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Villa beat Manchester City in the National Final to make it a hat-trick of trophies for Jimmy Shan’s side.

Leading Players:
Most appearances: Keilan Quinn with 25
Most starts: Leon Routh with 22
Most goals: Cole Brannigan with 11
Most assists: Cole Brannigan and Trai-Varn Mulley with 4
Most goal involvements: Cole Brannigan with 15

Match Report:
Villa capped off an incredible season by beating Manchester City at Villa Park to win the Under-18 Premier League National Final.
Having survived a first-half onslaught from the visitors thanks to some last-ditch defending and a series of saves from Sam Proctor, the hosts produced the match-winning moment their much-improved second-half display merited after 72 minutes.
TJ Carroll teed up centre back partner Leon Routh to lash home in front of the North Stand, sparking a roar from a crowd of nearly 10,000 in B6.
Victory wrapped up the third title of an impressive campaign following an FA Youth Cup triumph against the same opponents and their U18 Premier League South division win.
Villa named the same starting XI that won the FA Youth Cup final against the Cityzens just under two weeks ago as they looked to secure a trio of trophies on the season.
City took the lead inside two minutes of the aforementioned game, and they came close to striking the opening blow again when Reigan Heskey’s drive was tipped wide by Proctor after four minutes.
The hosts swept forward after defending the resulting corner, with Bradley Burrowes scuffing wide when he looked destined to convert Cole Brannigan’s low cross.
Divine Mukasa let Villa off the hook when he prodded wide from close range before City capped a strong ten minutes with another golden opportunity for Ryan McAidoo, who curled one narrowly past the far post.
The champions of the North continued to be the aggressors, clattering the post through Finlay Gorman’s drive from distance and calling Proctor into a fine 1v1 save from Matty Warhurst.
The chances dried up as the match ticked towards half-time, although McAidoo saw a goal ruled out in stoppage time following a foul on the goalkeeper.
Villa raced out of the blocks at the start of the second half, and after Brannigan saw a goalbound shot blocked, Burrowes’ drilled cross fell a whisker wide of the far post.
However, the home side were grateful to a smart save from Proctor for keeping them on level terms when he stuck out a leg to keep an effort from McAidoo out.
As the hour mark approached, Villa created their best chance of the match, carving City open on the counter-attack before Burrowes’ shot flew past the ‘keeper and was only kept out by a superb goalline clearance from Matthew Henderson-Hall.
A crowd of close to 10,000 inside Villa Park finally had a goal to cheer after 72 minutes when Routh popped up with the opener.
A cross from Brannigan made its way through to Carroll at the back post, and he poked the ball back across the goal for his centre back partner to lash home.
In response, City threw on attackers and looked to apply pressure on Proctor's goal, but found themselves repelled time and again by an organised Villa backline. 
And it was the team in claret and blue celebrating again at the final whistle as they got ready to lift their third piece of silverware of the season.


“It’s unbelievable, I’m so proud of the boys and of the staff.
“It wraps up a fantastic season. I spoke to the boys before the game, and I said that winning the FA Youth Cup is a big achievement, and winning the South section is a big achievement, but if we didn’t win today, there would be a bitter taste in my mouth.
“I’m delighted for everybody and for the discipline, dedication and the amount of hours that have been put in outside of work. I’m over the moon for everybody.”
“We were flat in the first 45 minutes, but found a way to stay in the game and restrict them to efforts from outside the box.
“They’ll look back on the game and think they could have exploited us at crossing situations.
“We looked more like ourselves in the second half – we were braver on the ball and had a bit of calmness in possession.
“For large periods of the second half, we deserved the win.”
Jimmy Shan.


“It’s so good, it’s just a great feeling,
“We worked so hard over the course of the season, and at some points I thought we might not be able to do it, but we trusted in Jimmy (Shan).
“We’ve done it, and I can’t believe it.
“It tops it all off. Jimmy spoke about needing to win all three for it to mean something.
“The FA Youth Cup was massive, but if we didn’t win this one, it wouldn’t have been the same.
“To win all three is unbelievable.
“I didn’t see it straight away, and then I saw TJ knock it across the box and I thought, ‘I’m there’.
“It’s my first goal of the season, and I thought there was no way I was scoring today. I thought it was offside.
“It felt so good to score, especially in the last game of the season.”
Leon Routh.

2024-25 u18 Premier League Appearance & Goal Record
GK Sam Proctor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 12 | ✅ 12 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 12 | ⛔ 6 | 🇺0 |
RB Triston Rowe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CB TJ Carroll | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 20 | ✅ 20 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 3 | 🔥 2 | 🇺0 |
CB Leon Routh | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 22 | ✅ 22 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
LB Rodrigo Fortes | 🇵🇹 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 15 | ✅ 10 | 🔁 5 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM George Hemmings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 8 | ✅ 8 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
M Aidan Borland | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
AM Bradley Burrowes | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 11 | ✅ 10 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 6 | 🔥 2 | 🇺0 |
LW Cole Brannigan | 🇬🇧 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 16 | ✅ 16 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 11 | 🔥 4 | 🇺0 |
CF Mason Cotcher | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 13 | ✅ 13 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 5 | 🔥 2 | 🇺0 |
LB Teddie Bloomfield | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 24 | ✅ 14 | 🔁 10 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 3 | 🇺0 |
CM Keilan Quinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 25 | ✅ 18 | 🔁 7 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
RB Ashton McWilliams | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 11 | ✅ 8 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
RW Trai-Varn Mulley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 21 | ✅ 20 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 4 | 🔥 4 | 🇺0 |
GK Owen Asemota | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 12 | ✅ 12 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 20 | ⛔ 1 | 🇺7 |
CB Freddie Lawrie | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CB Junior Wilson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 13 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 7 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
DM Woody Burgess | 🇩🇪 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 20 | ✅ 17 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 3 | 🇺0 |
AM Max Jenner | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 23 | ✅ 21 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Cole Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
AM Jack McGrath | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 10 | ✅ 8 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 4 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
W Alfie Lynskey | 🇮🇪 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 18 | ✅ 15 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 2 | 🇺1 |
F Vinnie Hayward | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CF Markie Meade | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 13 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 7 | ⚽ 3 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
RB Clay Atkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CF Rio Hammond | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Oliver Bindley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Lennon Melhuish | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
AM Max Lott | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 9 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 8 | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 2 | 🇺0 |
GK Jack Allan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | 🥅 5 | ⛔ 0 | 🇺8 |
GK Theo Houston | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 0 | ⛔ 0 | 🇺5 |
CB Calum Moreland | 🇬🇧 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 4 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺5 |
RB Jacob Green | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
CF Elijah Briscoe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 10 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 8 | ⚽ 3 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
GK Rhys Oakley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 0 | ⛔ 0 | 🇺2 |
CB Max Asante-Boakye | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
GK Sam Lewis | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2024-25 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 0 | ⛔ 1 | 🇺0 |