Adam Birchall’s under-18s have showcased their quality and potential throughout a demanding season.
Our young Gunners competed in three competitions, with two different managers at the helm, but finished third in the U18 Premier League South as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup.
Several of our under-18s also featured in the UEFA Youth League for Max Porter’s under-19s side, facing six elite European academy sides.
August
Our under-18s started the season with back-to-back London derbies, the first of which took place at West Ham’s Little Heath Sports Ground.
Ceadach O’Neill netted two goals on his debut after joining in the summer and Andre Harriman-Annous started what would go on to be a big season for him with a goal, helping our young Gunners to a 3-2 win to start the season.
Chelsea were our first visitors to Sobha Realty Training Centre in what was a game billed as a clash of two potential title challengers.
Dan Casey got the only goal of the game five minutes before half-time, and with some crucial saves from Khari Ranson, we made it two wins from two.
After a perfect start in the league, we travelled to Merseyside, where we made an equally impressive start to our Premier League Cup campaign.
Harriman-Annous netted two more goals either side of Dan Casey’s penalty to give us a 3-0 lead, and although Liverpool grew into the game in the second half, we held out for a 5-3 win.
Max Dowman netted the final goal of the night, offering a glimpse of the special talent he was to grow into.
Our final game of August saw us up against West Bromwich Albion, and we got off to a difficult start, falling 3-0 down in just over 30 minutes.
But after a penalty from Casey gave us some encouragement at the end of the first half, Jack Wilshere fired his team up at the break, and Casey completed his hat-trick in the second half to seal a remarkable comeback.
September
Our UEFA Youth League campaign began with a trip to Atalanta, where we were beaten 4-1. Having fallen 3-0 down, Dowman gave us a slice of hope with a fine strike, but the Italians restored their three goal lead before full-time.
We had better fortunes in fighting back from 3-0 down against Southampton the following week, as we staged our second comeback from three goals down in as many league matches.
Casey was once again the man to get the comeback started, scoring in the final minute of the first half, before Harriman-Annous and Alex Marciniak completed the comeback.
Before our under-18s were in action again, Jack Porter and Ismeal Kabia represented Jack Wilshere’s side in the first-team, making their professional debuts in our Carabao Cup win over Bolton.
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The stats and records around our latest debutants](https://www.arsenal.com/news/stats-and-records-around-our-latest-debutants?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
After the international break, we travelled to Brighton, and once again found ourselves behind.
But from 2-0 down, we fought back to lead 3-2 through a fantastic Harriman-Annous hat-trick, capping off two brilliant months for the Englishman.
Despite Harriman-Annous’ hat-trick however, we had to settle for a point after a late Seagulls equaliser.
October
October started with a bang as we kick-started our UEFA Youth League campaign with a victory over Paris Saint-Germain. Harriman-Annous continued his fine goal-scoring form, netting the only goal 19 minutes into the game.
But our second Premier League Cup fixture of the season started in similar fashion to many of our league games, with Birmingham City taking an early 2-0 lead.
But, for the first time of many this season, Dowman took the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring twice including a 95th-minute winner to secure a 3-2 win.
Back in league action, we welcomed high-flying Aston Villa to north London. Having fallen a goal behind, we hit back to lead 2-1 through O’Neill and Casey.
Villa quickly equalised and it looked as though the game was set to finish level, but the Villans struck twice late on to snatch all three points.
Three days later, we suffered another defeat, this time in the UEFA Youth League to Shakhtar Donetsk at Meadow Park.
The biggest academy story of October however was the departure of Jack Wilshere, who left the club to join Norwich City’s first team coaching staff.
Wilshere was a huge part of the development of several of the brightest stars in our academy, and took our young Gunners to the 2023 FA Youth Cup Final.
[Read more
Jack Wilshere joins Norwich City](https://www.arsenal.com/news/jack-wilshere-joins-norwich-city?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
Ironically, the first game in charge for Adam Birchall, who took over having been Wilshere’s assistant, was away to Norwich.
With several under-18s players covering for the under-21s players who were with the first team, Birchall brought a squad including several under-16s players to Norfolk.
Dan Casey’s double put us 2-0 up, but after Norwich pulled a goal back the momentum changed, and we were beaten by two stoppage time goals.
November
Adam Birchall’s first home game in charge came against an in-form Crystal Palace side, and despite a strong first half from us, we fell behind just before half-time.
Brando Bailey-Joseph’s second half strike was enough to earn us a point, but Birchall was left waiting for his first win in charge.
Our young Gunners then travelled to Italy for the second time this season, and once again found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline, this time to Inter Milan.
The wait for a victory went on for Birchall, as our Gunners were beaten 1-0 by a late goal away to Reading the following week.
Our struggles in November were compounded by a 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League Cup.
The result, despite victory in our opening two group matches, meant that we were eliminated from the competition. Like Liverpool and Crystal Palace, we finished on six points, but our lower goal difference saw us go out.
This was to be the first of two eliminations suffered by our young Gunners in the same week, with a 3-0 defeat to Sporting CP confirming our under-19s exit from the UEFA Youth League.
December
The U18 Premier League paused for the entirety of December, but Adam Birchall’s side did begin their FA Youth Cup campaign before the end of 2024.
We were drawn away to Hertford Town, whose first team play in the eighth tier of English football. In true cup fashion though, it wasn’t as simple as it might have been.
Dan Casey’s double as well as goals from Andre Harriman-Annous and Louis Copley saw us prevail with a 4-3 win, giving Birchall his first win in charge to end 2024 on a high note.
Max Porter also enjoyed a fruitful end to 2024, as his under-19s beat Monaco 2-0 at Meadow Park thanks to goals from Ismail Oulad M’Hand and Louis Copley.
Although we were already eliminated from European competition, the victory was important in taking positive momentum into the winter break.
January
With the long winter break lasting until the final week of January, our under-18s played back-to-back games in the FA Youth Cup, facing QPR in our first game of 2025.
Both sides scored once in each half to take the game to extra time, and after Louis Zecevic-John thought he’d won it for our young Gunners in the additional 30 minutes, QPR found a late equaliser to take the game to penalties.
Jack Porter was the hero of the day, saving two spot kicks, allowing Daniel Oyetunde to net the winner and take us through to the Fifth Round.
Our next outing saw us return to league action in style, coming from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 at Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Dowman continued to impress, scoring an excellent goal from the edge of the box, but it was goalkeeper Khari Ranson who shone.
Our goalkeeper produced a number of impressive saves, but none more superb than his late double stop from a West Ham penalty.
Riding the momentum from three straight wins, we travelled to Motspur Park to face Fulham in the last 16 of the FA Youth Cup on a cold January night.
Harriman-Annous and Dowman struck in the first half and we held out for a 2-1 victory.
During the celebrations after the win, our under-18s learned that they would play their quarter-final at Emirates Stadium.
February
There were a whole host of dramatic games to choose from in our under-18s’ season, but perhaps the most dramatic came at home to West Bromwich Albion.
Entering stoppage time, Casey and Harriman-Annous’ goals had us 2-1 up, until the Baggies netted a 91st-minute equaliser.
That wasn’t enough to deny us however, as Zecevic-John struck even deeper into stoppage time, sparking wild celebrations at Sobha Realty Training Centre.
The goals continued to flow for Birchall’s side the following week at Southampton, with Dan Casey netting his second hat-trick of the season in a 5-2 win.
Casey also set up Zecevic-John’s goal, before Alex Marciniak rounded off the win in stoppage time.
After an excellent start to 2025, our momentum was halted by a narrow 3-2 defeat to Brighton. We were 3-1 down for much of the second half and after Marciniak pulled back a late goal, we twice came close to an equaliser, but fell just short.
Six days later our under-18s experienced playing under the lights at Emirates Stadium as they hosted Manchester United in the Youth Cup quarter-finals.
Copley’s goals and Dowman’s outrageous solo-effort was enough for us to earn extra time, but a late strike from the Red Devils brought our cup run to an end.
While the result didn’t go our way, the experience of playing in front of a crowd at our iconic north London home remains a valuable one for our young Gunners.
March
While our FA Youth Cup journey had come to an end, our U18s Premier League South title charge was very much alive.
An enthralling north London derby away to Spurs saw us beaten 6-4 despite another Casey hat-trick, but this defeat would be our last for almost two months.
Our eight-match unbeaten run, including seven wins, began with a battling derby win away to title rivals Chelsea. Zecevic-John’s strike and Josh Ogunnaike’s first goal of the season put us ahead at the break, and an own goal helped to secure our position.
Another goal fest awaited us the following week, as we beat Leicester City 4-3 at Sobha Realty Training Centre, largely thanks to an outstanding display from Bailey-Joseph.
April
We stepped up our push for the title with a comeback win over Fulham. The visitors took an early lead and held out until the midway point of the second half, but goals from Zecevic-John and Dowman got us over the line.
Dowman continued his fine form away to Leicester, netting a hat-trick in a 5-3 win over the Foxes.
The England under-17s midfielder scored twice more the following week against Norwich City, both goals coming from the penalty spot.
Casey also found the net on his return from a spell with Mehmet Ali’s under-21s.
After a run of convincing victories, we were put to the test by Crystal Palace, who led right up to the 83rd-minute, when Harriman-Annous netted an equaliser from the spot.
We didn’t settle for the point though and found a way to win through Cam’ron Ismail’s only goal of the season.
The highlight of April though came in our 4-0 win over Reading. Dowman had already shown himself to be a talent, but his performance against the Royals was on another level.
Dowman netted all four goals, including a penalty, but also put in a fantastic defensive shift, showcasing his skill beyond putting the ball in the back of the net.
April finished with a north London derby against Spurs, and much like the previous meeting this season it was a manic game.
We led 4-3 at half-time, with both Sam Onyekachukwu and Ife Ibrahim scoring their first goals of the campaign, but a late Tottenham equaliser ensured the derby finished level.
May
Our eight match unbeaten run put us in position to challenge for the title, but defeat at Fulham at the start of May ended our hopes of winning the division.
Having fallen 3-0 down before half-time, we clawed it back to 3-2 in the dying moments of the half through Josh Talbot and Casey.
But when Fulham made it 4-2 shortly after the restart, we could only get one back, bringing our title challenge to an end.
We did round off the season with victory away to league champions Aston Villa, with Dowman scoring two sensational goals before Zecevic-John finished his campaign with a goal.
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