Manchester City v Manchester United - FA Youth Cup Final
Darren Fletcher was fuming with Man City after Man Utd lost the FA Youth Cup Final (Image: Getty)
Darren Fletcher may have landed himself in hot water with the FA after he launched a scathing attack on Manchester City and also moaned about English football's governing body. Fletcher was unhappy with City announcing the names of individual coaches during the trophy presentation after the 2-1 win over Manchester United to claim the FA Youth Cup on Thursday night. Fletcher also confessed he was "disappointed" with the FA for allowing the final not to take place at the Etihad Stadium.
United succumbed to a late strike from Reigan Heskey, the son of ex-England striker Emile. During the trophy ceremony, the City announcer at the Joie Stadium called out the names of every player in the City squad, alongside the names of their Under-18 coaching staff. Fletcher was irritated by City's post-match festivities, which he deemed over the top, and City officials observed that United's U18 boss approached FA representatives during the presentations to express his concerns.
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Fletcher addressed reporters following the final whistle and pulled no punches when asked whether the Youth Cup final loss was a harsh lesson. And his honest comments about his disappointment in the FA and their handling of the final are unlikely to be well received by the governing body.
"Not only to watch a team lift a trophy, but to be a Man City parade when it's an FA Youth Cup final. I've never heard individual coaches be shouted out, every individual player be shouted out," Fletcher said.
"That doesn't happen in cup finals. So I'm disappointed in the FA for everything that's gone around this game, for the location, for everything. And then our players having to deal with that.
"But as you say, it's disappointing. You have to stand there. 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. But that's my one gripe for tonight. But the best team won, compliments to them."
The venue for the Youth Cup final proved a contentious subject in the run-up to the match. Traditionally, finals in the competition take place at a club's primary stadium, but City were unable to stage the fixture at the Etihad owing to building work occurring around their three remaining Premier League home matches.
Fletcher voiced his disappointment in an interview prior to the match and went in again after the match when questioned whether the FA could have taken greater steps to guarantee the final was staged at a principal venue.
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Manchester City v Manchester United - FA Youth Cup Final
Darren Fletcher and his disappointed Man Utd players after the final (Image: Getty)
Manchester City v Manchester United - FA Youth Cup Final
Man City won the Youth Cup final 2-1 at the Joie Stadium (Image: Getty)
City were granted special permission to stage their Youth Cup fixtures at the Joie Stadium this campaign, though it's understood the FA were keen for the match to be held at the Etihad if feasible. United proposed Old Trafford to stage the match, but City rejected the offer before responding sharply to criticism over their choice to stage the final at the Joie Stadium.
He added: "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."
"Probably a little bit," Fletcher remarked regarding whether the FA needed to take 'control back' of the Youth Cup. "If you see the things that have gone on throughout this game, it's a historic competition. So there's been a lot of disappointments in the build-up.
"But what I will say is Man City have got a fantastic manager. He's a great, really nice guy. Dead respectful. Coaches his team the right way. You know, no antics on the sidelines between both of us. So I've got a massive respect for them.
"And their players have got a lot of good players. But, you know, it's an FA competition and it felt like it was a Man City competition for this whole build-up to the game in terms of how we had to deal with that at the end there. So that was my one little bit of disappointment from that is that these things are looked at.
"You know, we have other things with the Under-21s game being 48 hours after this. So some of our players aren't going to experience that.
"We're dealing with a lot of difficult dynamics just now in terms of these youth fixtures, which is disappointing. And hopefully people take a step back now when they've come away from it. And there's a lot of learning to be done for the Premier League and for the FA for these historic competitions."
United were allocated 968 tickets for the final at the 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium. City's official club website described "a sold-out Joie Stadium crowd" following the match, yet empty seats were clearly visible in various sections of the ground throughout the game.
A crowd of 67,000 packed Old Trafford when United's U18s triumphed over Nottingham Forest in the 2022 Youth Cup final.
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