners in the 1950s – to current Premier League stars like our own Tom Heaton (2003 winner), Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard (2011 winners) as well as Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe, Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey, Chelsea’s Reece James, Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher and Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier.
United last reached the final in 2011, when a team featuring Lingard and Pogba took on Sheffield United, for whom both current Reds club captain Harry Maguire and U18s lead coach Travis Binnion were involved.