Man Utd v Man City: The schools teaching future stars for both clubs

An 18-year-old Marcus Rashford, pictured extracurricular Ashton connected Mersey's Sixth Form gathering successful March 2016

Arms implicit shoulders, smiles breaking crossed caller faces, marker-pen messages scrawled connected achromatic shirts.

Except this photograph is somewhat different. These are 4 mean schoolboys with bonzer careers successful beforehand of them.

On the near is Tosin Kehinde, who present plays for Randers successful the Danish apical flight. In the centre is Jimmy Dunne, a regular successful QPR's defence this season. On the close is Axel Tuanzebe, who has spent the past six months arsenic portion of Stoke's squad.

At the front, is the astir acquainted face; Manchester United prima Marcus Rashford.

The photograph was taken astatine Ashton connected Mersey School, wherever batches of United's academy prospects person been walking the corridors for 25 years.

It is simply a schoolhouse wherever aboriginal stars are today's students.

And it isn't the lone 1 successful Manchester.

"Many, many, galore of our boys volition enactment astatine their ain schools," says Nick Cox, Manchester United's academy director, and a erstwhile teacher himself.

"We volition physique astonishing relationships with those schools to marque definite we are communicating regularly and dovetail their programme with ours.

"I americium a large believer that you enactment astatine home, with your family, successful your ain bed, with your mates astatine schoolhouse for arsenic agelong arsenic possible."

Sometimes, though, arsenic players get older, arsenic they articulation the academy from further afield, arsenic their shot becomes much time-consuming, it makes consciousness to power to a schoolhouse acceptable up for the demands connected an aspiring Premier League star.

Manchester Grammar School, a backstage schoolhouse that partnered much precocious with United, is fractional an hour's thrust from United's Carrington grooming ground.

But Ashton connected Mersey, a authorities schoolhouse successful Sale, is person and takes connected much of the club's prospects.

The nexus is the longest specified narration successful England.

David Law, erstwhile caput of PE astatine Ashton connected Mersey, saw however it started and however it blossomed.

"It came retired of the specializer assemblage inaugural successful the precocious 1990s," helium remembers.

"Ashton connected Mersey wanted to beryllium a sports college, but you needed £100,000 of backstage sponsorship. A batch of schools were scrabbling astir for the money.

"I went to a league down successful Loughborough, wherever they mentioned that a batch of Premier League clubs were looking to nexus up with schools."

Law was a Manchester City apprentice successful his youth. He remains a City fan. But a interaction from his days coaching section younker teams was astatine United.

He enactment successful a call. Soon afterwards, helium recovered himself successful a meeting.

"There was the headmaster and United concern manager David Gill and, astatine the end, United wrote a cheque for £100,000," Law says.

The concern was a bully one.

Less than 5 years later, connected a Thursday greeting successful March 2003, Law had to hurriedly alteration his acquisition plan.

"Darren Fletcher had made his debut arsenic an 18-year-old the erstwhile evening successful the Champions League against FC Basel," Law remembers.

Ashton connected Mersey School was rated arsenic bully successful its past Ofsted inspection successful 2019

"He had played truly well, and helium didn't slumber erstwhile helium got location due to the fact that the adrenaline was inactive flowing thorough his system.

"But the adjacent morning, helium was successful schoolhouse connected clip for 08:45. I really stopped the acquisition truthful that helium could speech to the kids astir his experiences the nighttime before. He was a beauteous lad, a large character."

Rashford was likewise punctual connected a Monday successful February 2016.

The time before, the 18-year-old had scored 2 goals successful a 3-2 triumph implicit Arsenal. Timothy Fosu-Mensah, different Ashton connected Mersey pupil, had besides made his Premier League debut successful the game.

"I walked into the sixth-form communal country connected Monday morning, earlier lessons began, and Marcus Rashford was playing excavation with 1 of the different sixth-form boys," the school's headteacher, Aidan Moloney, told the Telegraph astatine the time.

"Marcus and Tim wanted to beryllium astatine schoolhouse connected Monday. They wanted to beryllium astir their friends.

"The unit went implicit to congratulate Marcus and Tim, and past astatine 09:00, the doorbell went and they were consecutive down to lessons."

Picking St Bede's College's top publication to Manchester City's past whitethorn beryllium a question of faith.

On a Sunday greeting successful May 2012, then-manager Roberto Mancini walked into the school's chapel, sat successful a pew and prayed.

A fewer hours later, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero scored against Queens Park Rangers successful wounded time; completing a miraculous turnaround and securing City their archetypal league rubric successful 44 years.

St Bede's relation successful delivering Phil Foden to the archetypal squad is much definite.

Foden moved to St Bede's from Stockport Academy astatine the property of 12.

The backstage school, a mile from City's erstwhile Maine Road home, has been partnered with the nine since 2011, and, portion Foden is the astir palmy product, determination person been plentifulness of others.

Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tosin Adarabioyo, present with Fulham, are each erstwhile pupils who person gone connected to play for City astatine elder level.

The statement has also, inadvertently, strengthened United's ranks.

St Bede's was founded successful 1876 by Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, who went connected to go the Archbishop of Westminster

Jadon Sancho and promising younker imaginable Charlie McNeill - who attended St Bede's arsenic City Academy prospects - person crossed implicit and present correspond the reddish fractional of the city.

City, similar United, person spouse schools successful some authorities and backstage sectors; immoderate of their prospects be Barlow RC High School successful the upmarket suburb of Didsbury.

But astir travel from St Bede's to the City Football Academy (CFA) wherever the younker teams bid successful show of Etihad Stadium.

"I utilized to bash fractional days and past bash training," said Foden successful 2022 of his clip astatine St Bede's.

"It was truly enjoyable due to the fact that we would look guardant to meal clip erstwhile we would get connected the manager extracurricular to spell to training."

The day-to-day is timetable is simply a spot much varied than Foden describes - adjacent players successful City's under-16 squad bash 2 afloat schooldays a week learning astatine St Bede's.

But City person a utile ability. As good arsenic bringing their boys to a school, they tin bring the schoolhouse to their boys.

There are 8 classrooms astatine the CFA and St Bede's teachers volition marque the travel alongside their pupils truthful they tin present lessons astir training.

A 16-year-old Phil Foden playing for Manchester City Academy successful January 2017

The world expectations are the aforesaid arsenic for immoderate different pupil. If City's players person a detention astatine school, they miss grooming astatine the club.

In summertime 2021, 97% of City's Academy players astatine St Bede's achieved astatine slightest 4 C-grade from their GCSEs, portion 38% achieved 7 A grades oregon better. Both figures are good supra the nationalist average.

However, Foden has suggested that, for him astatine least, the absorption occasionally slipped distant from the books.

When St Bede's tweeted to congratulate the then-18-year-old connected becoming the youngest Englishman to people successful the Champions League backmost successful November 2019, he jokingly replied that the extremity justified his skipping homework.

Meeting standards successful the schoolroom is 1 challenge, fitting successful with caller school-mates is another.

Some young players are not conscionable striving to bushed the likelihood and marque it arsenic a professional, they are getting utilized to being successful a caller state each together.

Paul Pogba, Gerard Pique and Giuseppe Rossi are among the teenagers who attended Ashton connected Mersey aft moving to the UK astatine a young property to articulation United's set-up.

They had the accidental to enactment with a tutor to get their English up to speed, and lived with section families, immoderate connected Cecil Avenue, the aforesaid roadworthy arsenic the school, to marque things arsenic casual arsenic possible.

City person a modulation process for caller St Bede's pupils, which tin instrumentality respective months and aggregate meetings betwixt the school, household and nine successful a non-football context.

To assistance the young City players settee successful and not basal out, St Bede's reportedly does not let them to deterioration club-branded coats.

It is difficult, though. The prestige of a Premier League nine tin origin ripples successful a school's societal life.

"I deliberation it was mixed really," said Law of different pupils' reactions to the accomplishment of United prospects astatine Ashton connected Mersey successful the aboriginal years of the partnership.

"I deliberation immoderate of the lads mightiness person been a spot jealous seeing these imaginable superstars walking about.

"Having said that, the girls astatine the schoolhouse were huffy for the boys really. I deliberation 1 oregon 2 relationships developed from it."

Rashford is successful 1 of those relationships. He is engaged to a chap erstwhile pupil.

A Manchester United under-18 squad from February 2011. Ravel Morrison (back row, acold left), Paul Pogba (back row, acold right), Michele Fornasier (front row, 2nd from left) and Jesse Lingard (front row, acold right) were among the Ashton connected Mersey pupils successful the team

Whatever the buzz caused by their presence, Cox says United's aim, for a ample part, is to enactment successful the inheritance of a young player's life.

"We can't predominate their lives," helium says. "We can't make a satellite wherever their sole individuality is being a footballer.

"I privation the boys to beryllium normal. They volition enactment the azygous on, they volition beryllium taught with each the different kids and they volition beryllium encouraged to integrate into extra-curricular activities. We privation them to beryllium successful the schoolhouse play, to larn however to play the violin and each those things."

It seems to work. Jesse Lingard was Ashton connected Mersey's lawman caput lad successful his last twelvemonth astatine the school. Ravel Morrison would enactment alongside Law to present PE lessons to younger kids, demonstrating a scope of sports.

However, the country of schoolhouse beingness wherever - successful mentation - academy kids could astir easy get involved, is really the trickiest.

City's players don't play for St Bede's shot team. It is felt it would beryllium unfair to different pupils astatine their schoolhouse and absorption teams alike.

United's argumentation is much open. There person been players successful their under-16s broadside who compression schoolhouse football, cricket oregon rugby games into a packed schedule. But it is rare.

Athletics, requiring little co-ordinated signifier with team-mates and nary contact, is often a bully compromise.

City players were portion of St Bede's squad astatine a caller Manchester-wide schools championship.

In 2014, Ro-Shaun Williams, who would instrumentality connected Rashford and Tuanzebe successful post-training races astatine Carrington, clocked 10.99 seconds for the 100m, breaking a 25-year-old Ashton connected Mersey grounds held by Olympic metallic medallist Darren Campbell.

Defender Williams, who played a fig of friendlies for United earlier leaving successful 2019, is present astatine Doncaster.

Cox emphasises that wherever his charges spell to school, immoderate they bash portion they are there, their learning continues good retired of the classroom.

United enactment connected cookery lessons for their players, thatch them however to negociate their finances and screen precocious driving lessons. They larn the past of the nine and the satellite beyond. One radical precocious visited Auschwitz to recognize the value of the Holocaust.

Today, immoderate of them volition beryllium astatine Wembley to ticker their first-team counterparts successful the FA Cup last against City.

"They request to look backmost connected our programme and deliberation 'that was incredible, it has enriched my life'," Cox says. "Part of that is creating memories that our kids volition retrieve forever.

"By being committed to our shot programme, they volition larn a batch astir having intent successful their life, they volition beryllium acceptable and healthy, they volition question the world, they volition conscionable absorbing people, they volition beryllium disciplined, they volition larn however to beryllium punctual, they volition beryllium truly bully communicators, they volition beryllium committed to learning.

"Everyone leaves the academy. Some permission for the archetypal team, immoderate permission to different archetypal teams, immoderate permission for fantastic jobs extracurricular of football.

"It is important to maine that astatine the extremity of this journey, if they go a footballer oregon not, that they person maximised their potential."

Whether they swap their graffitied schoolhouse garment for a United shirt, City shirt, oregon neither, each leaver departs with lessons learned.