Manchester City U19

A church congregation in West Gorton put the club together in 1880; St Mark's became Ardwick, and Ardwick became Manchester City in 1894. The youth set-up traces back further than most academies bother to claim, with junior sides on record since the 1920s, though the structure that now carries the U19s only took formal shape in 1998, when the Academy earned its FA accreditation, and was upgraded to Category One status under the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012.

They train and play out of the Academy Stadium on the Etihad Campus, in the same sky blue the first team wears. The Elite Development Squad, as it's formally known, has produced first-team players: Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis all passed through it on their way to first-team football.

The Premier League 2 title arrived in three straight seasons, from 2020–21 to 2022–23.