Ipswich Town F.C. Under-21s and Academy

Ipswich Town Football Club currently runs a category one academy.^[1] The youth teams play their home games at the Ipswich Town Training Centre at Playford Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, while some U21s home games are played at Portman Road.^[2]

Ipswich Town Academy

Full name	Ipswich Town Football Club Under-21s and Academy
Nickname(s)	The Tractor Boys
Ground	Playford Road Portman Road
Capacity	1,000 (Playford Road) 30,056 (Portman Road)
Owner	Gamechanger 20 Ltd.
Chairman	Mark Ashton
Manager	John McGreal (U21s) David Wright (U18s)
League	Premier League 2 (U21s) Premier League (U18s)
Home colours Away colours

Some of Ipswich's greatest ever players have come through the club's youth system since the 1960s, including Roger Osborne, Mick Mills, Kevin Beattie, Russell Osman, George Burley, John Wark, Terry Butcher and Jason Dozzell.^[3] The academy was also very successful during the 1990s, producing a number of first-team players including Richard Wright, Titus Bramble, James Scowcroft and Kieron Dyer.^[4] In more recent years, the academy has produced more young players going onto the main team including Connor Wickham, Jordan Rhodes, Luke Woolfenden, Flynn Downes, Cameron Humphreys and Andre Dozzell, who like his father Jason Dozzell, scored on his debut at the age of 16.^[5][6]

Under-21s squad

As of 12 August 2025^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 35 MF  ENG Fin Barbrook 36 FW  IRL Leon Ayinde — GK  NZL Henry Gray — GK  SCO Woody Williamson — DF  IRL Daniel Babb — DF  ENG Somto Boniface — DF  ENG Corbin Mthunzi — MF  ENG Ryan Carr

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  NGA Abube Onuchukwu — MF  ENG Steven Turner — FW  MSR Ashley Boatswain — FW  ENG Gerrard Buabo — FW  ENG Tudor Mendel-Idowu — FW  NIR Rio Oundie-Morgan — FW  ENG Tom Taylor — FW  ENG Nico Valentine

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  LTU Jokūbas Mažionis (at Cheltenham Town until 31 May 2026)

Note: Loans only shown for those joined a National League N/S team or higher and for more than a month

Under-18s squad

As of 9 June 2025^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG William Fletcher — DF  ENG Stevy Brouwers — DF  ENG Leon Elliott — DF  ENG Fraser Heard — DF  ENG Josh Lewis — DF  NIR Darragh McCann — DF  ENG Lenny O'Sullivan — DF  ENG Walker Shabazz-Edwards — MF  ENG Charlie Compton — MF  ENG Usisya Longwe — MF  ENG Bobby Sains

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Charlie Wood — FW  IRL Afikunoluwa Adebayo — FW  ENG Ashton Boswell — FW  ENG Jackson Chukwu-Nsofor — FW  NIR Sidney Eldred — FW  ENG Nelson Eze — FW  ENG James Mauge — FW  CYP Shakil Nicolaou — FW  MLT Josh Pitts — FW  ENG William Unadike

Academy key staff

Position	Name
Head of Coaching & Player Development	Vacant
Under-21 Head Coach	John McGreal
Under-18 Head Coach	David Wright
Academy Manager	Ben Chenery
Head of Academy Goalkeeping	Carl Pentney
Head of Foundation Phase	Simon Tricker
Head of Academy Recruitment	Alex Kaufman
Academy Loans Manager	Danny Searle
Head of Academy Performance Analysis	Adam Cuthbert
Head of Academy Sports Medicine	Jack Wilce
Head of Academy Sports Science	Nathan Griffith
Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach	Vacant

Notable academy players

The following is a list of players who have played in the Ipswich Town youth system and have gone on to make 3 or more senior appearances at Championship level or above or the top league of that country. Players who are currently playing for the club are highlighted in bold. Players who never made a senior appearance for the club are in italics.

• Colin Harper
• Mick Mills
• Derek Jefferson
• Geoff Hammond
• Laurie Sivell
• Brian Talbot
• Kevin Beattie
• Eric Gates
• Robin Turner
• George Burley
• Tommy Parkin
• John Wark
• Les Tibbott
• Russell Osman
• Alan Brazil
• Terry Butcher
• Gary Stevens
• Kevin Steggles
• Steve McCall
• Mich d'Avray
• Colin Clarke
• Ian Cranson
• Jason Dozzell
• Frank Yallop
• Mark Brennan
• Jon Hallworth
• Tony Humes
• Dalian Atkinson
• Craig Forrest
• Mick Stockwell
• Chris Kiwomya
• David Gregory
• Richard Hall
• Gavin Johnson
• Neil Gregory
• Adam Tanner
• Tony Vaughan
• Matthew Upson
• Richard Wright
• James Scowcroft
• Richard Naylor
• Kieron Dyer
• Wayne Brown
• Titus Bramble
• Scott Loach
• Arran Lee-Barrett
• Darren Bent
• Darren Ambrose
• Matt Bloomfield
• Matt Richards
• Ian Westlake
• Dean Bowditch
• Richard Keogh
• Lewis Price
• Scott Barron
• Chris Whelpdale
• Josh Simpson
• Owen Garvan
• Shane Supple
• Danny Haynes
• Billy Clarke
• Chris Casement
• Liam Trotter
• Ed Upson
• Ryan Bennett
• Morgan Fox
• Jordan Rhodes
• Stuart O'Keefe
• Tommy Smith
• Nick Pope
• Connor Wickham
• Jack Ainsley
• Macauley Bonne
• Tom Eastman
• Luke Hyam
• Ronan Murray
• Josh Carson
• Caolan Lavery
• Cody Cropper
• Jack Marriott
• Teddy Bishop
• Matt Clarke
• Harry Clarke
• Josh Emmanuel
• Myles Kenlock
• Andre Dozzell
• Flynn Downes
• Tristan Nydam
• Luke Woolfenden
• Ben Folami
• Jack Lankester
• Idris El Mizouni
• Liam Gibbs
• Tyreece Simpson
• Tawanda Chirewa
• Corrie Ndaba
• Cameron Humphreys

Academy Player of the Year

Dale Roberts Academy Player of the Year
Year	Name	Ref
2001–02	Will Snowdon	[9]
2002–03	Darren Bent	[10]
2003–04	Dean Bowditch	[11]
2004–05	Billy Clarke	[12]
2005–06	Chris Casement	[13]
2006–07	Tommy Smith	[14]
2007–08	Jordan Rhodes	[15]
2008–09	Connor Wickham	[16]
2009–10	Tom Eastman	[17]
2010–11	Josh Carson	[18]
2011–12	Gunnar Thorsteinsson	[19]
2012–13	Jack Marriott	[20]
2013–14	Kyle Hammond	[21]
2014–15	Teddy Bishop	[22]
2015–16	Andre Dozzell	[23]
2016–17	Tristan Nydam	[24]
2017–18	Flynn Downes	[25]
2018–19	Jack Lankester	[26]
2019–20	Not awarded[nb 1]	[27]
2020–21	Not awarded
2021–22	Cameron Humphreys	[28]
2022–23	Edwin Agbaje	[29]
2023–24	Fin Barbrook	[30]
2024–25	Tom Taylor	[31]

Youth honours

Reserves/Under-21s

League

• The Football Combination

Champions: 1972–73, 1975–76, 2006–07 (East Division), 2007–08 (East Division)

• FA Premier Reserve League South Division

Champions: 2001–02

• Professional Development League South Division

Champions: 2018–19, 2021–22

Academy

League

• U17 FA Premier Academy League

Champions: 2000–01

Cups

• FA Youth Cup

Winners: 1972–73, 1974–75, 2004–05

• Professional Development League Cup

Winners: 2021–22^[32]

• Suffolk Premier Cup

Winners: 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 2006–07, 2009–10

Notes

1. No Young Player of the Year award was given due to the Coronavirus outbreak resulting in the early curtailment of the 2019–20 season, and the cancellation of the Supporters' Club annual event.