Latest news with #ClassOf92
Times
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The academy players with more YouTube fans than game's biggest stars
They are famous footballers with millions of fans, watched live by thousands every week. Some earn big money — well above the national average — and attract sponsorship deals from prestigious international brands. It is not only their skills that are in demand. Holidays, haircuts, homework — it all makes waves, with every detail made public. After all, the aim is not to shut down, but to open up. These are not Premier League stars, but academy footballers, telling the world about their climb to the top. For a long time, the game's youngsters kept their heads down as they made their way up the ranks. Stuart Pearce had to play in secret for his mates' team as a boy, by adopting a fake name and hiding away as a goalkeeper. Inside training grounds, scrubbing the pros' boots with brushes was about as close as the kids came to stardom. At Manchester United, under Sir Alex Ferguson in the 1990s, the youth coaches in charge of the Class of '92 had a well-rehearsed riposte for any teenager believed to be getting above their station: 'When you've played 50 league games for the first team,' they said. 'That's when you can consider yourself a player.' Fifty league games? How about 50,000 subscribers on YouTube, where a swell of academy players are broadcasting their talent, lifestyle and character on camera. Search 'academy footballer' online and swathes of clips can be tapped and scrolled, with titles such as 'Day in the life of an academy footballer' (217,000 views), 'How an academy footballer trains for pre-season' (281,000) and '10 Things an Academy Footballer Can't Live Without' (64,000). Some accounts are focused on football — matches, sessions, career decisions — but not all. Many also offer invented games and challenges, or lift the lid entirely on their everyday lives, with trips to the barbers or a run-down of what's for breakfast. Many of these emerging players are hugely popular, while a select few boast followings to rival even the biggest names in the game. Lorenzo Greer, 16, has just been offered a two-year scholarship at Birmingham City, and his 'Tekkerz kid' YouTube channel, which he started aged six, now has 1.7 million subscribers — more than double Jude Bellingham's 896,000 — with his 651 videos attracting more than 492 million views. Tashall Sandhu, YouTube name 'Tash Baller', has 220,000 subscribers, with videos of him playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-13 and celebrating 100,000 subscribers aged nine. Faran Ahmad, who plays for Leicester City Under-12, uploads near-daily home videos with a total of 7.6 million views. One of Ahmad's most watched videos — 'Come Shop With Me (academy player)' — is of him on a visit to Sports Direct. There are many, many more. The devotion of kids to a virtual world, at such a young age, will be enough to make many wince. That some accounts were created by parents, with mum or dad behind the camera, will set alarm bells ringing about expectation, exposure and pressure. For those who don't turn professional — and only one in 200 academy players in England do — there is a danger the feeling of failure will be painfully public. Hugo Scheckter, who has worked in player care at West Ham United and Southampton and whose company, The Player Care Group, has helped more than ten Premier League clubs, believes big social media profiles are 'not needed and not appropriate' for footballers younger than about 15. 'The difficulty comes where it's parents or agents pushing them into it,' Scheckter says. 'They build up the kids as superstars and the kids don't want to let their parents down. It can be ten years of their life where they're footballer, footballer, footballer, when actually they're just child, child, child. Maybe for the elite ones who make it, that might be useful. For the other 99 per cent, it's pretty harmful.' Clubs are still finding their way too, unsure about how to handle this growing band of players with more videos than appearances. At one of the top Premier League clubs, staff created a cluster of fake accounts, which were designed to follow and interact with the players in order 'to understand them better'. But they cancelled the operation after deciding the 'show pony' impression created by their players' dealings on social media wasn't a fair reflection of their real personalities. At another club, there have been disagreements over the best approach. One senior figure recalled a meeting when he had to say to colleagues: 'Do we want footballers or influencers?' Another executive admitted their club were still grappling how to respond: 'We understand it's happening, but is pushing back the right thing to do? It's like a parent, it scares the life out of you some of things they do, but do you ban it? Do you cover your eyes and wish it wasn't happening?' The question is whether that fear is well-founded, given the actual experiences of some of the players. Greer, the 16-year-old Birmingham apprentice with more subscribers than Bellingham, talks confidently on the phone for half an hour. He is so relaxed, you wonder what all the fuss is about. 'It's just fun isn't it?' he says. 'I don't see it as a job, it's something I love to do and it helps me connect with other kids. They can relate to me because I'm still a kid as well.' He hasn't masked his low moments either. 'The pressure sometimes of having to be perfect… because 90 per cent of the kids I was playing against watched my videos so they wanted to show they were better than me or hurt me on the pitch,' he says. 'I've had bad patches. But I spoke to my dad, spoke to my coaches and my confidence came back. We often spoke about it on YouTube. I'd speak to my dad about it on camera. We shared it with the viewers. The viewers are like our family and they were supportive.' Greer says his dad, Nathan, launched his YouTube account when he was six, with a video about a new pair of boots, and the two of them have a joint channel called '90+2', where they talk about football together. 'When me and my wife started the channel, it had nothing to do with getting popular or making money, I didn't even know you could monetise a video on YouTube,' Nathan says. 'Daniel Radcliffe was Harry Potter and nobody says to his parents, 'What are you doing?' For some reason when it's social media and football, it's like, 'Is this fair on the kids?' In my case, it's perfectly fair. It's a good balance. It works for us.' In 2019, Greer was flown out to Turin for a Nike campaign with Cristiano Ronaldo. 'He's had crazy opportunities most boys could only dream of and I'm very proud of him,' Nathan says. 'For this next generation of kids, it's becoming normal. Everyone is a YouTuber now, everyone is famous now and less people will judge people for it.' Young players also believe influence online gives them a safety net, inside or outside of the game. They talk about the confidence gained from performing regularly on camera and the skills learnt in creating and editing videos. Financially, the more successful academy YouTubers can earn over £40,000 a year for their content, with one agent insisting their teenager had saved enough to buy a house. Even within football, players released by clubs see their channels as ready-made brochures for their skills and personality, an interactive CV for potential recruiters. Ben Brookes, who was released by West Ham at 13 and has just joined York City, said his YouTube channel, 'Road to Full Time Ball', now with 10.2k subscribers, helped resurrect his career. 'I just thought I'm going to start recording myself,' Brookes told the Beyond Football Podcast. 'As well as helping others on our journey, it also allows us to self-promote. If a manager wants you, it's more about your footballing ability, but if you're a leader, if you're confident, they love stuff like that.' Many clubs are already encouraging players to branch out. At Brighton & Hove Albion, where they give workshops on social media to players and parents from under-nines and up, Shona Richards from the player care department says trainees have also taken up language, piano and plumbing classes, while Scheckter explains how one footballer he worked with developed an enthusiasm for drawing by joining an oil painting club. 'A lot of them have amazing stories and can be real inspirations,' Richards says. 'We want them to be proud of that, while understanding the risks and getting the balance right.' For those mature enough, some clubs believe YouTube can be another string to their bow, a very modern way for academy players to expand their portfolio while enjoying an escape from the seriousness of football. In a game often criticised for failing to provide a safe landing ground for discarded youngsters, some kids are taking their own steps, by swapping the boot-cleaning brushes for a ball, tripod and camera.
The Sun
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Arsenal look to have won race for Salford striker Will Wright after hijacking Liverpool's £100,000 transfer
ARSENAL look to have beaten a string of clubs to the signing of Salford City striker Will Wright. Liverpool have been favourites to sign the highly-rated teenager, who has already scored four times for Salford in pre-season. 1 But Arsenal hope they have clinched the transfer with an offer of £250,000 plus major add-ons. Liverpool offered £100,000 plus add-ons for Wright who has made just four first-team appearances for the League Two club. But Salford manager Karl Robinson started Wright in a pre-season friendly against FC United of Manchester and struck twice in a 2-2 draw. The 17-year-old is unlikely to feature in Mikel Arteta's first-team and will go to the under-21s. Meanwhile, Manchester City and Burnley were also looking to sign the Preston-born striker. Since first being linked with Liverpool a month ago, Wright has hit the headlines. He scored four goals in three games for the club owned by Manchester United's Class of 92 stars David Beckham and Gary Neville. before the match was abandoned after a teammate was allegedly racially abused.
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
What's our collection of Manchester United shirts worth? DAN HATFIELD replies
My husband and I have been buying Manchester United shirts since the 1990s. We have 21 in total. We bought them because we loved following the team though those amazing years they dominated the beautful game. We were wondering if they were now worth much? It's obviously been a rocky period on the pitch, but they still are one of the biggest and most recognisable sporting teams on the planet. SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET YOUR MODERN TREASURE VALUED BY DAN Dan Hatfield, This is Money's expert valuer, replies: The 1990s: an era of Tamagotchis, mobile phones the size of bricks, and the excessive use of hair gel. But more than anything, it was the decade Manchester United helped to define. They dominated the world, well, the Premier League at least, and made teams like mine, Sheffield United, look like they belonged in the Sunday pub leagues. Sir Alex Ferguson had built a machine. They weren't just a football team, they were a force of nature. Cantona with his upturned collar and unshakable swagger. Giggs flying down the wing. Schmeichel barking orders from the back. Then came Beckham, Scholes and the rest of the Class of '92, making it all look easy. By the time they lifted the Treble in 1999, it felt like United were untouchable. United didn't just win trophies, they captured the hearts of millions around the world. Even if you weren't into football, you knew who they were. From playgrounds in Preston to markets in Malaysia, the red shirt was everywhere. In Manchester United, we saw the world's first globally supported football team. In the 90s, you either supported them or you were sick of your mates banging on about them every Monday morning. It's the shirts that remain a lasting reminder of this era. Unfortunately for United fans, the decades since have not been kind to their fortunes, both on and off the pitch. The dominance that once felt inevitable slowly gave way to frustration and false dawns. Sir Alex bowed out in 2013 with one final title. What followed has been over a decade of drift with managers coming and going: Moyes, van Gaal, Mourinho, Solskjær, Ten Hag. Each arrived with promises and philosophies, but none could recreate the aura of invincibility that defined the 1990s. On the pitch, the silverware dried up. Off it, the club has often seemed lost, tangled in ownership sagas, boardroom reshuffles and endless headlines about identity and direction. A global superbrand with all the history in the world, but increasingly disconnected from the team that once had an iron grip on English football. And yet, for many fans, especially those who grew up in that golden era, the connection remains strong. The love runs deep. The shirts from the 90s aren't just collector's items. They're symbols of a time when Manchester United weren't a project or a business asset, but a footballing juggernaut that inspired devotion and ruled Saturday nights. It's the nostalgia of those golden days, and of the 90s and noughties in general, that's fuelling a booming market in vintage football shirts like the ones you own. So let's take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the standout footie shirts from your collection. 1994/1995 Home Kit (£60–£100) The red home shirt with the Umbro diamond trim is a cult classic. Not their most successful season on the pitch, but this kit oozes mid-90s charm. With Sharp sponsorship front and centre, and that grandad collar, it's the kind of piece collectors love for its boldness. Good condition with original player names like Cantona or Ince can push values closer to £100. 1996/1997 Away and Third Kits (£60–£80) These kits, especially the white and blue away and the greyish third shirt, are beloved for their bold designs. The third kit, with the shielded crest, has become especially collectible. The away shirt, with that watermark stadium print, looks great framed and gets attention from nostalgia-fuelled buyers. 1996/1997 Home Kit (£60–£80) Another year, another classic. The V-neck and slightly darker tone make this shirt instantly recognisable. These sell well online, and condition really makes the difference. Mint examples go at the top end of your estimate. 1997–1998 Away Kit (£50–£70) Blue with a black collar and that Sharp Viewcam logo. So 90s, so cool. This one's creeping up in value thanks to its clean design and relatively short shelf life. 1997–1998 Third Kit (£70–£80) That lightning bolt design and textured fabric make this shirt a favourite among vintage collectors. It is less common than the home or away versions, so expect healthy demand. 1998–1999 Home Kit (£80–£100+) The holy grail of the era. The Treble season. Everyone wants one, especially foreign buyers who remember that fairy-tale year. With Premier League patches or a Beckham, Giggs or Keane name on the back, these can break £120 in top condition. What about the kits that followed? So far, I've focused on the shirts from the 1990s, and with good reason. Nostalgia sells, and that decade represents the golden era of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson. The designs were bold, the success was relentless, and for many fans, those shirts are physical reminders of the club at its absolute peak. The 2000s might not evoke quite the same emotional punch. They don't carry the same Treble-winning aura. But they still have value. For a younger generation of fans, these shirts mark their own golden memories. Rooney's debut wonder goal, Ronaldo's rise, and the last of Fergie's title wins. And with collectors increasingly turning their eyes to early-2000s fashion, these kits are beginning to find their place in the vintage market too. Let's take a look at how some of your shirts shape up from this era. 2003–2004 Away Kit (£40) A moody black and white design, worn during Ronaldo's breakout year. That alone could be a big driver of future value. 2004–2005 Home Kit (£40–£50) One of the most widely worn kits of the Rooney and Ronaldo era. It is already starting to find fans among Gen Z buyers who grew up idolising that team. 2006–2007 Home Kit (£30–£40) This marked the return of the white trim and was worn during the start of United's resurgence under Ferguson. The football was electric again. Ronaldo was finding his stride, Rooney was in full flight, and the team was starting to dominate once more. What about a total price? When you add it all up, the 90s icons, the early Vodafone kits and the undervalued noughties gems you are looking at a collection that could easily fetch between £800 and £1,100. Not bad for a pile of old shirts that has probably spent the last decade stuffed in a drawer or hanging off a loft beam. And that is the magic of it. shirts like yours were never bought to be sold. They were worn, lived in, loved. They were soaked in sweat, rain, Bovril and the occasional pint. Now, they are worth real money. It just goes to show that nostalgia has value, football history matters, and sometimes thefootball shirts at the bottom of your wardrobe turns out to be worth more than you ever imagined. Send in your Modern Treasures Dan Hatfield is This Morning's money-making expert and resident pawnbroker. He is an international specialist in antiques, jewellery, diamonds and collectibles. Dan's first non-fiction book, Money Maker: Unlock Your Money Making Potential is available now. This is Money's Modern Treasures column is after your items and collections for valuations. Please send in as much information as possible, including photographs, to: editor@ with the email subject line: Modern Treasures We're after post-War items only please and we may contact you for further information. Dan will do his best to reply to your message in his bi-weekly column, but he won't be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons. As with anything, if you are looking to sell items and collections, it is wise to get a second and third opinion - not just rely on Dan's suggestions.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Gary Neville reveals his and David Beckham's plans for Salford City - and what makes them different from Wrexham
Gary Neville has opened up on the plans he and David Beckham have for Salford City after completing their takeover of the club. Beckham and Neville led a new consortium that gained control of the League Two outfit earlier this month, buying out their former Class of 92 team-mates Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville after major backer Peter Lim stepped away from his ownership position last year. The Class of 92s arrival in 2014 had previously taken Salford from the Northern Premier League Division One North to the EFL in five years, but they have remained in League Two ever since - and finished eighth this season. Beckham and Neville will be joined in their ownership by Declan Kelly, founder of US-based advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association. The new group are targeting Championship football within five years. They have already made a splash, with Salford, who are managed by Karl Robinson, releasing 17 players in a brutal reshuffle after missing out on the play-offs. And, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville gave further insight on the plans he and Beckham have for the club. 'Shares in a football club for most owners, other than the passion and the feelings you get from it, you're a reliability from an investment perspective more than an asset, Neville said. 'We've put money into Salford and in January we just thought we needed to get a group of people involved, who we could trust. 'Me and Becks [David Beckham] agreed that we would put money in for the next four or five years, which is a commitment we've all made. 'Salford City won't be changing the budget – to reverse out of the model we already have, you need two or three years. 'You can't go from investing to becoming sustainable that quick – you need to look at players contracts for three years and you've generally got a model that you've built which you can't come away from.' A high profile ownership group is not new, with other examples like Wrexham and Birmingham prominent in the EFL over recent times. Wrexham have earned three successive promotions from the National League to the Championship under celebrity backers Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, while the Blues - where NFL icon Tom Brady is a minority owner - romped to the League One title this season and have ambitious plans for the future. However, Neville claimed his group would be different and also insisted that supporting the local community would be a key part of their aims. The Manchester United legend added: 'We just need to change the model of the club slightly, in fact quite a bit. It's very different than Wrexham and Birmingham [City] - you're talking about millions going into those clubs. 'That's not what we're looking to do with Salford. We want Salford to be a good football project. 'Salford City has the cheapest ticket prices in the EFL. On day one, I committed to the fans that we would be the most affordable and accessible football club. I'd rather go down than do that [be unsustainable].' Meanwhile, Neville has occasionally faced criticism for the lack of progress at Salford in recent times, with The Ammies having been stuck in League Two for the past six years. During that time, Salford have only qualified for the play-offs on one occasion, and they have never finished higher than seventh, yet Neville defended his record. 'The money we have spent on our football club [Salford City] we could have easily bought a League One club,' Neville explained. 'The reason we didn't is, we wanted to build a football club from scratch. They had 100 fans at the time. 'Every fan that comes to Salford we respect enormously but they are there because of the things that we've done in the last ten years, which is a great position for us as owners to be in. 'We can't be accused of lacking spirit, fight, or putting money where our mouths is. 'We can never be accused of that at Salford because we haven't got 10,000 fans that have been there for a long time that have an opinion that's based on history.'
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How Flick turned Barca's 'young musketeers' into champions
When former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen declared at the start of the 1995-96 Premier League season "You can't win anything with kids", Alex Ferguson's young Manchester United stars went on to prove him Class of '92 won the Premier League and FA Cup Double that season before establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the world - and many are now tipping Barcelona's 'young musketeers' to have a similar Flick's - predominantly - young braves were confirmed as La Liga champions with a 2-0 win at Espanyol on Thursday, having already won the Copa del Rey in the sheer bravado, fearlessness and almost reckless abandon that has taken Flick's side to the Double and within a heartbeat of the Champions League final has brought the smiles back - not just to Barcelona but to lovers of the beautiful football fans marvel at the impudent brilliance of Flick's talented youngsters, including 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, 18-year-old Pau Cubarsi and 22-year-old Pedri, some believe they could have a similar impact to Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barca side from 2008 to 2011. Too much to ask? Only time will with their average age of 25 significantly the lowest in La Liga, financial issues at the club undoubtedly helped create the necessary platform for the club's youth to is easy to forget Barcelona were in dire financial straits. Forget signing big-money players - the club, for a long while, were not even able to register the ones they it is more than just the harnessing of youthful genius that has brought the good times back to Barcelona. So how has Flick worked his magic? When former Bayern Munich and Germany boss Flick arrived at Barcelona, he found a number of players were performing well below stars like Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong were low in confidence, simply because of the lack of trust they felt they had from their previous coach, would rarely play more than 60 minutes before being replaced, while Lewandowski was made to play with his back to goal in a style alien to addition, none of the three felt particularly welcome at the club with De Jong rightly convinced that Barcelona wanted to sell him to help alleviate their financial of the first things Flick did was to tell the three of them how important they were to his plans. This season Lewandowski is top scorer with 25 goals, while Raphinha has a league tally of also sensed an established culture where the club's irrepressible youth was not at the heart of the team, and not given the prominence they believed they had been given their debuts because of financial constraints - and Xavi deserves praise for working under such restrictions - but they wanted more. They wanted to take over the approach allowed the likes of Gavi, Yamal, Alejandro Balde (21), and Marc Casado (also 21) to do just that. He helped them find their voices, even going as far as allowing them to pick the dressing-room trust was repaid a hundred times over and reflected on the pitch with a youthful and carefree - some might even say naive - style of also always remained very close to those who didn't play regularly, stressing that with the inevitable injuries all clubs have to face, their time would has asked the club for very little so far, paying money for just Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in the summer and adding no-one in the winter transfer 60-year-old German also strongly believes no-one knows their fitness better than the players themselves. So, any plans to rest the likes of Yamal or Raphinha are not taken without asking them - again building the trust and his popularity among the also never allows himself to be influenced by the very powerful and demanding Barcelona media, and has remained honest to his players - an approach severely tested when they lost four games and collected just five points out of a possible 21 before the Christmas break. 'Flick's treatment of Lamine has been done with care' Flick has had to learn along the way. With De Jong and Olmo starting, he discovered what he believes is his best XI in that heart-stopping 5-4 win in January against Benfica in the Champions League first a crazy night in Lisbon, Flick really discovered the importance of Raphinha who showed how much of a leader he could be to everyone at the club once he had been given his regular place in the also very soon identified his need for a leader at the back, and saw what he was looking for in Inigo knew he was going to have to ask him to do what he hadn't ever done before in a defensive context, namely marshal an extremely high 33-year-old Martinez would be the first to admit he is not the quickest player, and has previously always played from a much deeper knew the high press would expose him, but the Spain centre-back has done his bit by being super-demanding of everyone under his charge and playing to his coach's instructions - as alien as it seemed to him at treatment of the brilliant Yamal is done with the most teenager wants to play in everything and wants every ball to go via him. He wants to win every man of the match and to be the focus of now and again, Flick reminds him who is in charge and that, if he doesn't do what he has to - mostly without the ball - he will be far so good, with Yamal recovering more balls than the Barcelona centre-backs and even Pedri - the best midfielder recovering the ball in Spain - in this month's Clasico win against Real the single most important factor to Barcelona's success is that through the leadership of players like Yamal, Raphinha and De Jong, everyone in the side thinks as produces the plan, but it is this highly motivated Barcelona side that provide the passion. The manager may well be the general, but they are all his soldiers. Punctuality and club attire - Flick's obsessions The manager is not without his obsessions, the most notable being punctuality. Three times this season defender Jules Kounde has been left on the bench for being late for Inaki Pena also found himself benched for Barcelona's Supercopa de Espana semi-final victory over Athletic Club when he arrived late for a team designer clothes much loved by footballing superstars are also a thing of the past under Flick. Now everyone, directors included, turns up to away matches in club a personal note, Flick arrived at Barcelona pain-free for the first time in years after having a hip felt liberated, less moody, and able to focus totally on the job in hand. He was finally able to enjoy his life without having to negotiate the constant nagging pain that he had been enduring for so knows better than anyone, though, that this Barcelona side are still a long way from being the finished goals conceded over 14 games in the Champions League, and ultimately a failure to make it to the final, is proof of knows the game they play is a risky one, although they have shown time and again this season they are usually capable of coming target for next season is to add control of games to the blisteringly exciting attacking prowess that has seen them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat so many that, needless to say, will come with Flick at the the end of this campaign he will have just one year left on his contract, and while he will certainly have no problems in renewing it, he will not be interested in signing any kind of long-term deal.
