Academy Review – 2024/25
As we head into the month of June, the day-to-day operations of the Academy pauses, presenting a good opportunity to reflect and review on the 2024/25 season as a whole…
In what has been a very challenging and disappointing season for everyone involved at Cambridge United, it is important to shine a positive light on a lot of outstanding work going on within our Category Three Academy, and what has been achieved by our staff and players this year.
2024/25
Our U18s and a large number of our U16s travelled to the Lake District for a pre-season tour with Waktu. The tour was designed through Waktu’s Core Principles of Mental Resilience, Self Awareness, Upholding Core Values, Relationships, Physical Vitality & Constant Growth. The players and staff were put through their paces throughout the week both mentally and physically with the aim of unlocking unknown potential.
The lads were also exposed to the First Team’s pre-season and several players were included in a number of fixtures and the opportunity to travel to Portugal for their pre-season tour.
Our driving force will always be the development of footballers and our ultimate vision is to support the Football Club with producing homegrown players who can contribute to a winning senior team.
We also understand that when recruiting and developing high potential talent, that some of our players will progress up the footballing pyramid. Once again, this season we have seen two of our Academy players move to Premier League Category One Academies for significant compensation.
Undoubtedly, Mamadou Jobe’s ACL injury before the season kicked off was a devasting blow, none more so than for Mam’s himself, but also for everyone involved at the Club. He would have played a huge role in the season that was to proceed but the way in which Mamadou has responded to this adversity and attacked his rehab has been remarkable, and we are hopeful that he will return in pre-season with the opportunity to fulfil his potential.
Another proud highlight was seeing Liam Bennett exceed over 100 appearances for the Football Club. Liam joined the Academy at 18 years of age after being recruited from our friends at AFC Sudbury. Liam has been the ultimate professional and is an incredible role model to our young players on the dedication needed to success and the ability to deal with adversity.
Nine graduates made appearances for the First Team last season, with five players making debuts; Amaru Kaunda, Dan Barton, Peter Holmes, George Munday and Randy Bulakio. There have been many more Academy players who have contributed to First Team training and appeared in matchday squads.
As well as continuing to celebrate the success of our players, a pivotal part of our Academy vision is to recruit, develop and recognise our exceptional team of staff.
This season, Dan Laurent, our former Head of Academy Recruitment, was given the opportunity to move to Newcastle United, whilst Haris Ali, our Academy Secretary, is leaving us to join Southampton. Two big clubs higher up the pyramid who have recognised the potential in these high performing individuals.
Away from the Club, it has been fantastic to see former Academy graduates continue to make their way in the game. It’s worth mentioning Lewis Simper, who picked up Player of the Year for Sutton United, Harry Darling, who continues to go from strength to strength in the Championship, and former Academy Schoolboy Jack Austin – now at Chelsea - who has received two England call-ups this season.
Tour Programme
Our players have had some fantastic experiences traveling around Europe visiting countries such as Holland, Germany, Latvia and many exciting locations – including some in the UK. Across the Academy, we have delivered 10 tours providing some amazing development opportunities and some incredible memories that will stay with the players forever.
These tours and tournaments enable our players to experience different footballing formats to what they are used to, as well as competing against some of Europe’s elite.
Terry Baker Awards
In April we were once again able to celebrate the success of our scholars with the fourth annual Terry Baker Awards Evening. We celebrated the achievements of all our Second Years Scholars, whilst George Munday (Scholar of the Year), Peter Holmes (Moment of the Year) and Jasper Briggs (Most Progress) picked up individual awards. Thank you to Valerie and the Baker family for their continued support for our Academy.
Following the conclusion of the awards we hosted West Ham United U16s in a showcase fixture, featuring 10 of our new scholarship intake for the forthcoming 2025/26 season. The lads put in a display worthy of their 3-2 victory and a strong crowd had the opportunity to see the next cohort of young players coming through.
Departing players
This season we have seen 20 players released across all ages, who will continue to receive care and attention from our staff to ensure they are supported throughout their next steps. We are delighted that two U16s who were informed that wouldn’t receive a scholarship with us have since earned themselves a contract at other EFL clubs.
Scholars Ty Ewens Findlay, Reece Hipwell, Peter Holmes, Randy Bulakio and Danny Tyler Cowlin, and young pro’s Dan Barton, Brandon Njoku, Louis Chadwick and Amaru Kaunda depart the club after graduating from the Academy.
We will continue to support the lads as they transition away from the Academy and Football Club, as they embark onto the next steps of their journey. We are proud of each and everyone of them and thank them and their families for the commitment throughout their time at the Club.
Closing notes
Finally, I want to thank our Academy staff for their unwavering commitment, hard work and dedication this season. Most of them go about their work quietly in the shadows to ensure that our players have an incredible experience, however their work does not go unnoticed.
I hope everyone enjoys their break and we look forward to coming back bigger and better for what we hope will be another successful 2025/26 season.