The young Newcastle United stars go marching on.
Tuesday saw the Newcastle United Under 18s in action once again.
Hoping to quickly follow up their excellent 2-0 victory on Saturday against Manchester United.
The Newcastle United Under 18s going for a fifth home win in a row.
Tuesday saw Leeds United the visitors to Tyneside and midfielder Alex O’Donovan put Newcastle ahead midway through the first half, only for the visitors to swiftly equalise.
Seconds after the break fellow NUFC midfielder Jack Callaghan restored the home side’s lead, then O’Donovan adding his second and Newcastle’s third.
Leeds managed to bring it back to 3-2 late on but couldn’t deny the young Newcastle United stars a fifth home league win in a row.
This victory especially impressive as Newcastle had made seven changes from the side that beat Man U at the weekend.
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 Newcastle United Academy and the NUFC Under 18s.
These are the league finishes for the Newcastle Under 18s 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
That result leaves the Newcastle United Under 18s positioned like this after the win over Leeds, the Under 18s league split into North and South:
Great to see, the progress is stunning.
The Newcastle United Under 18s now guaranteed a top three finish and if they win their final game of the season on Saturday at Middlesbrough, the NUFC young stars will end the season on 49 points.
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 under these Newcastle United owners and their staff.
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.
The Newcastle United owners inherited 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.