Saw that, I got the e-mail about it again the other day. Could've probably sold even more had it been a weekend not a Weds night.

Should be great for those players though, getting to play in front of a crowd that size for the under 18s is mental.

This is the one remaining thing to look forward to in a pretty miserable season. I hope they get an even bigger crowd.

I'm going. It's been a while since we won it too.

Hopefully the first team players are made to attend to see what the right attitude looks like.

Would be good to see the senior squad there cheering them on but won’t hold my breath.

Why are people surprised? Cheaper tickets to watch a team that actually tries. The current united team is motivation alone for fans to but tickets to that game.

comment by FFS Mike. (U1170)
posted 2 hours, 15 minutes ago
Would be good to see the senior squad there cheering them on but won’t hold my breath.
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they wouldn't go unless they were made to

If things carry on the way they are doing, this fixture may need moving to a bigger ground!

Ticket sales for FA Youth Cup final between Manchester United + Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on May 11 hit 35,000. It’s expected attendance will top record for competition soon (38,000 in 2007 semi United v Arsenal).

Nottingham Forest's young reds will play in front of a record FA Youth Cup crowd when they take on Manchester United's youth side at Old Trafford next month.

Warren Joyce's team sensationally knocked out nine time-winners Chelsea in the semi-finals at the City Ground in a 3-1 win at the beginning of April. Forest have beaten Bristol City, Peterborough United, Cambridge and Blackburn on their way to the final.

And they will now look to cause another upset as they seek to beat record ten-time winners Man United in the Red Devils' home stadium in front of a record crowd.

The highest attendance in the competition's history is 38,137 fans when the Red Devils played Arsenal in the first leg of their semi-final clash in 2007. But according to United that record has already been broken for this year's final with more tickets still to be sold.

Forest have never won the Youth Cup in the competitions near 70-year history. Victory would cap an incredible season for the club with the first team currently three points behind 2nd placed Bournemouth in the Championship as they seek promotion to the Premier League.

I think initially Forest asked for an allocation of 5,000 tickets (in a contained/continuous area of the ground), but were given 600 seats at the start. NFFC's sales are apparently circa 4,200 at the moment, but there could well be demand for a few more (depending upon how other things go....and the NW weather forecast).

Should be a cracker!

One of Man U's lot played for the first team the other day (Alejandro Garnacho?) against Chelsea, albeit he came on quite late.

sph, I'm really looking forward to this.

On another note, good luck to Forest in the promotion race. Due to my age, I guess, I've always seen Forest as a natural top-tier club, so I'd love to see you back in the PL and stay there.

Cheers Red Russian

Whatever happens, it’s been superb season for the club – at all levels. Quite incredible really.

This U18’s thing is actually a really welcome distraction from the activities of the first team and the whole play-off/promotion chase etc - which is nail biting stuff that I’m not really sure the old-ticker is able to cope with for much longer!!

What I do want to know, though, is how come our U18's are playing your U19's! Doesn't seem very fair, that!

comment by sph (U11456)
posted 4 hours, 1 minute ago
Cheers Red Russian

Whatever happens, it’s been superb season for the club – at all levels. Quite incredible really.

This U18’s thing is actually a really welcome distraction from the activities of the first team and the whole play-off/promotion chase etc - which is nail biting stuff that I’m not really sure the old-ticker is able to cope with for much longer!!

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Has your academy been especially productive for a while? E.g. are there academy products playing a part in the success of the senior squad's season?

comment by sph (U11456)
posted 3 hours, 53 minutes ago
What I do want to know, though, is how come our U18's are playing your U19's! Doesn't seem very fair, that!
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Didn't realise that - you're right! Hope it's a good game anyway.

Ha! I have corrected the thread title!

Re academy success - yes - very productive over the years. I am sure someone will come along with a good list of players (and I bet you will have heard of quite a few!)

Our U23’s have done well tonight, too. Just secured a play-off spot!!

Here's some info for you Red Russain...

“Nottingham Forest have one of the most profitable academies in the world, according to figures from a new study.

The Reds have a proud history of developing talented youngsters and bringing them up through the ranks. And that continues to this day, with the likes of Joe Worrall (current first team captain), Ryan Yates (recently voted player of the month – for the second month running), Brennan Johnson (recently voted Championship young player of the year) and Alex Mighten starring in the current first-team.

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory Weekly Post has looked at the clubs whose academies have generated the most income from the transfer of graduates since July 2015, and Forest are in the top 50 worldwide.

The Reds are 46th in the list, ahead of German giants Bayern Munich and Premier League Leeds United, and only just below heavyweights such as Manchester United, Porto, Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur. According to the report, Forest have made 39 million euros from academy graduate player sales in the last seven years, courtesy of some significant transfers.

Academy graduate Matty Cash’s move to Aston Villa, for a fee in the region of £14m, in September 2020 makes up a large chunk of that profit. Arvin Appiah left the City Ground for Almeria the year before that, while Ben Brereton joined Blackburn Rovers in January 2019 and Oliver Burke departed for RB Leipzig in the summer of 2016."

There may even be some more Academy news....very shortly

Thanks for that sph. I'd imagine that if that list were weighted for the resources of the clubs, therefore measuring productivity rather than simply output, then Forest would be higher still.

I really hope to see United to put more emphasis on our academy under the dawning Murtough era.

Good luck against Bournemouth tonight, sph

Ha! Just seen this.

Flunked it, I'm afraid RR. Didn't take the chances we had. Also, the Referee and the linesman seriously let us down with some very bad (potentially game changing) decisions. We were finally undone by a cheeky (but cleaver) free kick.

To be fair, our lot played 8 games in April - winning 7 of those - to get us into that position where automatic promotion was a possibility. They played well in the first half, but I think exhaustion (and frustration) took over in the second. So...we now have the lottery that is the play-offs to look forward to!

Although disappointing, there is not one NFFC supporter who would have not snapped your hand off for that possibility, 7 games into this season. The team/manager (and club!) have done great!

*clever (not cleaver!)