International break offers increased strength for second-team football

London tourists missed a treat last Friday. After the South Bank experience – the river, the bridges, the buskers, the theatres and more than their share of The Shard, they could have treated themselves to the South Bermondsey experience. One stop on the train from the tourist temptations of Borough Market, you emerge in another world. Walk down past the static caravans, junkyard and garages under the railway arches and emerge at The Den. There, for a fiver, you can have yourself a piece of PDL action.

While the tourists were few and far between, the capital’s scouts descend by the dozen on The Den to see Millwall Under-23s and Barnsley play out a goalless draw. It is the time of year for rarely seen young northern talent to take to London’s stage. Spring, when postponements are highly unlikely and afternoon games can finish without the need of floodlights, brings northern and southern clubs together.

International breaks are good for second-team football. It would be pushing it to say the spotlight is on. There are no spotlights. But when there are no Premier League or EFL games for a fortnight, and players are away with national teams, there is often a flurry of low-key activity for the stiffs when the first team have downed tools.

In all second-team football these days, clubs field far stronger line-ups in home games, and send a load of young no-names on the road. Imagine that in the Premier League or EFL? First team managers rarely want their players to miss training, and some won’t send an out-of-form star with a load of teenagers on a coach to the other side of the country.

Although they tend to follow that “strong at home, weak away” pattern, Millwall have a “proper” reserve team. Coach Kevin Nugent works every day with a small group of players which have been supplemented by most of the second year scholars.

Nugent’s March line-ups epitomise this. He always has half a team of young professionals. In the first game, at Wingate & Finchley’s quirky north London home, they were supplemented by the youth team against a Watford side which included England international Nathaniel Chalobah until the former Chelsea and Napoli midfielder was sent off for an obscene and bizarre two-footed lunge. Millwall beat the 10 Premier League men, 1-0.

Watford’s Nathaniel Chalobah was dismissed for a two-footed challenge while on reserve duty against Millwall.



Watford’s Nathaniel Chalobah was dismissed for a two-footed challenge while on reserve duty against Millwall. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Four days later, Millwall hosted League Two strugglers Crewe. Nugent had six first-teamers to hand, including FA Cup heroes Tom Elliott and Irish internationals Aiden O’Brien and Conor McLaughlin. And yet Millwall needed a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with Crewe’s teenagers.

And with O’Brien and McLaughlin among those away on international duty, the former Manchester United and England Under-21 goalkeeper Ben Amos and Elliott joined nine teenage Lions when Barnsley came to The Den.
Reserve team coaches have to play the cards dealt them by someone with other priorities. As one PDL manager told me: “I don’t think I’ve ever written out my teamsheet until I’ve got to the ground! Rarely do we get any continuity. We get different first team players every game.” Many 23s games are the day before a first-team fixture – Fridays or Mondays – so fewer senior pros are made available.

However, almost every member of Neil Harris’s squad has played for the 23s. The careers of keeper Tom King, winger Fred Onyedinma and central midfielder Ben Thompson have been a combination of first-team action, loan moves and midweek PDL matches. FA Cup heroes and villains David Martin, Mahlon Romeo, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Elliott have all played PDL games recently. Harris is usually there to see how his players react to being selected for the 23s, understanding the “one club” ethos from his time as reserve team manager.

When Millwall’s second string play at The Den, there is no PA system so spectators rely on teamsheets to identify any interlopers from the first team. The only sounds are the peeping horn of a passing train and the scouts’ hushed whispers in the upper tier. The teams emerge to silence, broken only by a few apologetic handclaps, yet still go through the pre-match rituals facing the almost-empty Barry Kitchener Stand. A kneejerk cry of “Come on’ Wall!” echoes through the concrete. Don’t be late: in this media vacuum there is no one to stop a referee calling the captains together early.

And half an hour after the final whistle, rather than South Bermondsey’s platform being a hubbub of police and fans, spot players in club tracksuits or the ref heading back to the city: towards the London Eye, The Gherkin, The Cheesegrater, to another world. You may even be blessed with the sweet smell of hops wafting across from the Fourpure Brewery under the arches. A heavenly escape awaits.

Remember me?

Jonjo Shelvey began his comeback from an injury-hit season for Newcastle’s reserves at Fulham at the start of March.



At the start of March Jonjo Shelvey began his comeback from an injury-hit season for Newcastle’s reserves at Fulham. Photograph: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the highest-profile of a flurry of Premier League stars making comebacks in second team games this month. After almost a year out with a knee injury, the England winger lasted just 40 minutes of Liverpool Under-23s game at Derby’s training ground before hobbling off with a tight hamstring. Jonjo Shelvey scored the only goal as Newcastle won at Fulham’s training ground, Scotland winger Ikechi Anya played for Derby in their 2-1 defeat to Brighton at Crawley, and centre-back Sebastian Prodl made his first appearance since October for Watford reserves against Millwall in the PDL.

Fantasy football

Reading v Bayern Munich at the Madejski and Southampton against Dinamo Zagreb at St Mary’s. Not a gamer’s Fifa results but the upcoming Premier League International Cup semi-finals. The young Saints and Royals have done well to reach the semis ahead of the likes of Manchester United, Spurs, PSG, Porto, Benfica etc but they are strong sides in an extraordinary five-way race for the PL2 Second Division title. Despite Tottenham dominating possession in their quarter-final at Stevenage, Dinamo II were rarely troubled as they held on to their single-goal lead. Spurs could at least be encouraged by the performance of 17-year-old Harvey White – a central midfield cog in the Harry Winks mould.

Next man up

Nathan Broadhead, pictured in action for Everton’s reserves against Arsenal, scored twice in the Merseyside Reserve Derby against Liverpool.



Nathan Broadhead, pictured in action for Everton’s reserves against Arsenal, scored twice in the Merseyside Reserve Derby against Liverpool. Photograph: Emma Simpson/Everton FC via Getty Images

Nathan Broadhead lived out every Evertonian’s dream when he scored twice at Anfield as his side won the Merseyside Reserve Derby in front of a crowd of over 4,000. Striker Broadhead, 21 next month, joined Everton’s academy at the age of 10 and made an instant impact when he stepped up to the PL2 side two years ago, earning a three-year professional contract. Despite making his first-team debut, it has taken until this season for the boy from Bangor to find his feet, scoring seven goals in 18 U23 games and working his way through Wales’ ranks. If Brighton lose to Swansea at the Amex on Friday night, David Unsworth’s young Toffees will be crowned PL2 champions if they win at Manchester City on Sunday.

This week in … 1993

Ethan Ampadu has been the most recognisable name (and hairstyle) in the Chelsea U23s lately. A generation ago, his father Kwame was rattling in the goals for West Brom’s reserves. Like his son, Ampadu Senior has interesting roots. Born in Bradford to Irish and Ghanaian parents and raised in Dublin, he came through the youth system at Arsenal and played for the Republic of Ireland at Under-17 and 21 level before joining Plymouth. Signed for the Albion by Bobby Gould, Ampadu lost his place under Ossie Ardiles but was almost ever-present for Dennis Mortimer’s Central League team, for whom he scored a magnificent winner at Mansfield this week in 1993. Having coached the youth team at his (and Ethan’s) former club Exeter, Kwame returned to Arsenal, before becoming Thierry Henry’s assistant at Monaco. How life turns.

Follow Gavin Willacy and Playing in the Shadows on Twitter

source: theguardian.com