Whatever happened to: The 2006 FA Youth Cup final team (part 2)

More on the subsequent progress of City's 2006 FA Youth Cup final team.

Paul Marshall
The second-youngest player in the team after Sturridge, Marshall is still at the club. Last season he was loaned to Blackpool and Port Vale, and he is currently on loan at Aberdeen. In September he was one of six Blues who travelled to Egypt as part of the England squad for the Under-20 World Cup.

Ashley Williams
Played every game in the Youth Cup run, but was released in 2007. Subsequently joined Vauxhall Motors, and now plays for Airbus UK in the Welsh Premier League.

Daniel Sturridge
The most hyped City youngster in living memory, he was the youngest player on the pitch. Though on the losing side here, he picked up a winners' medal in the 2008 final. He made his first team debut in 2007, and scored his first goal against Sheffield United in the FA Cup, a match infamous for the influence of a balloon in setting up the Blades' first goal. A regular on the subs bench for the next 18 months, the highlight of his City career was his impact as substitute at Blackburn at Christmas 2008, where he was instrumental in rescuing a point after City went 2-0 down. He was named Young Player of the Year for 2008/09, but his time with the club ended on a sour note. His contract demands (a reputed £60,000 per week) were viewed as excessive, and he joined Chelsea in the 2009 close season. A tribunal set the fee at £3.5 million, with up to £3 million in potential add-ons.

Kelvin Etuhu
Though now regarded as a winger, Etuhu played up front for the Academy. His first senior football was on loan at Rochdale in 2007. He made his first team debut in the League Cup the following season. He was then on the fringes for a while, making occasional substitute appearances, and ended 2007/08 on loan at Leicester. A surprise starter in Mark Hughes first league match, he made a few more first team appearances at the start of 2008/09 but lost his place following Shaun Wright-Phillips' return to the club. Since overtaken by Vladimir Weiss in the first team reckoning, he is on a season long loan at Cardiff.

Ched Evans
A first leg substitute, coming on for the last ten minutes. Evans first came to prominence with a successful loan at Norwich, where he scored 10 goals in 20 starts. This led to a call-up by Wales, meaning he was an international before ever playing for the City first team. Valeri Bojinov's continued injury problems gave Evans first team opportunities in 2008/09. He made a vital contribution at the start of the UEFA Cup run, when his shot was turned in by a Midjylland defender for an injury time equaliser to keep City in the tie. Mostly used as substitute, his only City goal came in the 6-0 rout of Portsmouth. At the end of the season he joined Sheffield United for in a deal worth up to £3 million.

Micah Richards
Richards missed the first leg - he was needed by the first team! The undoubted star of the side, who has now been a first team fixture for four years. Within six months of the Youth Cup final he had made his England debut. Unfortunately, his career has stalled somewhat since then. His last England cap was in 2007, and his tendency to wander out of position remains uncorrected. That said, he is still only 21, and still has the potential to become one of the club's all time great full-backs.


Of the 13 players to make the field, six are still with the club, of which two are regular first teamers, two are on loan to Football League clubs, one on loan to a Scottish Premier League club, and one is in the reserves. Of the other seven, One is in the Premier League, one in the Championship, two in the Conference, one in the League of Ireland, one in the Welsh Premier League, and one in the lower echelons of the non-league pyramid.

So far the team has netted us £7 million in fees (with Sturridge 2 appearances from another £500,000), and together they have made 275 appearances for City across all competitions. Overall, Liverpool's team appears to have fared less well, with just two Premier League starts between them, though two players (Hobbs and Anderson) are doing well at Championship clubs.