Youth Team review (2019/20)

Who knows when there will be another football game?

Photo from the away win at Scunthorpe in September.

It's frustrating not knowing when this isolation period will end, though the break from football action is an appropriate enough time to reflect on what Doncaster Rovers' youth team have achieved (so far) this season.

Before the campaign was prematurely interrupted, the lads had established a commanding 11-point lead at the top of the EFL Youth Alliance. They knew a win at Rotherham in their penultimate game would have guaranteed top spot before the proposed Scottish Premiership style 'split' which, even if the season does resume (something I think is unlikely), the split might not now happen anyway. Ironically, if the away fixture at Grimsby hadn't been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch (or, if other teams hadn't had fixtures postponed) top spot could have already been guaranteed.

Forgetting the arguments/debates about whatever is decided, on the pitch they've played some positive, attack-minded, flowing football and bagged goals for fun. Statistically, they've been amongst the top teams in the division - whether that be for goals scored, goals conceded, opportunities created, unbeaten streaks, etc. There is always room for improvement (and that's sometimes been necessary) but they've generally set the bar for other teams to match.

Testament to their 'success' has been their 100% form since Christmas where they've won five straight games and showed different characteristics in each game - whether that be through being ruthless in attack to wallop their opponents, showing character to score late, or by 'digging in' to defend what they wanted as was the case when they triumphed at Lincoln. To put their form into context, what was a two-point lead over Scunthorpe on New Year's Day (who, at this point, had four games in hand) soon became a 13-point advantage over the Iron having played just three games more.

Individually, skipper Ben Blythe has probably been the most consistent performer during the season - putting in some assured displays and looking capable of making a smooth transition to the Under 23s. Junior Smith has improved and his 20+ goals across U18s/U23s is testament to that, Jack Watson deserves a special mention for his work-rate and movement up top which has sometimes been on a different level, and Will McGowan's ridiculous ability to pop off passes has unlocked defences time and time again.

It would be a travesty if the lads aren't either awarded the title or, more preferably, allowed to conclude the season and mathematically earn silverware/medals once this current chaos is over. There are lads, everywhere, who are released each summer and then simply drift away from football so the season shouldn't just be voided - thus denying players the opportunity to achieve something special after they've slogged their backsides off the last 8-9 months to get into a title-winning position. For some lads, this could be their biggest achievement in football so to wipe it away would be plain wrong!

If it gets to a stage where, realistically, it's not practical for the season to be concluded then the fairest way to decide a table should be on a points per game basis. No team is promoted or relegated anyway, therefore nobody would 'lose out' if this were to happen.

Whatever happens, we'll see, but I lack faith in both the FA and EFL for sure!

The current league table!

In any case, here are the youth team fixtures/results from this season. The ones which are underlined are links to blogs/thoughts on individual games (which I've attended). Hopefully, they might be useful in passing time or finding out which players have done well.

Results: Youth Team 2019/20
03 Aug: Grimsby (H) W 4-1
10 Aug: Notts Co (a) W 1-0
17 Aug: Rotherham (H) D 2-2
23 Aug: Rotherham (H) W 3-1 (YAC)
31 Aug: Burton (H) W 4-1
06 Sep: Bradford (H) L 0-2
14 Sep: Mansfield (H) L 3-6 (YAC)
21 Sep: Mansfield (H) L 0-1
27 Sep: Scunthorpe (a) W 2-1
12 Oct: Huddersfield (H) W 4-0
26 Oct: Carlisle (a) W 1-0 (YAC)
29 Oct: Mansfield (a) L 3-4 (FAYC)
02 Nov: Lincoln (H) W 2-0
09 Nov: Fleetwood (a) L 0-2 (YAC)
16 Nov: Chesterfield (a) D 2-2
23 Nov: Bradford (a) W 3-0
29 Nov: Burton (a) L 0-2
14 Dec: Scunthorpe (H) L 2-3
25 Jan: Huddersfield (a) W 6-2
01 Feb: Mansfield (a) W 2-1
08 Feb: Chesterfield (H) W 3-0
22 Feb: Lincoln (a) W 2-1
07 Mar: Notts Co (H) W 3-2

YAC = Youth Alliance Cup
FAYC = FA Youth Cup