Darren Fletcher could find himself in trouble with the Football Association (FA) following Thursday’s FA Youth Cup final.
Manchester City beat Fletcher’s Manchester United 2-1 at the Joie Stadium thanks to a winning goal from Reigan Heskey - son of former England international, Emile.
Fletcher slammed the FA’s handing of the Youth Cup final after the match, saying it felt like opponents Man City had “taken over” the competition.
United’s academy staff were already unhappy prior to the match after City rejected the offer to host the final at Old Trafford. City’s Etihad Stadium was unavailable due to ongoing construction works.
The final was subsequently hosted at City’s 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium, which is used for their academy and women’s teams. United staff felt both sets of players had been deprived of the opportunity to play the final in front of a bigger crowd at one of the world’s most famous stadiums.
Man City win FA Youth Cup final
Man City win FA Youth Cup final
BBC Sport have reported that only the Man Utd section was full on the night, despite Man City officials claiming the FA Youth Cup final was a sell-out.
Both Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick and Man City’s revered head coach Pep Guardiola were present to watch the final.
Post-Match Scenes Anger Darren Fletcher
The post-match celebrations left Fletcher fuming. City’s players and coaches were announced individually over the tannoy as they collected their winners’ medals.
"I'm disappointed in the FA for everything that's gone around this game: for the location, for everything," Fletcher, United’s Under-18s coach, said.
"You have to respect the opposition. But not when Man City take over an FA Youth Cup. It's an FA competition. It should never have been like that.
"I've never heard individual coaches be shouted out and every individual player be shouted out. That doesn't happen in cup finals."
He added: "It's an FA competition and it felt like it was a Man City competition for this whole build-up to the game and in terms of how we had to deal with that at the end.
"That's my one gripe for tonight. But the best team won, compliments to them."
Fletcher Accused of 'Shouting at FA Officials'
Manchester United technical director Darren Fletcher
BBC Sport’s Simon Stone says it’s “understood Fletcher aired his views forcefully, shouting at FA officials while the post-match presentations took place.”
If accurate, the FA are likely to take a dim view of Fletcher’s post-match conduct and may decide to take action against the former Scotland international.
"We're dealing with a lot of difficult dynamics just now in terms of these youth fixtures, which is disappointing," Fletcher added.
"With the under-21s game being 48 hours after this, some of our players aren't going to experience that.
"Hopefully people take a step back now when they've come away from it. There's a lot of learning to be done for the Premier League and for the FA for these historic competitions."