Real Madrid, Manchester United & England: What became of Leeds United's last FA Youth Cup winning team as Whites strive to repeat history

Leeds United are just 90 minutes away from reaching their first FA Youth Cup final in 27 years. Rob Etherington's young Whites are due to take on Millwall at Elland Road on Thursday April 4 and a win over the south Londoners will see them book a place in the final against either Manchester City or Bristol City.

Leeds have already seen off Norwich City, Brighton and Hove Albion, Sheffield United and Liverpool to reach this stage of the competition and they'll fancy their chances of progressing once more in front of a big crowd. United have reached the final of the FA Youth Cup on two occasions before and they have been victorious both times, with wins coming in 1993 over Manchester United and 1997 against Crystal Palace.

As the current crop of under-18s look to move to within 90 minutes of emulating that success, we take a look back at what became of the last Leeds side to win the prestigious cup.

Paul Robinson

Robinson kept a clean sheet in the second leg of the final against the Eagles and went on to make his senior debut for the Whites not long after, making his bow against Chelsea in October 1998. The goalkeeper made 119 appearances in total for the Whites in all competitions before leaving the club to join Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £1.5m in 2004.

He went on to represent Blackburn Rovers and Burnley before hanging up his boots in 2017, with 498 senior appearances to his name and two goals, remarkably. Robinson also earned 41 England caps. The 44-year-old can now be seen working as a pundit.

Alan Maybury

The Irishman went on to make 18 appearances in the Whites first-team before deciding to leave the club after finding himself rooted behind Gary Kelly in the pecking order. He went on to represent Hearts, Leicester City, Aberdeen, Colchester United, St Johnstone, Hibernian and Falkirk during a lengthy playing career, picking 10 caps for the Republic of Ireland along the way.

He stepped into coaching after hanging up his boots and had stints working behind the scenes at Falkirk, Wigan Athletic, St Johnstone, Oldham Athletic and Kilmarnock before landing the Edinburgh City manager's job in March 2022. He lasted 19 months in the role, though, before leaving the League One club last October. He currently works as a development coach with the Scottish FA.

Jonathan Woodgate

Woodgate's playing days may have been littered with injuries, but he still went on to carve out a remarkable senior career for himself. The defender left Leeds for Newcastle in January 2003 before a surprise switch to Real Madrid came about in August 2004.

The Middlesbrough-born centre-back went on to have two spells with his hometown club, with stints at Spurs and Stoke City wedged in between and he is still at the Riverside Stadium now. Woodgate spent time as an assistant under Steve Agnew and Tony Pulis before stepping up to take the head coach job in June 2019. He lasted just 12 months in charge but after a short-term stint in charge at Bournemouth, he is currently working on Teesside as Michael Carrick's assistant.

Damien Lynch

Lynch left Leeds in 2001 without making a senior appearance for the Elland Road club and he went on to spend a year in Nottingham Forest's second string before returning to Ireland, where he had a lengthy spell playing in the League of Ireland. The full-back made 274 career appearances in total with his time in his homeland being split between Bohemians, Drogheda United and St Patrick's Athletic.

Harry Kewell

The Australian made 242 outings for Leeds before making the switch to Liverpool in somewhat controversial circumstances. Kewell won the FA Cup and the Champions League during his time at Anfield, making him arguably the most successful member of this team, but it's fair to say his switch to Galatasaray in 2008 did not go down well with Leeds fans.

He represented Melbourne Victory, Al-Gharafa and Melbourne Heart before retiring and stepping into management. Unfortunately for the former Leeds man he has struggled to find traction after playing and so far he has had stints in charge of Watford U23s, Crawley Town, Notts County, Oldham Athletic and Barnet. He had a brief spell at Celtic as a first-team coach under Ange Postecoglou, but he is now in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos.

Kevin Dixon

Unfortunately Dixon's career as professional never really got going with injuries seeming to hamper his chances of making it. After a brief spell on loan with York City, he left Leeds without making a senior debut to join Barnsley. Again, though, he failed to make the grade in the first-team and stepped down to the non-league ranks to play for Seaham Red Star, Durham City, Kettering Town and a number of other clubs, mostly in the north east.

In 2021, Dixon helped manage Dawdon Welfare Park FC to the Durham FA Sunday Cup.

Tommy Knarvik

Knarvik made just one senior appearance for Leeds before leaving the club in 2001 to return to Norway and join SK Brann. The 44-year-old had a lengthy career in his homeland, spending most of his time in the top flight with spells at Sandefjord, Tromso and Viking to follow before eventually calling it a day after two seasons with Bodo/Glimt.

The former Norway U21 international stepped into coaching after retirement and has spent much of the last decade working within the Norwegian lower leagues. He is currently in charge of fourth tier side Askoy.

Stephen McPhail

McPhail would probably have played a lot more for Leeds if it wasn't for injuries. However, in seven seasons in the first-team ranks at Elland Road he made 107 appearances, before dropping down a level to represent Barnsley in 2004.

McPhail is considered something of a Cardiff fan favourite, having spent the majority of his career in south Wales before ending it with stints at Sheffield Wednesday and Shamrock Rovers. He remained with Shamrock after retirement and he currently holds a sporting director role.

Wesley Boyle

The Portadown-born midfielder spent six years in the youth ranks at Leeds but struggled to get a foothold in the senior fold with injuries and bad luck ensuring he made just one league outing for the club. He went on to spend the majority of his career playing for his hometown club in the Northern Irish league.

Matthew Jones

Jones was another who saw his playing days severely impacted with injuries and he was actually forced to retire in 2004 at the age of just 23. He made 23 league appearances for Leeds and 27 for Leicester City in that time but a series of issues ensured his potential was left firmly unfulfilled.

He has been working as a coach since and spent five years in the Swansea City academy before switching to the Welsh FA. And, after two years in charge of Wales U18s, he was promoted to the Wales U21s job in 2022.

Lee Matthews

Matthews managed to make just four appearances in all competitions for the Whites before leaving in 2001 to join Bristol City. It never really worked for him at Ashton Gate, though, and while he did make 54 outings for the Robins, he also had loan spells at Darlington, Bristol Rovers and Yeovil Town.

He finished his professional career with spells at Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra and Livingston before going on to set up the football agency, Sports Management International, which currently has the likes of Jack Clarke, Niall Huggins and Hayden Hackney on the books.

Stuart Gore (sub)

Gore left Leeds without making an appearance and went on to enjoy a modest spell with Spanish side UD Lorca. He has been coaching in the US ever since, mostly working with colleges following stints in charge of Women's Professional Soccer League side Philadelphia Fever and Washington United. As of 2021, he was head coach at Northwestern State University.

Alan Smith (sub)

Arguably one of the brightest young talents to ever come out of the Leeds United academy, Smith made 228 appearances for the Whites before making the controversial switch to Manchester United in 2004. The forward went on to win the Premier League and the League Cup before moving to Newcastle United, MK Dons and eventually Notts County, where he finished his career in 2018.

He had a brief spell in charge of the Magpies while he was still a player, but as of 2020, he was working and living in Orlando, Florida at a soccer academy.