Peterborough United to double down on their commitment to young players next season
Almost half of Peterborough United’s first-team squad next season will be made up of Academy players.
That’s the desire of Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony, and he has the full backing of first-team boss Luke Williams.
MacAnthony was speaking on the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast which was released on Thursday evening. He hasn’t quite given up on this season yet, but plans are already in place for the 2026-27 campaign, including the most expensive pre-season training camp in Posh history.
James Dornelly, Harley Mills, David Kamara, Pemi Aderoju, Lucca Mendonca, Patryk Sykut, Bolu Shofowoke are current players to have made Posh first-team appearances after spending time in the club’s Academy, up to the under 21s.
MacAnthony said: “We have a phenomenal Academy. On that side of things we have been flying this season. The things that have pleased me this season is the progress of the club’s Academy and the arrival of the current managerial staff. We have to make full use of the Academy. It’s a big advantage we have over other clubs.
"Around half of the squad next season will be Academy players. The manager wants 23 players not 27 or 28 in his squad. The other night we had Harley, JD (Dornelly), Pat, Pemi, David and Lucca all on the pitch at times and they’ve all been in our Academy, while we still have Bolu waiting in the wings. He’s yet to emerge fully, but he’s been working hard with Ryan Harley.
"These players will be ready next season and they will all still be with us. They have all signed long-term deals and they won’t be loaned out. With us they will work with the best coaches we’ve had in a while so there is no point in sending them out to a League Two club. A move like that would not benefit someone like Pat or us as a club.
"We want a strong identity next season and that means 10 players from the Academy along with 12-13 senior players. That make-up would help us with the salary cap and with reducing our debt, but we would still be aiming for promotion, just with a very young squad again.
"I’m not giving up on this season, but we are nine points from the play-offs so we would need to be pitch perfect to get to the play-offs and I don’t think our youngsters will be consistent enough. The cavalry hasn’t turned up in time. I expected Matt Garbett and Ben Woods to be back by now, but we will see if we can get in the top eight with a strong finish and by scoring plenty of goals.
"Then the manager will give everyone a huge pre-season. They are going on the most expensive pre-season camp we’ve ever arranged in Spain, and it will be at the end of July rather than at the beginning. This manager likes to do things differently. He likes to build up towards the camp and he wants us to be a well-oiled machine when we get there. We will be there for a full week and we will play two games.
"We have a big chance with this manager. He never worries or complains despite all the issues he has faced. He revelled in the fact he was able to give so many young players so much game-time this week. We have been a top seven side since he arrived.”