The future at Newcastle United is very bright.
Major change is taking place.
Indeed, massive changes have already taken place.
It is so often the very hardest thing to put effort and resources into something that you know won’t stand a chance of showing positive results until years down the line.
This was always going to be a very long and ongoing process in terms of transforming the younger age groups at NUFC BUT undeniable progress has been made under these Newcastle United owners and their staff.
Patience needing 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.
The Newcastle United owners inherited a total failure from Mike Ashley to in any way allow the club to properly invest in its future.
This has gone a little under the radar but exciting times at the Newcastle United Academy.
Here’s the backdrop to how things had gone previously with the NUFC Under 18s.
These are the league finishes for the Newcastle Under 18s from the most recent previous 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
On Saturday we saw the final match of the league season for the Newcastle United Under 18s.
They went away to Middlesbrough and smashed them 4-0.
Alfie Seldon getting two goals, Michael Mills and Aaron Epia getting one each.
That result leaves the Newcastle United Under 18s positioned like this with the league season concluded, the Under 18s league split into North and South:
As you can see, the progress is stunning.
The Newcastle United Under 18s with a top three finish, well ahead of the rest, only the Manchester clubs remaining above them.
It is the best league season for the NUFC Under 18s in 14 years, they have ended the season with four wins in a row, they also made it five home victories in a row when defeating Leeds on Monday.
The great thing as well is that the Under 18s have produced this league finish despite having top talents such as midfielder Rory Finneran (only turned 18 in February) playing instead for the Newcastle United Under 21s. Finneran has just been called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad for the first time.
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.