Everton call off U21 game at Southampton

Michael Kenrick 07/12/2022 4comments  |  Jump to last

Everton have told Southampton they have to call off the Under-21 game in the Premier League Cup that was scheduled for this Saturday.

Everton we're due to play their fifth game in Group F at the Snows Stadium in Cadnam but say they have been forced to ask for a postponement to a later date as they do not have sufficient players to fulfil the fixture.

This comes on the back of a huge win in the same competition just last night when they smashed Colchester United 7-2, using all five named substitutes.

There are a number of U21 players out injured – although this game did ironically see the return of Luke Butterfield, who has been sidelined since April – in addition to the significant number Everton have out on loan. But the action to call off a game through lack of players has raised some eyebrows.

 

Reader Comments (4)

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Dave Abrahams
1 Posted 07/12/2022 at 12:58:39
Michael (O/P),

The U21s has a few U18s in the squad and they are playing in the FA Youth Cup on Friday night. This might have had something to do with asking for the Southampton game to be postponed.

Michael Kenrick
2 Posted 07/12/2022 at 13:10:34
I think you're spot-on, Dave.

They've been pushing players up relentlessly. Maybe this shows they want to make a decent fist of the FA Youth Cup this season and are looking to play their best side, which I think would include a decent number of the current U21 side.

Age requirement for the FA Youth Cup is the players have to be between 15 and 18 on 31 August 2022. So that's born between 2004 and 2007. Let's see how many who played on Tuesday fit the bill?

Tony Abrahams
3 Posted 07/12/2022 at 13:22:57
Wayne Rooney was saying in his interview on another thread that he actually played in the FA Youth Cup when he was 14, which I thought was very young, even for the outstanding talent that he was, Michael.

I wonder if Rooney was getting mixed-up, or they have changed the age bracket for this tournament, with it now being age 15 and over?

Michael Kenrick
4 Posted 07/12/2022 at 16:21:39
That's a good puzzler, Tony.

His date of birth is 24 October 1985. According to my notes, he came on as a sub against Nottingham Forest on 28 November 2000. So that would make him just 15.

No sign of him playing in the Youth Cup the year before, but he was a main fixture for the Under-17s from August 2000 onward, when he would have been only 14.

I tried to see how many games he played for the Under-17s the year before (1999-2000) and found only this cryptic message:

"We understand that Everton have withdrawn their Under-17 team from the FA Premier Youth Academy for the current season. It appears the main reason is a lack of money."

!!!

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