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The tragic Munich Air Disaster of 1958 devastated that great team, but United’s development of young players continued. By the 1960s, George Best, Nobby Stiles, David Sadler and more emerged, and when United became the first English team to lift the European Cup in 1968, all four goals against Benfica were netted by homegrown players.
Through the decades, United’s reputation for youth football has endured. In the ’70s, came Sammy McIlroy and Arthur Albiston; in the 1980s, Mark Hughes and Norman Whiteside; in the ’90s, the famous Class of ’92, which included three of our all-time top 10 appearance makers, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville. Many others also broke through and, while they might not be household names like Giggs, Scholes and Neville, they achieved the dream of millions: pulling on the red shirt in a competitive first-team fixture.
In recent years, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, Jonny Evans, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo have helped to continue the run. The latter two came through after winning the club’s 11th FA Youth Cup title in 2022, while success has continued at Academy level with a trio of trophies for the Under-18s last season. From that side, striker Ethan Wheatley has already made his debut, becoming the club’s 250th Academy graduate back in April.