Darren Fletcher has hit out at the Football Association, accusing them of allowing Manchester City to hijack the FA Youth Cup and turn it into a ‘Man City competition’.
City’s Under-18s took the bragging rights on Thursday night in front of first team boss Pep Guardiola by defeating local rivals United 2-1 to win their third Youth Cup in seven seasons.
The build-up to this contest was marred with controversy after the match was unable to be held at the Etihad Stadium, where City’s first team play, and was instead held at their academy stadium where United’s allocation was 968 tickets.
At full-time, while players waited for the trophy presentation, it is understood Fletcher aired his grievances about how things had been handled forcefully, seen shouting at FA officials while the post-match presentations took place.
His annoyance at how the final played out – before and after, he had no complaints at being beaten by a superior City – continued when he addressed reporters.
Darren Fletcher believes the FA did not do enough to uphold the values of the FA Youth Cup
Fletcher was irked at what he felt became a ‘Man City parade’ after their 2-1 Youth Cup victory
Asked about the disappointment of his players having to watch their fiercest rivals lift the trophy at the end, Fletcher had plenty to get off his chest.
‘Not only to watch a team lift a trophy, but to be a Man City parade when it’s an FA Youth Cup final,’ he said.
‘I’ve never heard individual coaches be shouted out, every individual player be shouted out. That doesn’t happen in Cup finals.
‘I’m disappointed in the FA for everything that’s gone around this game, for the location, for everything. And then our players having to deal with that. But as you say, it’s disappointing.
‘You have to stand there. You have to respect the opposition. But not when Man City take over an FA Youth Cup. It’s an FA competition. It should never have been like that.’
Speaking ahead of the final, FA sources told Daily Mail Sport that delivery of the Youth Cup Final is traditionally managed by the home finalist, in this case City, and that while the FA were eager to see the game played at the Etihad Stadium, they left the final call up to the clubs, rather than dictate terms and logistics.
While City sources declined to comment on Fletcher’s complaints, privately it is understood officials reacted with amusement, pointing to the fact that United’s Under-18s boss sent his sons Jack and Tyler to City’s academy for their formative years, before they signed for United in July 2023.
Fletcher was full of praise for City, a side fired to victory by Reigan Heskey’s 88th-minute winner, but pointed the finger at governing bodies to make more of these occasions, citing Saturday’s Premier League 2 national final away at Brighton as another example of United coming out on the raw end of scheduling.
‘This is an FA competition and it felt like it was a Man City competition for this whole build up to the game in terms of how we had to deal with that at the end there,’ Fletcher continued.
‘That was my one little bit of disappointment from that is that these things are looked at. You know, we have other things with the Under-21s game being 48 hours after this so some of our players aren’t going to experience that.
Reigan Heskey (left, son of legendary ex-striker Emile) scored the final’s winning goal late on
Fletcher feels players like Chido Obi, who will play on Saturday in an U21 final, have been let down by both the Premier League and the FA and the United boss wants lessons to be learned
‘We’re dealing with a lot of difficult dynamics just now in terms of these youth fixtures, which is disappointing.
‘Hopefully people take a step back now when they’ve come away from it and there’s a lot of learning to be done for the Premier League and for the FA for these historic competitions.’
While Fletcher was magnanimous at the nature of the performance – ‘the best team won and sometimes you have to hold your hands up’ – he did pay special thanks to first team boss Michael Carrick and senior stars Bruno Fernandes, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven for coming down to watch and support the Under-18s.
‘It’s brilliant for the players to show that keen interest,’ he concluded.
‘It shows they’re connected to the club, for the manager, for all the hierarchy. Everyone’s connected to the youth players and I can’t stress how powerful it is when you see the manager at the game for these young players and for their families and for the first team players to take a keen interest.
‘Probably 90 per cent of our lads have experienced training with the first team this season as well. So the players look after them and it just shows the togetherness that we have in a group. I want to thank them all for doing that because I know how much it means.
‘I think that’s a good sign for Manchester United going forward.’