Background Leeds United man hails Elland Road record-breakers amid plea to fans in crucial end to season

The youngsters host Forest in their Premier League 2 play-off final, both vying for a spot in Division 1 next season. Leeds missed out on automatic promotion at the end of their 20-game PL2 campaign and so dropped into the play-offs where they defeated Aston Villa in the semi-final last Monday.

In excess of 10,000 tickets have already been sold for tonight’s fixture which could see yet another bumper Elland Road crowd for Under-21 football. Last season, the Whites’ broke the PL2 attendance record as 21,321 watched Leeds against Manchester City in Division 1.

Leeds’ academy manager Adam Underwood has told the YEP it is ‘imperative’ for young players to be exposed to first-team environments and large crowds in order to aid their development.

"I think it's absolutely imperative,” he said. “When you have players in your system up to Under-21, one of the luxuries is that you have total control over their experience, right? And you can control what they get in terms of training and support programmes and to an extent what they get in terms of exposure to match environments and competitive challenges.

"One of the real focuses for our club has been to make sure that when we do get the players in Elland Road particularly, but [also] we've invested a lot in playing at York City and having a good environment around the place, is that we make very most of that and create as much of an atmosphere and as much of a sense of realism as we can.

“If we can create those conditions on our own terms, we think that's all the better for them. It's great to see the crowd at Elland Road when they get behind the lads and obviously we can think back to the game against Manchester City last season, which broke the record for PL2 which was an incredibly proud moment for the club, and what a development experience but some of those players, not just from our side. City coming to us [after the game] actually going and saying: ‘Well, how fantastic was that for our players?’

"If you look at both of those squads from last season, the trajectory of a lot of those lads is really positive, right? So, the more experiences we can give players within our academy environment that feels like a first-team [experience], the better for me."

The Manchester City fixture in question featured the likes of Rico Lewis (Man City), Cole Palmer (Man City) Romeo Lavia (Southampton) and Sam Edozie (Southampton) for the visitors, while Leeds fielded Crysencio Summerville, Lewis Bate (Oxford United – loan) and Mateo Joseph – all of whom have made Premier League appearances since, some even establishing themselves as first-team players at other clubs.

In addition, Charlie Cresswell (Millwall – loan), James McAtee (Sheffield United – loan), Liam Delap (Preston North End – loan) and Stuart McKinstry (Motherwell – loan) were named on the teamsheet at Elland Road that evening 13 months ago, and have gone on to play regularly at senior level in 2022/23.

Leeds are expected to field a strong XI against Forest this evening, featuring 17-goal skipper Joseph, Sonny Perkins, Darko Gyabi and Archie Gray.