PL2 Play-Offs & Development - Academy Season Review

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PL2 Play-Offs & Development - Academy Season Review

A full round-up of how our Academy outfits have fared throughout the 25/26 season.

2026-05-18T10:00+01:00

by Archie Tooth

Published

18 May, 2026

PL2 Play-Offs & Development - Academy Season Review

A full round-up of how our Academy outfits have fared throughout the 25/26 season.

Archie Tooth

2026-05-18T10:00+01:00

PL2 Play-Offs & Development - Academy Season Review

A full round-up of how our Academy outfits have fared throughout the 25/26 season.

Archie Tooth

2026-05-18T10:00+01:00

PL2 Play-Offs & Development - Academy Season Review

A full round-up of how our Academy outfits have fared throughout the 25/26 season.

Archie Tooth

2026-05-18T10:00+01:00

PL2 Play-Offs & Development - Academy Season Review

A full round-up of how our Academy outfits have fared throughout the 25/26 season.

Archie Tooth

2026-05-18T10:00+01:00

As the dust settles on our young Foxes’ most recent campaigns, we look back at what has been a productive year for the Club’s emerging Academy talent across our Under-18s and Under-21s teams.

Both sides made an improvement in league standings from 24/25. The U18s team, coached by Adam Barradell, finished in ninth place on 36 points, a 13-point and three place improvement on last season’s final tally.

The U21s, meanwhile, coached by Leon McSweeney, also secured ninth, one spot higher than last term, with the same tally of 31, once again reaching the end of season play-offs, before losing out narrowly to Tottenham Hotspur in the last-16 stage.

Key Results

Another season of development for our U21s side.

Our U18s started the season in red hot form winning five of their opening six games. They cruised past Reading 3-1 on matchweek two and beat Aston Villa 4-0 in mid-September thanks to a headline hat-trick from Lorenz Hutchinson.

The Englishman’s ability proved too much for Brighton & Hove Albion a month later, against a side that finish fourth place on 49 points, with a clinical brace in the opening 20 minutes of the game.

Jump forward to February with our young Foxes putting four past Birmingham City, this time Hugo de Lisle double dipped on the scoresheet as Hutchinson and Maxwell Adedeji also scored.

For McSweeney’s U21s, standout performances were littered throughout the campaign.

A 3-1 victory over a tricky Southampton outfit came in late October. Logan Briggs and Olabade Aluko gave the Foxes a comfortable 2-0 lead before half-time, and Christopher Popov added a third in the 68th-minute.

A fortnight later, Amani Richards starred in a dominant 6-2 win over Birmingham, bagging two goals and assisting Darren Motsi in the 48th minute, as the England Under-16s international became the second youngest-ever scorer in PL2, finding the net at the age of 15.

With a play-off spot almost confirmed, our U21s hit the road to London and thumped five past Arsenal in textbook fashion. A Kirsten Otchere strike and Logan Briggs’ brace before half-time all-but secured the three points were travelling back with the squad. Riley Carr and Richards added two more in the second half to further sweeten the scoreline.

Notable Nominees

Hutchinson picked up an award in our End of Season awards.

Beyond all the goals, a handful of our young Foxes were highlighted during the Club’s and league’s end of season awards.

Hutchinson came away with Academy Player of Season after netting 15 goals for our U18s side. His tally was fifth highest across the league and propelled him firmly into the U21s setup.

Moving up to the U21s, Briggs was shortlisted for Premier League 2 Player of the Season after registering six goals and eight assists across the campaign. Other nominees included Chelsea’s Shumaira Mheuka and Liverpool’s Kieran Morrison.

Although Briggs fell short of the award, his attacking output for our Development Squad has been pivotal throughout the campaign.

Louis Page received recognition after his transition into the Foxes’ First Team squad, winning EFL Championship Apprentice of the Season last month. His development throughout the campaign also saw him claim the Club’s Development Squad Player of the Season award.

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