Unlike Manchester United’s first team, the academy sides, especially the U18s, have performed quite consistently in recent seasons, and coach Adam Lawrence deserves credit for that.
Last season, the U18 side claimed a historic treble — the U18 PL North division title, the U18 PL Cup, and the U18 PL national championship.
What will have pleased the club even more was the fact that two of those trophies came at the expense of fierce rivals Manchester City.
The club close to qualifying for the FA Youth Cup final this time around, winning a pulsating quarter-final tie against Arsenal before losing to eventual champions Aston Villa in the semi-finals.
Lawrence’s U18 side are set to finish their league campaign in second place behind City this time around.
Lawrence to leave
Now, The Manchester Evening News has some bad news in store for fans, claiming Lawrence is looking for a new challenge away from United and a summer exit looks likely.
A final decision is yet to be taken as per the report and hopefully, INEOS can persuade the highly-rated coach to stay but as things stand, the 39-year-old looks to be on his way out.
“Manchester United coach Adam Lawrence could leave his position as Under-18 manager.
“The Manchester Evening News understands Lawrence’s future is uncertain, and he could leave United after spending four years working in the academy after joining from Charlton.
Successful tenure comes to an end
“Sources have said Lawrence has not made a final decision and could stay in Manchester, but there has been an admission that he is looking for a new challenge and is more likely to leave the club.”
Lawrence initially joined as an U16 coach back in January 2021 before eventually climbing up the ladder to become the head of player development for the U13 to U16 bracket.
In 2023, the Englishman became the U18 manager, in what has been a hugely successful tenure, not only in terms of trophies but also in terms of players who have gone on to feature for the first team.
Before his United stint, Lawrence has served as head of academy coaching at Charlton as well as being youth coach at Millwall.
Feature image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
