West Bromwich Albion F.C. Reserves and Academy

West Bromwich Albion Reserves and Academy are the youth teams of West Bromwich Albion. The reserve team is made up of under-23 players, and is effectively West Bromwich Albion's second-string side. The under-18 players among other younger age groups make up the academy team. They play in the Premier League 2 Division 2, the second tier of reserve team football in England.

West Bromwich Albion F.C. Reserves and Academy

Nickname(s)	The Baggies
Ground	The Hawthorns, New Bucks Head
Owner	Lai Guochuan
Manager	Richard Stevens
League	Premier League 2 Division 2
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Academy staff and hierarchy

Position	Name
Academy Manager		Richard Stevens
Head of Academy Coaching		Mick Halsall
U-23s Manager		Richard Beale
U-23s Coach		Chris Brunt
U-23s Coach		Deon Burton
U-18s Manager		Leigh Downing
Professional Phase Goalkeeping Development Coach		Boaz Myhill
Head of Academy Recruitment		Tom Brady

History

In the 1882–83 season, Albion fielded a reserve side for the first time; the club's second team played 24 matches and went through the season undefeated.^[1] Due to the club's financial situation, the reserves had their wages halved early in the 1885–86 season, and by January 1886 the payments made to reserve players were withdrawn altogether. This resulted in Albion's second team refusing to play against Small Heath Alliance and the game was cancelled. Some of the players were suspended as a result of their actions, but were later re-instated.^[2] The Albion reserves first competed in The Central League in 1921 and won the competition seven times.^[3]

Albion's Youth team first entered the FA Youth Cup in 1952–53. In their first game in the competition, they defeated Brush Sports by a 10–1 scoreline.^[4] They reached the final in 1954–55 and 1968–69, losing to Manchester United and Sunderland respectively. Albion won the competition for the only time in their history in 1975–76, beating local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers 5–0 on aggregate in the two-legged final. Albion came close to reaching the final of the competition during the 2018-19 season after an impressive cup run for the first time in 43 years, only to lose to Manchester City 4-2 in the semi-final under youth coach Mike Scott. Albion would have another successful cup run in 2020-21 season only to lose to Aston Villa in the semi-final 4-1. Albion won the U23s Premier League Cup for the first time in their history under Richard Beale during the 2021-22 season beating local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in a penalty shootout 5-4. ^[5] Since April 2013, the club's academy has been based in the former Tom Silk Building in Halfords Lane, close to The Hawthorns.^[6]

Academy squads

Under-23 squad

 

West Bromwich Albion F.C. Academy building

As of 8 Feb 2023^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 FW   ENG Reyes Cleary 30 GK   ENG Ted Cann 32 FW   ENG Jovan Malcolm 34 DF   ENG Ethan Ingram 36 GK   ENG Bradley Foster 39 MF   ENG Jamie Andrews — GK   WAL Ronnie Hollingshead — DF   ENG Reece Hall — DF   ENG Aaron Harper-Bailey

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   ENG Cianole Nguepissi — DF   ENG Josh Shaw — DF   WAL Alex Williams — MF   ENG Matthew Richards — MF   ENG Rico Richards — MF   ENG Harry Whitwell — FW   ENG Remello Mitchell — FW   ENG Samuel Okoka

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 31 MF   ENG Tom Fellows (on loan at Crawley Town until end of season) — FW   GAM Modou Faal (on loan at AFC Fylde until end of season)

Under-18 squad

As of 19 Feb 2023^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   ENG Ben Cisse — GK   ENG Beau Hudd — DF   ENG Evan Humphries — DF   ENG Jamal Mohammed — DF   ENG Deago Nelson — DF   NOR Femi Olofinjana — DF   ENG Narel Phillips — DF   ENG Jenson Sumnall — MF   ENG Fenton Heard — MF   ENG Akeel Higgins

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   ENG Tobias Hurlock — MF   ENG Archie Kirton — MF   ENG Kevin Mfuamba — MF   ENG Archie Oliver — MF   ENG Samuel Oluwatobi — MF   ENG Jesse Wangusi — FW   ENG Cheick Kone — FW   ENG Layton Love — FW   NGA Eseosa Sule — FW   ENG Adriel Walker

References

1. Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. p. 220. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.
2. Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. p. 243. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.
3. Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. pp. 221–223. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.
4. Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. p. 228. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.
5. Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. p. 229. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.
6. "West Brom move into their new £1.3m base". Express & Star. 24 April 2013. from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
7. "West Bromwich Albion Premier League 2 Player Profiles". West Bromwich Albion. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
8. "West Bromwich Albion U18 Team". West Bromwich Albion. Retrieved 31 December 2018.

External links

• West Bromwich Albion Under-23s at wba.co.uk
• West Bromwich Albion Under-18s at wba.co.uk