It is Monday lunchtime as The Athletic arrives at a Staplewood seeing its first glimpse of summer 2023.
The sun is breaking through over Southampton’s training ground but its pitches are empty. The women’s team have a day off and for the under-14s, who would usually be here on day release, it’s the Easter holidays.
All focus is therefore on the boys’ under-18s – the age group coaches at the club strongly believe is Southampton’s best since the class of 2012, when James Ward-Prowse, Harrison Reed, Calum Chambers and Luke Shaw were all offered senior contracts.
The squad have finished their morning education and are scheduled to start training at 2.30pm, where they will be plotting to do what the Southampton first team could not manage: beat West Ham United at their place.
“You could be the best footballer going but if you’re not behaving in education, then we’ll know about that in our MDT (multi-disciplinary meetings),” says Jonny Woodhouse, Southampton’s head of academy operations. “We have those weekly, all the way from under-nines to the B team.”
The Athletic has been invited to go behind the scenes with the under-18s as they prepare for Thursday’s FA Youth Cup semi-final — Southampton’s first since 2006.
