The German led his young side to the Under-18 Premier League North title, and now, in 2025/26, the team are on a positive trajectory to retain the trophy.
In short, it’s been a fantastic 2025 for our aspiring Academy youngsters, and as we head into 2026, we take a look at the finer details that make up some memorable moments for our Under-18s.
RECORD-BREAKING WINNING RUN
In 2025, City went on a 16-game winning run, which saw us lift the North title and advance to the final of the FA Youth Cup.
Including victories in 2024, that run totalled a record-breaking 26 successive triumphs, something no Academy has achieved in the north.
It saw us set a new record points tally in the league with 65 points from 24 games.
And even with the new members of the class of 2025/26, City’s consistency hasn’t wavered.
In Under-18 Premier League North games, Reiss’ youngsters have lost just one and drawn one of 23 matchups. That gives us a win percentage of 91.3%.
And when you add our unfortunate FA Youth Cup and National Final defeats to Aston Villa back in May, we still have a just-as-impressive 84% success rate over 12 months.
Moving into this season, and the latter end of the calendar year, City’s Under-18s look on track to carve out new records.
GOALS, GOALS AND MORE GOALS
In 2025, our Under-18s bagged a staggering 109 goals in the league and FA Youth Cup. In the 31 games, that means Reiss’ side averaged 3.5 goals per match.
At the other end of the pitch, we conceded just 28, meaning our opponents got the better of us in front of goal less than once per game.
DERBY DELIGHT
And arguably the most important goal was Matty Warhurst’s late strike in our final home game of 2024/25, which secured our North title triumph.
Our young boys in blue thought they’d clinched the title with one game to go. Warhurst made it 3-2 in the 79th minute in what was an end-to-end affair.
But a third Derby equaliser on 87 minutes dampened our dreams of winning back the title on home soil.
However, our Under-18s refused to let our heads drop. With only a few minutes of added time, City went on one final attack. Our press saw City win the ball back on the edge of the opponent’s box.
Warhurst’s first-time strike on the half turn nestled into the bottom right corner, and a frantic pile-on ensued as we confirmed our North title victory.
READY TO IMPRESS
13 new faces have made the step up to the Under-18s this season and have certainly made a positive impression at the start of 2025/26.
From our opening 12 fixtures in the league and FA Youth Cup, City have won 11.
In those, 46 of our 109 goals in 2025 have come from the current campaign. That’s an average of 3.8 strikes per 90 minutes.
All the players have spoken on their ambition to not only retain the title in 2026, but also go two steps further this season by winning back the National final trophy and FA Youth Cup.
VALUABLE LESSONS
Whilst winning silverware is often the icing on the cake for such an impressive campaign like 2024/25, City’s Under-18s fell at the final hurdle on two occasions.
Our first trip to Villa Park saw us take on the West Midlands outfit in the FA Youth Cup final. City were off to a positive start as we looked to try to retain the prestigious trophy for the first time in the Club’s history.
Warhurst fired us ahead inside two minutes, but Aston Villa retaliated two minutes later. The hosts, boosted by the vocal 25,000 fans, continued to build momentum throughout the match.
And despite our best efforts, we fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Less than two weeks later, we faced Villa again in the Under-18 National Final, following their South league title triumph.
It was evident we had learnt from our previous encounter, but Reiss’ side fell just short, losing 1-0 in our final game of 2024/25.
And the Lead Coach expressed after both final defeats that those moments will, in fact, make his players better as they continue to chase their ambition of playing senior football, because “if we don’t win, then we learn”.
