Home fixtures are contested at A.F.C. Totton's Testwood Stadium with some fixtures being held at St. Mary's. Some games are played at the club's training facilities at Staplewood in Long Lane, Marchwood, Southampton if required. Since July 2024, the Under 21s have been managed by Simon Rusk while since September 2023, the Under 18s have been managed by Calum MacFarlane.
Age categories
Under 21 (professionals)
Under 18
Under 16
Under 15
Under 14
Under 13
Under 12
Under 11
Under 10
Under 9
Under 8
International players
Amongst the players who passed through the Saints Academy and went on to represent their country since the turn of the Millennium are:
Four former Saints academy players featured in the England Under-21 match against Montenegro on 7 September 2007: Martin Cranie and Theo Walcott both started (with Walcott setting up the second goal) whilst Dexter Blackstock and Andrew Surman came on as second-half substitutes, with Surman scoring the final goal in a 3–0 victory, tapping the ball home in stoppage time from a knock-down by Blackstock.[2][3]
In England's international friendly against Denmark on 5 March 2014, three graduates of the Southampton F.C. Academy appeared as second-half substitutes: Luke Shaw (making his debut), Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Present structure
Andy Goldie is the current Academy Director, having joined the club from Swansea City in July 2023. His assistant, Duncan Fearnhead, is the Academy Manager, having previously held the same role at Accrington Stanley. The current academy set up has teams at all age groups from Under 8s all the way through to the professional U21 team, employing large number of coaches and educational staff. Academy players from the age of 16 up until the age of 18 are often looked after by Host Families within the local area.
The aim of the Southampton academy is to "...produce Premiership class players..."[4]
Southampton has regularly reached the latter stages of the FA Youth Cup, as well as being successful in the FA Premier Academy League championship.[citation needed] In the 2010–2011 season the U18s were only just "...Pipped to the Title..." by one point on the last day of the season of the Group A league. Southampton had to win and Fulham had to draw or lose for Southampton to come top. After winning 1–3 away to Coventry City the U18s were dismayed to discover Fulham had come back from being 0–3 down versus Leicester City to win 5–3.
The academy has joined up with local college Sparsholt College to try to give those footballers who have missed out on a scholarship the opportunity to remain in the game and train and play matches with the Southampton Academy.[5]
In September 2020, Southampton revamped their Under-23s programme to 'enhance the pathway into the first team for its younger players.' A 'structure and philosophical overhaul' saw the Under-23s side become a B team. The new B team will mirror the training programmes, coaching and style of play of the first team. Training and fixtures, where possible, will also be organised so it does not clash with the first team so the first team manager and coaches can watch the side train or play and also take part in coaching sessions. The side will still continue to participate in the same competitions as before the revamp.[8]
Under new club Director of Football Matt Crocker, individual player coaches have been brought-in to try and improve players coming through the academy. Lee Skyrme was appointed B team individual player coach in 2021, while Mikey Harris was appointed in the same role for the U18s in the same year.[9] Harris was replaced in 2022 by Pete Haynes, with Harris having been promoted to U18 head coach.[10]
Players (excluding scholars) who will qualify as Under-21 team players in season 2024–25 (i.e. born on or after 1 January 2004) and who are outside the first team squad.
Squad numbers represent numbers given to players for first team and EFL Trophy matches only.
± Denotes a player on an 'extended scholarship'.
* Denotes a player who is overage (born before 1 January 2004) and outside of the first team squad.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
A number of players from the Southampton F.C. Academy have gone on to have careers in professional football, whether at Southampton or at other clubs. The following is a list of players who have made their Southampton first-team debuts since the turn of the millennium. Players who have represented Southampton in only the EFL Trophy are not included in this list. Academy graduates who still play for Southampton, including those that are currently out on loan to other clubs, are highlighted in green. Where players have made their debut in the same fixture, they are sorted alphabetically by surname.
