Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Legion on June 08, 2025, 11:30:20 PM
-
We go again.
-
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/june/12/jimmy-shan-appointed-u21-head-coach/
Nothing about where Gombau is going?
-
Sacked I suppose. Shan has done a great job and clearly fits with the programme
-
Yeah, only one other academy has done that treble before. He’s done a fantastic job.
-
Kadan Young has just set up the first England goal for the U19's
-
Rowe is getting a hard time at England right back: caught outv of position for Norway's equaliser
-
Rowe is getting a hard time at England right back: caught outv of position for Norway's equaliser
... and, substituted at half time ...
-
Young was badly served by last season's loan move -he hardly played.
-
Young was badly served by last season's loan move -he hardly played.
He played very well for England last night; and still plenty of time to grow his undoubted talents.
-
Young was badly served by last season's loan move -he hardly played.
Was that his first loan move though? It seems like the first 1-2 loan moves often don't go well in terms of the number of appearances but it must help having that experience of having to be self-sufficient for probably the first time. The likes of Louie Barry and KKH struggled in their first loan moves.
-
I hope you're right.
-
The first loan move is usually to expose to full mens football but more about them growing up as men…be interesting with Young, Munroe & Wright whether they kick on after having a spell abroad….likewise a season of struggling at Shrewsbury for Feeney will hopefully have toughened him up a bit for maybe having a championship loan
-
It also helps highlight how fortunate they are with support, facilities and everything else done for them.
-
There is a bit about Feeney and Swinkels and what they learned getting relegated this season;
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6355616/2025/06/16/villa-josh-feeney-sil-swinkels-league-one/ (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6355616/2025/06/16/villa-josh-feeney-sil-swinkels-league-one/)
-
Relegation learnings rule!
-
Speaking of young Josh. He's just joined Huddersfield on a season-long loan.
https://www.htafc.com/news/2025/june/16/loan--josh-feeney-joins-town/ (https://www.htafc.com/news/2025/june/16/loan--josh-feeney-joins-town/)
Good luck, Josh!
-
Ornstein
🚨 Man City set to sign Freddie Lawrie when scholarship expires at Aston Villa this summer. #AVFC made strong offer but England U16 int’l (mainly centre-mid but also plays centre-back) on course for #MCFC - who would need to pay compensation @TheAthleticFC
-
Fuck him, then.
-
Obviously his advisors just seeing the £ signs.🤔
-
Obviously his advisors just seeing the £ signs.🤔
Which is the same thing that will be said of players of a similar age moving to us from other clubs.
-
Obviously his advisors just seeing the £ signs.🤔
Which is the same thing that will be said of players of a similar age moving to us from other clubs.
They might , but some will take a decision on where they feel they have the best chance of progressing in the game, if they are well advised of course.
The problem is that advice is pretty rare at academy level and Money becomes the big / only determinant.
-
Ornstein
🚨 Man City set to sign Freddie Lawrie when scholarship expires at Aston Villa this summer. #AVFC made strong offer but England U16 int’l (mainly centre-mid but also plays centre-back) on course for #MCFC - who would need to pay compensation @TheAthleticFC
Not quiet correct.
He'll be on schoolboy forms currently and have been offered a scholarship by Villa, The offer ups the compo slightly.
He's obviously rejected the scholarship but Citeh are willing to pay a fee to register him as a scholar. As he hasn't been at Villa long, that compensation won't be massive. £500-750k?
It's a gamble refusing a scholarship as the assumption is 'someone will come and get me'...if they are willing to pay.
The offer from Citeh would be something like a guaranteed pro contract on his 17th birthday, two to three years on 5, then 10, then £15k per week. Plus a signing on fee. An extra year in the clubs favour. He'd be a millionaire at 20yo.
-
We’re in the Southern Section of the EFL Trophy again and will be drawn into one of these groups tomorrow afternoon.
Southern section
Group A: Cardiff City, Exeter City, Newport County
Group B: Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Plymouth Argyle
Group C: Northampton Town, Shrewsbury Town, Walsall
Group D: Milton Keynes Dons, Reading, Swindon Town
Group E: AFC Wimbledon, Bromley, Stevenage
Group F: Crawley Town, Leyton Orient, Peterborough United
Group G: Colchester United, Gillingham, Wycombe Wanderers
Group H: Barnet, Cambridge United, Luton Town
All three will be away, so a chance to hopefully go somewhere new - in my case if we can avoid groups B, C & D.
-
Boooo.
-
I did the Fleetwood and Blackpool games last season so I'll try and get to a game or two.
-
Group C would save a bit of petrol money.
-
From The Athletic
THE ASTON VILLA COACHING SYLLABUS, WHO IMPLEMENTED IT AND HOW IT WORKS
“He may be Villa’s best-kept secret because he keeps himself to himself and is not involved in a club’s politics,” says one Aston Villa academy staff member.
“Ryan’s very good at what he does. A lot of people don’t know that his work with the FA was instrumental. What he did at West Brom and then at Villa goes unnoticed, but it’s really important.”
Ryan Maye is Villa’s head of coaching and development, an all-encompassing post he has held since September 2019.
Maye does not directly coach, but he writes and implements the coaching syllabus and oversees every session put on by every age-group coach at the club, from under-nines to the under-21s.
Born in Portsmouth on England’s south coast, Maye is a little-noticed cog at Villa as far as the outside world is concerned — but within football, he is highly regarded, to the extent that clubs in the divisions below the Premier League have expressed an interest in the 44-year-old becoming their manager.
Maye’s career started as a football development officer at Chelsea nearly a quarter of a century ago. It was there he learnt how to build an effective culture and curriculum under their long-time academy manager, Neil Bath. He spent four years at Chelsea before stepping up to the role of senior development officer at leading Scottish side Rangers.
Two stints with West Bromwich Albion were sandwiched by four years at the English Football Association as a youth-coach educator, tasked with teaching professional coaches as well as assisting England youth-team get-togethers.
“His FA background has helped,” says one Villa employee. “He helped write the coaching A and B licence courses.”
Maye returned to West Brom, a Premier League side for much of the previous decade but in the second tier one for most of the current one, in 2017 but was among the steady stream of players and coaches who defected to top-flight neighbours Villa two years later, led by academy director Mark Harrison.
Harrison had developed West Brom’s coaching philosophy, with Maye successfully implementing it. In a competitive catchment area in England’s West Midlands, the club began to be its dominant talent producer. Tim Iroegbunam, Finn Azaz, Saido Berahino and Izzy Brown advanced there under Harrison’s watch. As did Villa’s biggest asset at present, Morgan Rogers.
“Morgan came through the programme we’ve now got at Villa but it’s been taken to another level here,” adds the Villa worker. “If people joined up the dots, they’d probably realise these guys (Harrison and Maye) are good.”
Rogers’ growth has provided immense satisfaction, so it was fitting he watched from the stands as Villa Under-18s won the FA Youth Cup final against Manchester City last month. Rogers congratulated the players on the pitch, as well as their coach, Jimmy Shan, who worked at West Brom for 13 years in a variety of roles before coming to Villa last July.
That Youth Cup win was an illustration of Villa’s coaching template. This was affirmed by the under-18s going on to become the second team to complete the youth treble two weeks later, winning the league’s southern division title and then, again by beating their City counterparts, the national final.
The academy’s cohesion is aided by the tried and trusted formula transplanted from West Brom that has reunited Shan, Maye, Harrison and head of player talent identification Steve Hopcroft. “There is a lot of water under the iceberg,” says a senior source.
Maye will spend weekends at academy matches and watching players Villa have sent out on loan. There will be no more than 10 days over the summer when none of the club’s age groups are in training, so moments of pause are scant.
“The structure he implements includes coaching analysis,” explains an experienced Villa coach. “All sessions get filmed and analysed. You’ll then get reports generated. Ryan will watch every session. He’ll tell you what areas to think about. Other clubs do it, but not to the level he does.
“We have a philosophy document he wrote. It’s more than 100 slides, but it’s easy reading and you’ve always got that to refer to.”
A vacuum was created in West Brom’s academy system upon the mass of departures that strengthened Villa’s own.
Maye and Shan are among the clearest examples. As an executive coach, Maye had supported Shan’s natural coaching intuition under Harrison’s framework. Shan reached a point where he was appointed first-team coach in 2018, tasked with doing a lot of the coaching under manager Darren Moore, before becoming caretaker manager when Moore was fired late in the 2018-19 Championship season.
After that spell in the hotseat at The Hawthorns, Shan began making his first forays into management. He was in interim charge at Kidderminster Harriers for three months the following season before spending just over a year with Solihull Moors, another non-League side in the Midlands, from February 2020.
They were career mistakes in hindsight, not befitting his expertise. Accepting two jobs in the fifth-tier National League was, according to an employee who works closely with Shan, “too low”, with his ideas belonging at higher levels of the game with players who can follow his coaching in greater detail.
Shan is well-liked among peers, players and senior figures. It was decided at the end of last season, following the under-18s’ treble, that the 46-year-old would be promoted to under-21s head coach, replacing first-team manager Unai Emery’s close friend, Josep Gombau.
“The way football is going, players need more head coaches than managers,” says one senior source. “Shan is overflowing with knowledge. He is oven-ready to step up, because of the detail, small tweaks and how he can instil methodology into players.”
Maye’s remit can be delicate. Though every team at the club must play in Villa’s image, coaches have to be careful about how much information they give to youngsters and be age-appropriate. His job is not to control the content of their training sessions, but to ensure every coach is following Villa’s overarching philosophy.
Broadly speaking, there are three ways in possession and three without the ball. Details include the formation of every age group and how each Villa junior side should look on the pitch, be it from goal kicks, in general shape and the various methods of build-up play, while reminding players to remain expressive and instinctive.
Those final points are pertinent. Villa’s academy staff are mindful that they do not want to produce robotic players, instead seeking to strike a balance of imparting tactical understanding while allowing those with instinct to thrive.
Villa’s methods can be boiled down to wanting to be dominant on the ball, to create central overloads and for the players to solve issues when on the field.
“Players must recognise triggers but have freedom to make decisions on the ball,” adds one academy staff member. “Formations don’t take onus; you rarely see the on-paper formation during games, aside from goal kicks and at kick-off.”
Villa’s coaching syllabus is important in teaching players how to recognise space and, in turn, adapt in-game. For instance, if there is a three versus two in defence, the Villa side will have an extra player to build from the back. Or if the opposition are pressing centrally, players must realise the best way to counteract this is possibly by passing either wide or over the top into the ‘No 10s’ (attacking midfielders).
In the league-decider rematch against City a fortnight after the FA Youth Cup final, Shan’s under-18s had to solve a different puzzle.
City were playing with three No 10s, creating a midfield overload, and Villa were struggling to apply pressure. The onus on the players on the field was to figure out what needed to change. The solution was central defender Leon Routh stepping up into midfield and getting tight on one of City’s attacking midfielders.
Whether through fortune or design, the academy blueprint aligns with Emery’s philosophy. The similarities in players’ responsibilities and decision-making are striking. The academy is not there to copy the first team as such, but for young players at the club to know the expectations of Emery’s environment. This is critical, with young players needing to gain the manager’s trust.
There is an acceptance that making the leap from age-group football to the senior game has grown vast in recent years. Now, players must be operating at Champions League level to get into the first team, focusing on reliable decision-making and supreme athleticism.
The next step for Emery is to integrate an academy graduate into his plans. How that happens, though, is uncertain. Luck may be needed, be it through taking opportunities as a result of injuries.
Villa’s academy coaches view their role as serving Emery, who concentrates solely on first-team matters. Young players only become relevant to him when he sees them benefiting his senior squad.
Maye is the one tasked with bringing together Harrison’s academy philosophy. They are among the impressive academy figures who provide the foundation for Villa’s youngsters to flourish.
-
Thanks for sharing. Another piece in the academy set up jigsaw for me. I knew about Harrison and Shan but not about Ryan Maye. They’re doing a great job, let’s hope we can benefit from these youngsters in the first team. There’s usually a high attrition rate when moving from academy to first team but we should see some of them coming through. Borland comes to mind and Young maybe on his way. Obviously it’s a big bonus that we nicked them all off the Baggies too!
-
We’re in the Southern Section of the EFL Trophy again and will be drawn into one of these groups tomorrow afternoon.
Southern section
Group A: Cardiff City, Exeter City, Newport County
Group B: Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Plymouth Argyle
Group C: Northampton Town, Shrewsbury Town, Walsall
Group D: Milton Keynes Dons, Reading, Swindon Town
Group E: AFC Wimbledon, Bromley, Stevenage
Group F: Crawley Town, Leyton Orient, Peterborough United
Group G: Colchester United, Gillingham, Wycombe Wanderers
Group H: Barnet, Cambridge United, Luton Town
All three will be away, so a chance to hopefully go somewhere new - in my case if we can avoid groups B, C & D.
We are in Group F - so away games at Crawley, Leyton Orient and Peterborough
-
Crawley is at Horsham ground.
Orient at Whitbread Sports Ground.
Peterborough at Nene Park Academy.
(assuming no moves to main ground for any reason).
-
Crawley is at Horsham ground.
Orient at Whitbread Sports Ground.
Peterborough at Nene Park Academy.
(assuming no moves to main ground for any reason).
Whaaaat?
I was hoping to knock off 3 new away grounds.
Bugger.
-
I think these grounds are where the respective clubs play their Academy games.
In last season's EFL Trophy Posh played at London Road and Orient at Broadfield Stadium.
Crawley don't seem to have entered the competition.
You'd imagine they'd all want to play at home to maximise home advantage - after all, it is their first team we"ll be playing.
-
2 of those sides beat our 1st team fairly recently.
-
EFL Cup
27 Aug 2014
Villa 0-1 Orient
FA Cup
6 Jan 2018
Villa 1-3 Posh
11yrs and 7 yrs ago.
Hardly recent?
-
I still think of 1957 as recent.
-
There's no way either of those games actually happened. Zero recollection.
-
The latest intake of scholars to join the U18s. https://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=66003.30
Jahmi Kellyman, Omari's younger brother is one of them. I wasn't aware that he was at the club.
We'll have to see if there's any correlation between wearing a flash watch and/or trainers with a suit, and making it.
-
I'm guessing linking back to this thread wasn't the intention there.
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/04/villa-welcome-new-scholars-to-under-18s/ (https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/04/villa-welcome-new-scholars-to-under-18s/)
I assume this was what you were meaning to post.
-
I'm guessing linking back to this thread wasn't the intention there.
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/04/villa-welcome-new-scholars-to-under-18s/ (https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/04/villa-welcome-new-scholars-to-under-18s/)
I assume this was what you were meaning to post.
straight from their prom , good luck boys
-
I'm guessing linking back to this thread wasn't the intention there.
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/04/villa-welcome-new-scholars-to-under-18s/ (https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/04/villa-welcome-new-scholars-to-under-18s/)
Cheers, was heading out the door and copied the wrong tab.
-
straight from their prom , good luck boys
Markie Meade's tux made me smile, as did the fact that Harry Pinnell looks like he's just signed for KPMG.
-
I play sport with Theo Houston’s Dad. Top family, I hope he does brilliantly.
-
Not for me, get him sold. Can't be arsed with people saying "we have a problem" every time he has a bad game.
-
Can’t see this has been mentioned anywhere. Are we non-plussed or is it because he doesn’t physically arrive until next season?
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/july/19/villa-announce-cisse-signing/
-
There's the fact that he's gone straight back on loan but also there wasn't much said about it in the lead-up to it. I don't think much was said about Ozcan either...not sure whether he has his own thread yet.
-
VERTU Trophy fixtures confirmed
Crawley United v Villa U21s
Tues 16th Sept 1930
Broadfield Stadium
Winfield Way
Crawley
Peterborough United v Villa U21s
Tues 30th Sept 1900
Weston Homes Stadium
London Road
Peterborough
Leyton Orient v Villa U21s
Tues 28th Oct 1900
BetWright Stadium
Brisbane Road
London
-
BOOOOOO.
-
BOOOOOO.
Bit unfair on the kids!
-
U21 fixtures
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/august/05/premier-league-2-fixtures-released/
I didn't realise Albion played at Solihull and Blues at Stratford.
-
From The Athletic
PICKING ASTON VILLA’S BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER FOR 2025-26: GEORGE HEMMINGS
Young players typically acquire first-team minutes in pre-season.
The reasons are threefold. A manager may not have his senior players available due to truncated return dates or a need to manage minutes carefully. In that respect, young players enable rotation.
Third — and most desirable for any youngster — is that the manager wants to take a closer look, with an eye to the player stepping into his environment for the season ahead.
It is not yet known what end of the scale 18-year-old George Hemmings sits, but early impressions have been compelling.
Aston Villa’s first-team players have been struck by Hemmings’ ability this summer. He is described as a highly technical, composed midfielder who has a game understanding beyond his years.
He possesses the attributes Unai Emery wants in a midfielder — press resistance, malleability, and reliable decision-making — with senior team-mates impressed by how quickly he has adapted to the increase in intensity and quality. He was introduced at half-time in Villa’s first two pre-season fixtures against Walsall and Hansa Rostock, before playing the final half an hour against Roma and starting away at Marseille.
As The Athletic covered in March, Hemmings’ burgeoning reputation at senior level is not a surprise to those in the academy. The England youth international has long been name-checked by multiple sources — scouts, coaches, recruitment staff and agents — as a leading talent and, arguably, Villa’s most promising.
Hemmings officially arrived in January 2024 from Nottingham Forest. Forest did not want him to leave, so negotiations were far from easy. Villa’s academy recruitment staff worked to finalise an agreement and training compensation fee, bearing in mind the player was 16 and unable to sign a professional contract until his next birthday.
Villa knew their efforts and patience would be vindicated. They had the connections and resources to convince Hemmings to choose them and had been captured by his natural stylings as a player; silky in how he moves, effortless when carrying the ball, with a poise that few at that age share.
Hemmings waited while Villa and Forest negotiated. The broader issue was that, approaching the mid-point of the season, Hemmings did not have a club to train at. He was not allowed to train at Villa or Forest, so he was left to do his own work at his family home in Derby for four months.
This invariably disturbed his start at Villa once a deal was finalised, having to get up to speed and settle in a new environment.
Landing Hemmings provided Villa staff with immense pride. They share a similar viewpoint to wider scouting circles, where people believe he can play for England Under-21s in the not-too-distant future, even if he only turned 18 in March.
Hemmings is quiet and naturally introverted, but he plays with a high degree of confidence, even if there has been a feeling that he can take greater control of midfield battles and dominate. Coaches have tasked him with showing more personality on the pitch and becoming a leader.
He needed to catch up physically after joining Villa and this was tested further last season, when Hemmings was promoted to Villa’s under-21s while still playing a starring role in the under-18s treble-winning success. They became only the second team to win the FA Youth Cup, the league’s southern division title, and the national final.
His midfield partner, Aidan Borland, is similarly well-regarded, with their partnership demonstrating a maturity and balance ordinarily expected from players far older.
Hemmings trained with the first team last season, yet mostly on the days after their matches, where substitutes and unused players participated in practice games.
This summer was an opportunity to take the next step. Entering his second pre-season, the 18-year-old wanted to show that his age should not belie the fact that he could compete and was buoyed by signing a new five-year contract at Villa.
Emery has not yet fully integrated an academy player into his squad — Lamare Bogarde was on loan in League One and Jacob Ramsey was established when he arrived. Often, graduates train and form a part of some cup competitions and are widely there to offer depth. There has not been a player who has competed or surpassed a senior member in a position.
Academy players must not only be Premier League standard, but Emery expects they can play at a Champions League level, given his ambitions are for Villa to qualify regularly for the competition. It is then that he will put trust in them. Yet Hemmings was viewed as someone who could draw the manager’s attention.
Operating centrally, the teenager can play in multiple positions: a deep-lying No 6, a box-to-box runner, or a No 10 at different points.
Academy staff have been reticent to pigeonhole Hemmings, though his best traits are when he receives in deep positions before driving through midfield. Watch him closely and his head is on a constant swivel, scanning for space and looking where pressure is coming from. Playing in a position where he is more involved in Villa’s build-up is favoured.
“He is very smooth with the ball and is two-footed,” said one observer this year, speaking to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships. “He can evade pressure and break lines with his dribbling and forward passing.”
Pre-season has encouraged Hemmings’ prospects of being the one to break through under Emery. Will he get a chance alongside Boubacar Kamara or Youri Tielemans in the engine room this term?
-
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2025/august/15/kerr-smith-joins-barrow-on-loan
Kerr Smith off for a season long loan st Barrow.
Barrow recruits mainly in the NW and train at FC United and travel up on Fridays to fine tune beforehand. It enables them to get players from a wider talent pool.
Might make it a bit trickier for a loanee to settle in and bond with team mates?
-
Not a great start to the season for the Babbies.
-
Didn't play that badly, but we lacked a cutting edge after Cotcher had to go off.
Burrowes could do with practising his crossing!
A shame that Hemmings, Jimoh and Rowe weren't available for this, but we may see some of them on the bench tomorrow.
-
A shame that Hemmings, Jimoh and Rowe weren't available for this, but we may see some of them on the bench tomorrow.
Jimoh-Aloba.
Wonder who else will go out on loan.
-
Yes, lots of decisions to be made.
Surprised that Hemmings didn't even make the bench today.
-
Two Villa lads in the England under-16s squad v Italy. Well done Oscar Johnson, Alvin Brown.
-
u21 lads v Albion at Soilhull Moors on Monday at 1400.
I think its £5 entry.
-
Two Villa lads in the England under-16s squad v Italy. Well done Oscar Johnson, Alvin Brown.
Let's hope a Man City don't come along and take them.
-
Draw for UEFA Youth League rounds 1-3 on 1st September. Villa enter in Round 2. Should we get through Rounds 2 and 3 we would join the best twenty-two teams from the league section in the Round of 32.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_UEFA_Youth_League
-
1-0 to West Brom. Never a penalty.
-
1-1. Stonewall penalty.
-
Winning 2-1 now, missed the goal while putting the hammock up.
-
3-1 Fortes.
-
Won 3-1. Should have been more.
-
This is terrible news. Who are we going to poach from West Brom now?
-
No Hemmings in the team or on the bench, but Mohamed Kone looked good. I hope he’s on a long Kone-tract.
-
Will accept, on this occasion, on the basis that it's a Patridge reference.
-
U-18s with a good win at Liverpool today.
-
Lennon Moss called up to the Cymru U-17 squad. https://faw.cymru/news/mu17-squad-confirmed-for-estonia-friendlies/
-
U-18s with a good win at Liverpool today.
Tip for the top Markie Meade scored and Kellyman Jnr came on in the second half.
-
What's happened to Ben Broggio?
Haven't seen him in either the U18s or U21s in early season games, presume he's crocked?.
-
Losing to Chelsea at Bodymoor.
-
Equaliser for Villa and it’s comes down our right with McWilliams releasing Pavey who finds an excellent ball and Mulley completes the move with a low finish.
-
What's happened to Ben Broggio?
Haven't seen him in either the U18s or U21s in early season games, presume he's crocked?.
I think I read something about him being injured right at the start of pre-season but I can't find where I saw it now. He's one of a handful of youngsters who seem to be between the U21s and the first team though so I'm not sure how many U21 games he'll be involved with.
-
lost in the 96th minute, seems like we teaching them the villa way early.
-
What's happened to Ben Broggio?
Haven't seen him in either the U18s or U21s in early season games, presume he's crocked?.
I think I read something about him being injured right at the start of pre-season but I can't find where I saw it now. He's one of a handful of youngsters who seem to be between the U21s and the first team though so I'm not sure how many U21 games he'll be involved with.
Cheers P.
Hope to see him really kicking on this season.
-
https://www.uefa.com/uefayouthleague/news/029c-1e8875281e55-90c164c88957-1000--uefa-youth-league-domestic-champions-path-draws/
I think we could draw Lincoln Red Imps, or Hibs.
-
https://www.uefa.com/uefayouthleague/news/029c-1e8875281e55-90c164c88957-1000--uefa-youth-league-domestic-champions-path-draws/
We drew the winner of the First Round tie between Inter Club d'Escaldes of Andorra and Albanians KF Skënderbeu.
Scheduled for 22nd October (away, I think) and 5th November (home)
Should we progress to the Third Round we would face AZ Alkmaar unless they are upset by Maltesers the Naxxar Lions or the previously-mentioned Lincoln Red Imps.
Scheduled for 26th November (away) and 10th December (home).
-
AZ run a very successful youth academy. Could be a good test.
-
Tristan Rowe off on loan to Ligue 2 side FC Annecy. https://x.com/FCAnnecy/status/1962923480921321873
Seems a bit of a strange one. Maybe he wants to learn French.
-
Didn't Emery say he would get games this season?
Wouldn't be surprised if he plays Konsa at right back so that we can go to a back 3 when in possession.
-
Has anyone heard if the U21s Vertu Trophy game A to Crawley is still happening Tue 16th, given that that is when the Carabao tie away to Brentford is now happening?
-
Still seems to be, accordingly to Crawley site. But tickets went on sale yesterday, before the Brentford date was announced so maybe it will be moved.
-
I bought two tickets for the Crawley game thinking that there is no way that the League Cup game will happen the same night...😫
-
Maybe they'll refund you if you ask. Would give it a couple of days in case they announce a further move. League Cup was only announced today.