The 2024/25 campaign saw Mehmet Ali’s under-21s reach the quarter-finals of the Premier League 2 play-offs after an eighth-place finish in the league table. On top of a strong season at academy level, several of our young Gunners made their first-team debuts, continuing a proud Hale End tradition of producing Premier League players.
August
Our season got off to a perfect start with three wins from three in August. Manchester United made the trip to Meadow Park for the first game of the season, and we didn’t disappoint our home supporters.
Khayon Edwards started his season off in the right way with two goals in a 4-2 victory over Manchester United; our striker would go on to be nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Season award.
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Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who also scored on the opening day against United, took centre-stage the following week, scoring two second-half goals to secure a 3-1 victory over Wolves.
Both Edwards and Butler-Oyedeji continued their goal-scoring form to the end of the month, netting in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa which took us to the top of the Premier League 2 table.
To top off an already excellent month, Butler-Oyedeji won the first Player of the Month award of the season.
September
Before the first international break of the season, Mehmet Ali’s side travelled across London to face Leyton Orient in our opening EFL Trophy tie of the season.
Our performance at Brisbane Road was one of the highlights of the season. Goals from Josh Robinson and Ismeal Kabia, as well as some big saves from Brian Okonkwo, saw us beat the League One side 2-1.
After the international break, we travelled to the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke City where, after a cagey affair, Butler-Oyedeji netted a 96th-minute winner to maintain our perfect start.
Four days later our winning run was finally halted as we fell 3-0 to Liverpool at Meadow Park.
The highlight of September for our academy however came at Emirates Stadium in our Carabao Cup win over Bolton Wanderers.
Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Josh Nichols and Jack Porter all started, with Maldini Kaccuri and Ismeal Kabia also appearing off the bench.
The win was a proud moment for our Hale End academy, showcasing why it’s regarded as one of the very best in the world.
October
October began with a north London derby at Meadow Park. We got off to an excellent start, taking a 2-0 lead, but ultimately fell to a 5-2 defeat.
Just three days later, we made the trip to Stadium MK, continuing our EFL Trophy campaign against MK Dons. A frantic ten-minute spell in the first half saw us fall behind twice, but equalisers from Andre Harriman-Annous and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji ensured that the game went to penalties.
Despite an excellent save from Lucas Nygaard, we were beaten in the shoot-out and missed out on the bonus point.
Our final game in October proved more successful, as midfielder Salah Oulad M’Hand netted twice in a 4-3 win over Blackburn Rovers, keeping us in the mix at the top of the Premier League 2 table.
Another Carabao Cup tie for the first team, this time away at Preston, provided another opportunity for academy players to get a taste of first-team action.
Tommy Setford made his debut, keeping a clean sheet in the 3-0 win, and Ayden Heaven came off the bench to make his professional debut.
November
With international breaks and fixture changes, we played just two matches in November.
The first took us to Kingsmeadow to face Chelsea, and we got off to a perfect start when Butler-Oyedeji rifled the ball home after just six minutes.
Despite our strong start, two second-half goals handed our London rivals all three points.
Our second and final game of the month saw us take on Colchester United in the EFL Trophy, knowing that victory would take us through to the knockout stages.
It wasn’t to be in Essex however, as we fell to a 3-0 defeat at the Colchester Community Stadium.
December
Three weeks on from our EFL Trophy exit, we returned to Premier League 2 action against Brighton after almost a month away from the competition.
Khayon Edwards continued to impress, scoring an excellent goal to give us the lead over the Seagulls, but a 92nd-minute equaliser from the away side denied us victory.
Having led at half-time against Brighton, we found ourselves behind at the break against Sunderland two weeks later.
A spirited second-half performance saw us get back on terms, Butler-Oyedeji on target once again, but a late goal for the Black Cats saw us end 2024 with a defeat.
January
2025 began with a tough assignment against Premier League 2 leaders Fulham. We held our own in the first half, going in 3-2 down, but despite a second-half strike from Edwards, we were beaten 6-3 at Motspur Park.
We went into our following game against Nottingham Forest without a win in five, but were boosted by the returns of Charles Sagoe Jr and Jack Henry-Francis from their respective loan spells.
Goals from Salah and Edwards ensured a dominant performance ended with a 2-0 win, putting us back in the Premier League 2 play-off mix.
February
Another London derby awaited our under-21s at the beginning of February, with a trip to East London to face West Ham.
Despite dominating from start to finish, we were beaten 1-0 by an early second-half goal from the Hammers.
Mehmet Ali’s side didn’t let that deter them however, and wouldn’t go on to lose again for another two months.
Our unbeaten run began with a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough on Valentine’s Day, where a late strike from Michal Rosiak ensured a rosy atmosphere at Meadow Park.
The following week we stepped it up another level, thrashing Newcastle 4-1 in north London. Having taken a 3-0 lead before the break, Salah put the icing on the cake with an outstanding free-kick in the second half.
March
Having won back-to-back games for the first time in 2025, we travelled to south London to face high-flying Crystal Palace.
The Eagles got off to a fast start and took a 1-0 lead into the break, but just ten minutes into the second half, Michal Rosiak fired us level.
Salah briefly gave us the lead with yet another direct free-kick goal, but a quick equaliser for Palace ensured the game ended level.
The real highlight of the game though was the partnership of Brayden Clarke and Sam Onyekachukwu. Having played the first half of the season at under-18s level, the pair took the step up to Premier League 2 football and impressed.
The following week saw us travel to Merseyside to face Everton. After a spell with the first-team, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji returned to the under-21s and scored twice in his first 45 minutes back with Mehmet Ali’s side.
Everton pulled a goal back in the second half, but Butler-Oyedeji’s double was enough to secure our third win in four games.
A game without a direct free-kick goal had been something of a rarity for us in February and March, but Michal Rosiak amended that with a stunning effort against Norwich.
Playing in front of a large crowd at Carrow Road, we won 3-0 to secure our place in the Premier League 2 play-offs.
April
With play-off football secured, our focus in April was securing a place in the top eight, as it would afford us a home match in the first round of the play-offs.
Victory over Derby County would have secured such a finish, but despite goals from Rosiak and Harriman-Annous, we were held to a 2-2 draw by the Rams.
The goal for Harriman-Annous capped off a stellar season for the attacker, who impressed at under-16s, under-18s and under-21s levels.
Our final game of the regular season took us to Damson Park to face West Bromwich Albion, knowing we may need to win in order to finish in the top eight.
The game was level at 2-2 after an exhilarating opening 45 minutes, and despite a similarly competitive second half, we were beaten 4-3.
However, with results going our way elsewhere, our young Gunners finished eighth in the Premier League 2 table, earning us a home tie in the first round of the play-offs.
Two weeks after the conclusion of the regular season, we welcomed Newcastle United to Meadow Park for the second time in 2025.
We started the game ferociously and took the lead through Butler-Oyedeji’s penalty after 25 minutes.
Newcastle hit back with an equaliser at the start of the second half, but a stoppage time penalty from Khayon Edwards sent us through to the quarter-finals.
May
Our dramatic victory over Newcastle set up a quarter-final with Manchester City, who finished top of the Premier League 2 table.
Mehmet Ali’s side had a dream start, taking the lead in the first minute through Khayon Edwards. It got even better in the second half when Louis Copley doubled the lead with his first goal for the under-21s.
City cut the deficit in half with 15 minutes to go, before striking a heartbreaking blow in the 94th-minute to take the game to extra time.
The first half of extra time passed without incident, but just a minute after the break, the home side scored what would prove to be the winner, bringing our play-off run to an end.
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