As Manchester City’s Under-18 players wheeled away celebrating a second successive title, manager Oli Reiss stood smiling. He wanted the youngsters to enjoy the moment. It didn’t stop his players spraying him with water but the affable Reiss had no complaints. This was their time.
The German coach is proud of what his squad has achieved but perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the class of 2026 is the camaraderie. The youngsters are friends first and footballers second.
That formula is not easy to cultivate but City have managed it. Their talent and ability is clear to see but the togetherness and spirit is what many inside the Etihad believe has yielded their success at this level. For the second successive season they have won the league title and so reached the national final. They are in the Youth Cup final for a third straight year. It is a consistent success story.
But the players and staff know there is much more to it than putting in performances on a weekend. The environment at the CFA gives them the best chance to succeed, they have their own analysts, their own chef, a bespoke training and education schedule. It’s an elite environment but no amount of money or facilities can forge a strong group. That comes down to the players themselves. And this bunch of City youngsters are a tight-knit group.
“It helps a lot,” forward Kylan Midwood, who scored a hat-trick in the weekend win over Derby, told the Manchester Evening News. “It builds trust and if you can do that off the pitch then it naturally comes on the pitch. We are always there for each other and as a team you need togetherness. A football team is not full of individuals and I think that is important.”
In this day and age, young footballers can be bombarded with information, offers, incentives and off-the-pitch temptations. They have to navigate far more than their progress as a footballer. City strive to ensure they grow and mature as people, while also accepting that social media and image play much more of a role in the modern world.
For boss Reiss, it is important that he and his staff strike a balance between instilling the standards required to make it in the game, and understanding the pressures that come to any teenager.
“I think the development in academies at the moment, with social media, agents, everything around the players, they are starting earlier thinking more about themselves and their career. This is just part of development,” he said, speaking to the MEN moments after winning the league title.
“And that is why it is something special, I think that I can see a team where I have the feeling that we are not just a group of high-potential players where everyone is thinking about themselves. We are not just a team, we are mates and friends who celebrate together.
“We had to find the balance, you can take everything seriously but we had some sessions where it was a bit more fun or silly sometimes and that should be normal. That is exactly what you need as a group to come together as friends.
“We did well as a staff to find the balance between when is the moment to be really focused and serious and how much do we accept that they are friends and 16 and 17 years old.”
That approach has yielded success. City won the league a year ago and plenty of this year’s title winners were part of that group. There was a drive towards ensuring they could go again.
“This is one thing: not getting complacent in terms of playing more EDS (Under-21 football) and less in the Under 18s,” added Reiss. “We have kept the hunger of winning titles and there are also two or three players who were not so much on the pitch last season – for example Tyrone Samba – and for them it was a chance to say last season was not my season but this season I want to be part of a successful team and this combination, this was the result.”
City were able to celebrate their title triumph on Saturday afternoon with each other on the pitches at the CFA. Then it was off for food as a group and back to it. They play again today in their final home game of the season and have one more league match, a national play-off final and an FA Youth Cup final to come. It’s a daunting and exciting schedule but even with those massive matches on the horizon, Reiss wants to allow the squad to enjoy their league-winning campaign, insisting just because success is expected at City, that doesn’t make it easy.
“I think it is important to mention that yes, we are Man City and, along with other big clubs and academies, everyone is expecting the title or at least fighting for the title,” he said. “So when it happens then sometimes the feeling is ‘okay’ but no, this was a tough season.
“There were phases where we struggled, we came back, we had to be strong. There were tough games in the first half of the season where we won games at the end so it was not easy. From outside sometimes it looks easy but it wasn’t because of the opponents, strong opponents and tough games so at the end it is not just ‘oh carry on,’ it is well deserved in terms of the performances and I am really happy.”
City are happy now, they could be delighted if they add two more trophies to the collection in the coming weeks.
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