Imagine if we lose this record and Amorim has left two spaces free on the bench!
4000 consecutive first team matches with homegrown player(s) in the squad | 4284 as of 15 Dec 2024
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss three 1-1 draws.
The first got us knocked out of the FA Cup, the next puts us in a good position in our Round of 16 Europa League game, and the latest was an actual decent performance against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
All hopes for the season now rest on the Europa League - does Amorim have the squad to win it?
Yeah that has been annoying to hear, he won't even fill a couple of spaces with academy lads, in keeping with our entire ethos. Can see it ending under Amorim.
Matchday squads and benches are so big nowadays that the only way this amazing record ends is if the manager wants it to end.
That's what worries me. If there are spaces available and Amorim has just outright refused to fill them, giving some of the younger lads a space and being around the squad and training for an away game in Europe, that's quite disappointing. Again, whole ethos and history of the club is built around youth players.
Yeah it’s in danger for sure!
Someone should have a word with Amorim and remind him to always! fill the bench with a few kids.
Someone should have a word with Amorim and remind him to always! fill the bench with a few kids.
i’ve seen this narrative lately aboutnAmorim refusing to put kids on the bench.
For Europa League, you’re allowed 3 changes. And only u21 players at the club for a number of years can be in the squad without needing registration. Fletcher, Amass etc dont meet this criteria hence cannot be named in Europa League bench.
For the league, you also have to consider that bringing a youth player travelling basically blocks the kid from playing and training with the youth team, whether its U21 and U18.
So not filling the bench with kids has much more to do with practical reasons than Amorim’s distrust
Speaking of incredible streaks, I believe this one is still intact - the club has had at least one player in the squad who played under either Sir Matt Busby or Sir Alex Ferguson in every season from 1945 to the present day. Once Jonny Evans leaves, that streak will come to an end.
Unless we sign Danny Welbeck for instance...
Unless we sign Danny Welbeck for instance...
Amorim deserves a bit more credit than you're giving him here; he'll be aware of this record and understand the importance - for this to end it would either have to be a huge oversight on his part when picking the squad (and none of his coaches picking up on it) or him trying to make a real point.
He is neither stupid/incompetent or arrogant enough for either of those to happen.
Mainoo isn't going anywhere.
I totally agree. We will always have an academy/homegrown.player in the matchday squad. There are plenty of young players coming through - Garnacho, Collyer and Mainoo have already made it. Chido and Heaven are getting minutes, and there are several more who will.
United recently played their 6000 game. Can’t remember the exact stat but nearly 25% of those were under Sir Alex, and nearly 40% of all games were managed by Sir Alex and Sir Matt
It’s a pretty easy run to continue (and i imagine the club would insist this on the manager) now we have 9 subs. The remarkable part was when we only had 2-3 subs.
Neither of those count surely. 17 and 18 when you signed them.
True. My apologies. I'm not sure of the rules really, but was thinking that if they have played for our youth then they counted.
Obi was 16 and has played a bit for the U18s. It is stretching it but we count Garnacho and he signed at 16.
Chido was signed as a 16 year old, played in our academy and had never played professionally elsewhere before joining so he definitely counts. Heaven doesn't.
Wow, that's incredible.
Is this correct? I just randomly googled United's 1980 squad and got Bailey, Roche, McQueen, Buchan, Moran, Jovanovich, Anto Whelan (?), Albiston, Tom Connell (?), Nicholl, Duxbury, Macari, Wilkins, McIlroy, Sloan, Coppell, Thomas, Grimes, Chris McGrath, Hughes, Greenhoff, Jordan, Birtles, Ritchie, McGarvey.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I see no player there who played under both Busby and Ferguson.
Some of them were still around when Fergie arrived - bit of a meaningless stat that TBH and just points to the longevity of those 2 managers
There is also Collyer and had been several other kids on the bench recently even if they haven't actually got any minutes
But shipping out Academy players due to PSR will definitely put this stat under threat
That's insane and something I'm definitely going to be bringing up in pub conversations moving forward.
True, some were still around in 1986, but Busby retired for the second time in 1971. That's a 15 year gap. I say this is a nice thought but entirely false!
Edit: I may have misunderstood the original "stat." Anyway, can anyone verify?
Yes you did misunderstand it - from 1945 to the current day there's a player in the squad who played under Sir Matt or SAF, whether it's accurate or not I have no idea, because someone who played under SAF would need to be in the squad for the last 12 years, De Gea fills in most of those years and these days Johnny Evans does - can't remember if their time overlaps
I'm still uneasy about this. I get the De Gea/Evans thing, but it's the 1971-1986 bit that I have a problem with. Hughes, for example, obviously played under Ferguson, but joined United as a youth player in 1978 - 7 years after Busby retired.
Please, somebody point out what I am missing here.
We should replace Heaton with Sam Johnstone as backup keeper. He's only 31 and could keep this record intact for another 4 or 5 years.
Not sure but they don't have to have played for both Busby and Fergie, but one of them.
Otherwise Jonny Evans would need to be about 95.
Not sure that's where the confusion lies though. Hughes counts back to '78 in the example you give.
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Albiston was at United from 1974 to 1988 so played under Fergie and I guess counts as the 12 seasons before Fergie even joined.
1971-72, 1972-73 and 1973-74 surely had at least one player who played for Busby.
Edit: just looked at the first name from the squad list and Alex Stepney counts, so between Alex Stepney and Arthur Albiston they've got the gap between Busby and Fergie covered.
Edit: Just see Damien's post.
You're not missing anything, it's just not true. Sammy McIlroy is the closest I can see that there is to a bridge, playing under Matt in 1971 and leaving in 1982. But that leaves a four year gap until 1986 where no one who played under Busby played for United anymore as far as I can tell.
It was also kinda broken when De Gea left as Evans didn't join til a bit later.
Edit: I forgot you can include players who played for Fergie and were there before he arrived. So Hughes who first played in 1983 almost bridges the gap.
Arthur Albiston 74-88 (Fergie)
Would be a good one. But actually
Sammy McIlroy didn't play under Busby apparently so back to drawing board.
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Given Dave left and Evans rejoined in the same off season, I'd say that's still ok.
This works
I accidentally ended the streak on FM once and deleted the entire save in retaliation
Isn't he?
The only honourable reaction.
I guess it depend what the criteria are. If it's having a player at united/under contract it doesn't work but if you don't include the off seasons it works.
I was at Sir Matt's last game, at McIlroy's first game and at SAF's first game. I am really struggling to see the continuity, despite @Damien's post. Stepney, Albiston, McIlroy, Hughes ... does that bridge the gap?
Stepney and Albiston bridge it on their own, right?
exactlyI cheat a bit now. Make sure my second choice GK is an academy graduate so that I always have a homegrown player in the squad. If I can't select him through injury then it jogs my memory to select another player from the academy.
I think I get it now! Albiston joined in 1974 and played with Stepney ... then went on to play under Ferguson.
Sorry for being really thick about this, and thanks to all for the help. I found it hard to get my head around the original post.
Yes, Stepney and Albiston bridge the gap, and Evans was re-signed in the same window De Gea left, so that's what has kept the streak alive.
But here's another thing: when Sir Matt arrived at United, Johnny Carey, who had previously played for him at City, was already there. If we include him, the streak actually dates back to 1936!
I might be stretching it a bit here, but it’s still amazing. After all, Carey was the captain.
He was signed by Busby and the criteria for the stat was part of the squad, not actually played for him