The Sheffield Wednesday Academy is the youth system of

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. The academy runs two sides; the U23 Development squad, and the U18 Academy. Both play in the respective age groups'

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

Division 2 North leagues.

History

League history

* 1957–58: Sheffield Intermediate League * 1958–59 to 1997–98: Northern Intermediate League * 1997–98: Premier Youth League * 1998–99 to 2011–12:

Premier Academy League The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member c ...

* 2012–13 to present:

Honours

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

: runners-up

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

* Northern Intermediate League Cup: winners 1982, 1989, 1993 * Professional U23 Development League 2: winners 2016–17

Players

Under-21s

Under-18s

Graduates

The following list includes players who have graduated from Sheffield Wednesday's youth system to make their senior debut for the first team. Players who have represented their national team at senior level are highlighted in bold. ''As of the end of the 2024–2025 season.'' *

Mark Beevers Mark Geoffrey Beevers (born 21 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Bradford (Park Avenue). Royal Mail 2024 - present Club career Sheffield Wednesday Beevers was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshir ...

* Luke Boden *

Leigh Bromby Leigh David Bromby (born 2 June 1980) is an English retired footballer who played as a defender. Bromby primarily played for Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, and is the only player to have played 100 league games for both teams. Care ...

* Bailey Cadamarteri *

Tony Crane Anthony Steven Crane (born 8 September 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, midfielder and makeshift centre forward from 1999 to 2009. He notably played as a professional for Sheffield Wednesday and G ...

* Cameron Dawson * Matt Hamshaw *

Steve Haslam Steven Robert Haslam (born 6 September 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Playing career Early career Back in 1995, Steve Haslam captained an England schoolboys team to a 1–0 victory over a Brazilia ...

* Ritchie Humphreys * Alex Hunt * Arron Jameson *

Connor Kirby Connor Alexander Kirby (born 10 September 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Buxton. He has previously had spells at Macclesfield Town, Altrincham and started his career at Sheffield Wednesday. Career Shef ...

* Sean McAllister * Lewis McMahon *

Nathan Modest Nathan Daniel Modest (born 29 September 1991) is an English Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker and Midfielder#Winger, winger for Sheffield F.C., Sheffield in the Northern Premier League, North ...

* Richard O'Donnell * Matt Penney *

Kevin Pressman Kevin Paul Pressman (born 6 November 1967) is an English football coach, former professional goalkeeper, and goalkeeping coach and assistant manager for Gainsborough Trinity. As a player, he made over 500 appearances in both the Premier Leagu ...

Jon Shaw Jon Steven Shaw (born 10 November 1983) is an English football manager and former player who was recently manager of Blyth Spartans. He played as a striker and more recently as a central defender, appearing in the Football League for Sheffield ...

* Liam Shaw *

Rio Shipston Rio Joel Shipston (born 7 November 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre midfielder for Cork City on loan from side Sheffield Wednesday. Career Sheffield Wednesday Shipston joined Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 7 ...

* Tommy Spurr * Jack Stobbs *

Chris Stringer Christopher Brian Stringer is a British physical anthropologist noted for his work on human evolution. Biography Growing up in a working-class family in the East End of London, Stringer first took an interest in anthropology during primary s ...

Drew Talbot Andrew Talbot (born 19 July 1986) is an English former professional footballer. A versatile player, Talbot predominantly played at right back or on the right wing. He occasionally played at left back and as a left winger, and could also be utili ...

* Joe Wildsmith * Richard Wood *

Junior Agogo Manuel "Junior" Agogo (1 August 1979 – 22 August 2019) was a Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a striker. He was born in Ghana but spent most of his childhood in the UK. He then moved back to Ghana during his years in secondary sc ...

* Pierce Charles *

Rory McArdle Rory Alexander McArdle (born 1 May 1987) is a former professional Association football, footballer. He has previously played for Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday, Rochdale A.F.C., Rochdale, Aberdeen F.C., Aberdeen, Bradford City A. ...

Rocky Lekaj Rocky Rexhep Lekaj (born 12 October 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or left winger for Gjøvik-Lyn. Born in Kosovo, he has represented Norway at an international youth level and formerly played for Sheffield Wednesda ...

* Ciaran Brennan * Derek Geary *

George Hirst George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...

* Liam Palmer * Fraser Preston * Joey Phuthi

Academy staff

References

Sheffield Wednesday Official Website

Sheffield Wednesday Youth Academy Official Webpage

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Football academies in England 1998 establishments in England {{England-footyclub-stub