Last Sunday, Jack Fletcher followed in his father Darren’s footsteps to play a senior game for Manchester United, as the 18-year-old came off the substitute’s bench at Aston Villa.
He became the 255th homegrown player to break into the senior ranks — and hoping to follow him soon will be his twin brother Tyler.
But while Jack was at Villa Park, Tyler was turning out 17 miles north at Tamworth FC’s The Lamb Ground for a National League Cup tie that would present a very different experience.
The Athletic watched Tyler as part of the latest instalment of The Prospects series, which profiles the young up-and-coming academy players with a chance of breaking through at senior level.
The Player
Name: Tyler Fletcher
Club: Manchester United
Date of birth: March 19, 2007 (18)
Position: Midfield
Manchester United coach Phil Jones speaks to Tyler Fletcher (Harry Murphy/Manchester United via Getty Images)
The backstory
Both Tyler and twin brother Jack are the sons of former Manchester United and Scotland captain Darren Fletcher.
Born in Manchester, the twins initially joined the academy at Manchester City, but in July 2023, both switched to United — where their father is the under-18s coach — for a combined fee of £1.25million ($1.7m).
Like their father, who won five Premier League titles with United and 80 caps for Scotland, both Tyler and Jack are midfielders. But while Jack has opted to represent England — the country of the twins’ birth — at youth international level, Tyler has opted for his father’s country of birth and is the captain of Scotland Under-19s.
Darren Fletcher, pictured here in 2007, won 13 major trophies with United (John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
The twins went head-to-head in a UEFA Euro 2019 qualifier, with Jack scoring the final goal in a 4-0 win for England in November.
Tyler has made eight appearances for Scotland Under-19s this season, captaining the side on five occasions. He has also made 17 appearances for Manchester United’s Under-21s in Premier League 2, the EFL Trophy, the Premier League International Cup and the National League Cup.
What we saw
The academy system has shown its value in recent decades as young players develop their technical skills under the tutelage of modern coaches, while international competitions give them the experience of facing different footballing cultures in overseas environments.
But the National League Cup is very different. The competition provides them with a unique experience — and at The Lamb, the United youngsters, including Tyler, certainly were given a taste of something they may not have experienced much before.
Part-time Tamworth have proven to be a difficult nut to crack on their slightly sloping artificial pitch, as Tottenham Hotspur experienced in the FA Cup last season. Spurs’ seniors needed extra time to get through to the fourth round after a dogged display by Tamworth.
Like Tottenham, the United youngsters displayed the benefits of their technical training by dominating possession, enjoying 75 per cent across the 90 minutes, but they will not have experienced Tamworth’s well-organised deep block, counter-attacking and potency at set pieces. They certainly will not have come up against Tom Tonks’ long throws, which have become a potent weapon.
To make matters even more bizarre, Tamworth were already through to the next stage while United needed to win by eight goals to follow them.
Fletcher was utilised in an attacking midfield role in the first half. He was certainly integral in how United tried to play and he dropped into space to get on the ball and orchestrate attacks, but he also looked to run in behind the Tamworth defence on a few occasions, without much luck.
Fletcher played on the left with Sekou Kone on the right of the two high No 8s, but Fletcher appeared to have been given more freedom to get forward in support of central striker Gabriele Biancheri and left-winger Sam Mather.
United quickly found themselves 2-0 down inside 15 minutes, from a corner and then a fast breakaway, and struggled to break down Tamworth’s two tight banks of four to get back into the game.
At half-time, United made a tactical change with Fletcher dropping deeper into a playmaking role — a position he seemed more comfortable in as he found more time and space — but United couldn’t make the most of their superior possession, lacking a cutting edge.
They had eight shots on goal in total, three on target, but Tamworth wrapped up the victory late on.
It certainly wasn’t a performance worthy of a 3-0 scoreline, but it was a lesson for United’s young players about playing against an opposition who approach the game in a very different way to any academy or international side they will face.
Fletcher displayed the technical ability for which he is regarded and was only caught in possession on a couple of occasions.
It was difficult to move the ball at the pace he may have become used to on well-maintained academy pitches, but every experience should prove valuable if he is to follow his twin brother (and father) into the United first team.
