Why The Vertu Trophy Has Become A Proving Ground For English Talent
The battle for the Vertu Trophy will resume this week with the Round of 32 taking place as the fight to secure a spot in the Wembley final in April intensifies.
As well as chasing success on the pitch, the knock-out stages will provide further opportunity for countless youngsters to make an impression in a competition that is known to be something of a proving ground for those stepping up from the youth game.
Already this season, a total of 31 players have appeared in the competition who are below the age of 17 with three – Notts County’s Kameron Muir, Leicester’s Jeremy Monga and Barnsley’s Oliver Wilkinson – being under 16 when they took to the pitch.
Muir broke the record set by Jermaine Pennant for being Notts County’s youngest player when he came off the bench against Burton Albion in September, with Wilkinson’s appearance in the starting eleven against Manchester United U21 making him the youngster ever player to start for Barnsley – breaking a record going back to the 1959-1960 season.
Northampton Town’s Neo Dobson is slightly older than the trio at 17, but has taken his opportunity in the competition so far, currently sitting second on the scoring charts with three goals from three games
Paul Simpson is well placed to comment on the impact of the Vertu Trophy on young players, with the former Manchester City and Derby County winger joining the FA back in 2016 after leaving his role at as assistant at Newcastle United.
Working as a specialist coach with a focus on youth, Simpson was handed the honours of leading England at the U20 World Cup in South Korea in 2017, with victories against Argentina and South Korea helping his team to qualify from the first phase of the competition as winners of Group A.
After a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in the Round of 16, England then beat Mexico in the quarter-finals before coming from behind to defeat Italy in the semi-final and set up a date with Venezuela in the final – where a goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin wrapped up victory.
Calvert-Lewin was one of seven players in the squad who had appeared in the Vertu Trophy at the time of the competition, three of whom appeared on the pitch during the final itself – helping Simpson to secure the biggest honour of his managerial career.
The impact of the Vertu Trophy on the senior England side has only grown since then, with no fewer than 17 of the squad for Lee Carsley’s final game in charge against the Republic of Ireland having appeared in the competition.
“When I was at the FA, we really wanted to get more experience for the younger players and that is something that was possible through this competition, alongside playing at different international stadiums with the various national teams,” Simpson said.
“It all combines to aid the development of younger players, and that is why there are so many England players now in the squad who have come through the Academy systems and who have played in the Vertu Trophy.
“It shows how worthwhile it is, and it has a massive part to play in the development of young players because it provides them with an opportunity to play against senior teams, and they are able to go out and challenge themselves.
“They get to experience a different kind of football compared to the Academy system, and it goes a long way towards helping them launch a career as in the professional game.”
Expanding on the big differences for younger players between the Academy game and playing in the Vertu Trophy, Simpson made reference to the semi-final tie between Lincoln City and Chelsea U21 back in 2018.
Lincoln would emerge victorious on penalties en-route to the title, with the Chelsea team that evening including the Reece James, Ethan Ampadu, Dujon Sterling, Trevor Chalobah and Callum Hudson-Odoi – all of whom would go on to appear for the first team.
“[Going from Academy football to the Vertu Trophy is] a different style of football and there is a different level of physicality involved,” Simpson continued.
“When I was with the FA, I remember going to the semi-final game between Lincoln City and Chelsea U21, who featured the likes of Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi in their starting line-up.
“At Lincoln, there used to be an air raid siren that would sound before a set play, and that is something that was totally different to anything that they would have experienced in the Academy game.
“From a psychological point of view, it was something totally new and then there is also the fact that they were playing in front of a larger crowd than they would have been used to. That all goes in the memory bank.”
Amongst those clubs still chasing the Vertu Trophy crown this season are Peterborough United, who took the title last year after a dramatic final against Wycombe Wanderers – who will also be in action in the Round of 32.
On the back of victory last season, three of the Peterborough squad have gone on to move up the ladder in the shape of Harrison Burrows (Sheffield United), Ronnie Edwards (Southampton) and Josh Knight (Hannover 96) and Simpson added that he could see Posh being amongst the contenders again this time around.
“Peterborough are an exciting side and I’d love to see them make the final again as they have people like Kwame Poku scoring loads of goals and playing some really good football,” he said. “There is a lot of talent across League One and League Two at the moment, and I’m sure there are going to be plenty of people who impress over the remainder of the competition.
“Anything can happen in the competition when you get to this stage and it becomes knockout football, but you’d have to say that Birmingham City have a strong squad that could compete at Championship level and Wrexham are steamrollering their way through the leagues at the moment.
“It’s also going to be interesting to see how the Aston Villa U21 side get on as these youngsters don’t often get to the latter stages of the competition and it would be good to see them push on.”