As we are all aware, an absolute mess was left behind by Mike Ashley, for the current Newcastle United owners to inherit.
Mike Ashley over a near decade and a half refused to allow anything close to the minimum needed when spending on the infrastructure, as well as of course ‘staffing’, whether that be on the playing side or business side of Newcastle United.
So that meant St James’ Park, the first team training facility, as well as the younger age groups’ facilities, all falling way behind what was needed.
Mike Ashley and minions such as Charnley, Llambias, Bruce and others, all wanted fans to believe that so long as you have some grass and cones, you aren’t at any disadvantage to your rival clubs.
With Lee Charnley even embarrassingly claiming that there had never been a potential signing negatively influenced in his decision, by the way below par NUFC training facilities.
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.
As a reminder, this is how Newcastle Under 18s league table (North) looked previously:
2021/22 – Newcastle United Under 18s finished rock bottom, 14th of 14.
2022/23 – Newcastle United Under 18s finished second bottom, 12th of 13.
This was simply a continuation of what had gone on for numerous seasons before this under Mike Ashley.
Painful or what?
At the Academy, the current Newcastle United owners were quite literally having to start off from rock bottom.
As I say though, we are seeing the green shoots appearing at this younger age level.
The Newcastle United Under 18s won at the weekend, 2-1 against Burnley.
That result leaves the Newcastle United Under 18s positioned like this today (Tuesday 14 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 United U18 | 22 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 57 | 18 | 39 | 50 |
| 2 | Manchester City U18 | 20 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 71 | 26 | 45 | 47 |
| 3 | Newcastle United U18 | 21 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 43 | 38 | 5 | 37 |
| 4 | Nottingham Forest U18 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 46 | 41 | 5 | 36 |
| 5 | Everton U18 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 44 | 33 | 11 | 35 |
| 6 | Liverpool U18 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 65 | 60 | 5 | 35 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough U18 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 33 |
| 8 | Blackburn Rovers U18 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 46 | 55 | -9 | 29 |
| 9 | Sunderland U18 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 42 | 35 | 7 | 27 |
| 10 | Leeds United U18 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 49 | -13 | 26 |
| 11 | Derby County U18 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 33 | 56 | -23 | 26 |
| 12 | Burnley U18 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 36 | 58 | -22 | 21 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers U18 | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 24 | 49 | -25 | 17 |
| 14 | Stoke City U18 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 32 | 57 | -25 | 13 |
As I say, 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 needed.
The Newcastle United Under 18s are only behind Man U and Man City, two clubs with huge advantages over NUFC and massive head starts when it comes to recruiting and developing their talent of the future.
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.
As I say above, no criticism meant of any individual who is now at the club. This is all down to Mike Ashley and how he dragged the entire club down over that near decade and a half.
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.