This has gone a little under the radar, the Newcastle United Academy.
Exciting times with the Newcastle United Under 18s and the progress that is happening.
At the weekend they made it three home victories in a row.
A 2-1 win over Wolves.
Seventeen year old Alfie Hutchison, who was stolen away from Rangers, scored the opening goal.
Whilst exciting talent Muawiya Ghanem got the winning goal, he was picked up from West Brom and is still only aged fifteen, making his very first start at this under eighteen level.
As a backdrop to how things had gone previously with the Newcastle United Academy and the NUFC Under 18s.
This is the Newcastle Under 18s league table (North) from the last four seasons:
2021/22 – Newcastle United Under 18s finished 14th of 14 with 17 points.
2022/23 – Newcastle United Under 18s finished 12th of 13 with 24 points
2023/24 – Newcastle United Under 18s finished 8th of 13 with 32 points.
2024/25 – Newcastle United Under 18s finished 5th of 13 with 35 points
After this latest win at the weekend against Wolves.
That result leaves the Newcastle United Under 18s positioned like this today (Monday 27 April 2026), the Under 18s league split into North and South:
Premier League U18 Table Group North
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City U18 | 23 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 84 | 27 | 57 | 56 |
| 2 | Manchester United U18 | 23 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 58 | 20 | 38 | 50 |
| 3 | Newcastle United U18 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 46 | 42 | 4 | 40 |
| 4 | Everton U18 | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 46 | 34 | 12 | 38 |
| 5 | Middlesbrough U18 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 43 | 40 | 3 | 36 |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest U18 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 46 | 45 | 1 | 36 |
| 7 | Liverpool U18 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 65 | 60 | 5 | 35 |
| 8 | Sunderland U18 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 50 | 41 | 9 | 33 |
| 9 | Blackburn Rovers U18 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 46 | 64 | -18 | 29 |
| 10 | Derby County U18 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 37 | 59 | -22 | 29 |
| 11 | Leeds United U18 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 40 | 56 | -16 | 29 |
| 12 | Burnley U18 | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 41 | 61 | -20 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolves U18 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 53 | -27 | 17 |
| 14 | Stoke City U18 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 34 | 60 | -26 | 13 |
The progress is stunning.
With three league matches remaining, Newcastle United only have Man City and Man U above them.
Two clubs that have for years and years poured so many resources into their Academies, creating such a chasm to be closed by Newcastle United.
This was always going to be a very long and ongoing process BUT undeniable progress under these Newcastle United owners and their staff, with the massive turnaround that was needed.
Patience has to be shown and a massive shake up and upgrade increasingly put in place for the Academy, essential investment to repair the damage of 14+ years of Mike Ashley.
This couldn’t be sorted overnight, especially when you are talking about bringing kids/young players through, it is a situation where you put the right things and investment in place and then in the years ahead you potentially reap the benefits.
Still a long way to go but when making the essential progressive investment in facilities and coaching, the outlook can look ever better with each passing season, as what happens now can produce the stars of the future.
Numerous times, Mike Ashley, either directly or through one of his minions (Charnley, Llambias etc), would state that the Academy was the way in which Newcastle United could compete, bring local talent through etc etc, as well as the best young players from elsewhere.
Sadly and predictably, this was never ever backed up with proper investment in infrastructure/facilities and the overall coaching set-up.
This isn’t about individual coaches or the individual young players, with the situation the new Newcastle United owners inherited, it is a total failure from Mike Ashley to in any way allow the club to properly invest in its future.
It was always going to be a very long process for these current Newcastle United owners to build a proper professional top level set-up, to support the younger age groups.
However, we are now seeing real green shoots of progress, thanks to the much needed investment in coaching, facilities, scouting and bringing in the very best possible young players both locally and further afield.