Fletcher Criticizes FA for Manchester City's Youth Cup Dominance in 2026

Manchester United coach Darren Fletcher criticizes the FA for allowing Manchester City to dominate the Youth Cup final.

Fletcher Condemns FA's Handling of Youth Cup Final Manchester United coach Darren Fletcher has expressed his disappointment with the Football Association's handling of the Youth Cup final. Fletcher's team lost the final 2-1 to Manchester City at Joie Stadium, completing a disappointing end to the campaign. Fletcher said that it felt like Manchester City had 'taken over' the competition, and he was not happy with how the occasion was handled. He felt that the decision to hold the match at Joie Stadium, which is Manchester City's 7,000-capacity home for their academy and women's teams, deprived players of both sides the opportunity to play a showcase final in what they felt was an appropriate setting. ## Manchester City Rejected United's Offer to Host the Match at Old Trafford Manchester City rejected Manchester United's offer to host the match at Old Trafford after they said it could not be held at Etihad Stadium because of ongoing construction works. This decision annoyed United academy staff, who felt it deprived players of both sides the opportunity to play a showcase final in what they felt was an appropriate setting. As it turned out, despite Manchester City officials saying it was a sell-out, only the Manchester United section was full, with large numbers of empty seats in the home sections for a match watched by both first-team bosses, Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Manchester United's Michael Carrick. ## Fletcher Criticizes the Over-the-Top Manner of City's Players and Coaches Fletcher was further annoyed by what he felt was the over-the-top manner in which Manchester City's players and coaches were announced as they went to collect their winners' medals from EFL chairman Rick Parry. 'I'm disappointed in the FA for everything that's gone around this game: for the location, for everything,' said United Under-18s coach Fletcher. 'You have to respect the opposition. But not when Man City take over an FA Youth Cup. It's an FA competition. It should never have been like that.' Fletcher also said that he had never heard individual coaches be shouted out and every individual player be shouted out, which he felt was an unusual occurrence in cup finals. ## Fletcher Aired His Views Forcefully During the Post-Match Presentations It is understood that Fletcher aired his views forcefully, shouting at FA officials while the post-match presentations took place. Fletcher is also clearly unhappy about the timing of the Premier League 2 play-off final at Brighton, which he feels is causing difficulties for his team. The Premier League 2 play-off final, which is a competition for under-21 players, is forming part of a double-header at Amex Stadium this Saturday evening, with a 19:30 BST kick-off. ## Fletcher Criticizes the Premature Scheduling of Youth Fixtures Fletcher said that the scheduling of the Premier League 2 play-off final is causing difficulties for his team. 'We're dealing with a lot of difficult dynamics just now in terms of these youth fixtures, which is disappointing,' said Fletcher. 'With the under-21s game being 48 hours after this, some of our players aren't going to experience that. Hopefully people take a step back now when they've come away from it. There's a lot of learning to be done for the Premier League and for the FA for these historic competitions.'