Having been criticised in recent years, there looks to be hope yet for Newcastle’s academy after 11 local lads were involved in a recent win against Sunderland.
The U23s side were 5-0 winners against their Black Cats counterparts on Monday in a Tyne-Wear derby, and Newcastle’s talent impressed with 10 locals on the field for the club at the same time at one point.
Although the academy has come under scrutiny for its failure to produce enough first-team players, this recent performance shows that hope may not be lost for the Newcastle youth system.
Here, we take a look at the 11 local players who featured during the Sunderland win…
Owen Bailey
Place of birth: Newcastle
The Newcastle U23s captain opened the scoring on Monday, nodding home from Stefan O’Connor’s header and he has recently converted from a centre-back to a midfielder.
Sean Longstaff
Place of birth: North Shields
One of the Longstaff brothers to have been on the field, the 20-year-old has been part of the first team in recent months and looked particularly impressive during pre-season. He usually plays as a No 10, but can also operate in a deeper-lying midfield position.
Rafa Benitez blocked a loan move to Portsmouth in summer in favour of keeping him around the club after he scored nine times in 45 appearances on loan at Blackpool last year and he provided the assist for Luke Charman’s second goal against Sunderland.
Speaking after the game, he told the Newcastle Chronicle: “I think we needed about 25 tickets for the family to come and watch! Obviously to share a night like that with your brother is unbelievable.
“I am just trying to get my head down every day. I am trying to work on little weaknesses and the staff are helping me out every day. If I can just improve them then maybe there’s another opportunity down the road. Hopefully I can take advantage of it and see what happens.”
Matty Longstaff
Place of birth: Rotherham (brought up in North Shields)
Sean’s younger brother, Monday’s game represented the first time the two have played together when Matty came on as a substitute for O’Connor in the 60th minute.
The 18-year-old midfielder signed his first professional contract in July after joining the Newcastle academy at the age of 10 after being scouted from North Shields Juniors.
The Longstaffs come from a sporting background, with father David playing over 100 games for Great Britain’s Ice Hockey team while their uncle, one-time England international Alan Thompson, represented Newcastle, Bolton, Celtic and Aston Villa.
Jamie Sterry
Place of birth: Newcastle
Sterry got over the disappointment of being omitted from Newcastle’s first team squad at the weekend by helping the U23s beat their local rivals, and even nabbed an assist as Callum Roberts scored the second of the game from his cross.
He told the club’s official website: “For me, it was good to play. I want an opportunity to play in the first team and all I can do is give my all. I feel like I’m good enough and last weekend I felt like I could have had a chance, so it was a bit disappointing. But you’ve got to keep your mental strength really high and try to be positive about it.
“All the lads coped really well tonight; before the game, everyone was buzzing, a couple of them were a bit nervous because some of them probably hadn’t played in front of so many people, but I thought everyone was really good.”
Kelland Watts
Place of birth: Alnwick
Nineteen-year-old Watts was a part of the England U19 squad that competed at the European Championships this summer, and signed his first professional contract with Newcastle in July.
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On the club’s official website, he describes himself as a “box-to-box” midfielder and cites Zlatan Ibrahimovic as his footballing hero.
Daniel Barlaser
Place of birth: Gateshead
Another player with first-team experience, midfielder Barlaser has played for senior side three times, playing twice in the FA Cup in the 2016/17 season and starting in the Carabao Cup cup fixture against Nottingham Forest last term.
He spent three months on loan at Crewe Alexandra between January and April this year, making four appearances and has played international youth football for both Turkey and England.
Callum Roberts
Place of birth: Newcastle
Roberts made his first-team debut against Leicester in January 2015 and despite being in and around the first team since, he has not played for them since, instead spending time on loan at Gateshead and Kilmarnock.
So far this term, though, he has scored two goals in two games for Newcastle U23s, scoring the second goal against Sunderland this week.
Luke Charman
Place of birth: Durham
Another goalscorer on Monday, Charman netted twice in the second half and is a lifelong Newcastle fan.
He is the main target man for the U23s – think Alan Shearer in his prime – although he is yet to get a taste of first team action despite his performances for the youth side. After the game, manager Ben Dawson told the club’s official website: “I thought it was the best I’ve seen Luke Charman for a long time.”
Lewis Cass
Place of birth: North Shields
Cass has said he would like to follow in the footsteps of former Newcastle academy defender and current first team player Paul Dummett, telling the club’s official website: “I’d love to be able to do what he’s doing now.”
Thomas Allan
Place of birth: Newcastle
Forward Allan penned his first professional contract in the summer after he made 20 appearances in the U18 Premier League last season, netting five times.
Adam Wilson
Place of birth: Ashington
Winger Wilson came on as a 49th-minute substitute for Allan against Sunderland, continuing a successful 2018 where he has penned his first professional contract and earned called up to the England U18 squad in March.
He played for England in the Panda Cup in China over the summer and had previously scored against Sunderland in a 2017 FA Youth Cup fixture.
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