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"YOUTH" TEAM CONTEXT
THE TEAMS
Altrincham FC's men's youth teams' names and their changing league memberships have been confusing in recent years.The situation as it stands in 2024-25 is believed to be as follows...
ALTRINCHAM FC ACADEMY
In September 2020, a newly formed "Altrincham FC U19 Academy" started playing in Division H of the National League U19 Alliance and in 2021-22 it won the league title.
Then, in December 2022, it was announced that "Alty have, this season (22/23), had two sides in the two under-19s National Leagues, one in the North Division and the other in Division H".
The December 2022 announcement added that "The decision [has been] taken to withdraw the Division H team from the National League and place them in the AOC North West Invitational League, a transition that will free Alty's Academy from the 28-day rule's limitations [on players playing for the other Altrincham team in the same league] and that the club are pleased to announce has now been completed".
So there was an "Academy" team in the AoC Sport North West Men's Football Invitational League. However, the team was curiously branded on that league's website as "TCG (Altrincham FC) Men Regional Team 2".
Today (2024), the Academy operates two teams across its year-groups. One team competes in the U19 Alliance, whilst the other team plays in the National League North West Championship.
The former team was previously labelled "Altrincham FC U19 A Red", and it continues to play in the National League U19 Alliance North Division but now just under the name Altrincham.
The latter team, which used to be called "The Whites", formerly competed in the Association of Colleges (AoC) Sport North West Men's Football Invitational League (1) under the name "TCG (Altrincham FC) Men Regional Team 2" or "TCG (Trafford College)" before joining the National Football Youth League North West Championship where they play as Altrincham FC U-19.
FOR CURRENT NEWS OF THE ACADEMY TEAMS
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OTHER AGE-GROUP TEAMS
In 2022-23 an under-21 team competed in the North-West U-21 Development League Premier Division.
This age group was disbanded at the end of that campaign.
For decades there was an Altrincham FC Youth Team (under-18s) playing in the NW Youth Alliance Premier and an under-17s' side competing in the NWYA First Division.
In summer 2022 the Altrincham FC Youth set-up was completely reorganised, as follows
From 2022-23 youth players aged over 17 were to compete in the North-West U-21 Development League. The Altrincham FC Under-17 team, which formerly operated in the NWYA First Division, an under-17s' league, was moved up to the NWYA Premier to compete against predominantly under-18 sides. However, in December 2022 the team withdrew from the league midway through the season.
There is now (24/25) no specific under-18s team.
A new Under-16s side (with some under-17s) was formed to compete from 2022-23 in the North West Youth Alliance Development Division.
They were re-branded as Altrincham FC Colts in 2022-23 season.
FA Youth Cup
Altrincham FC also enters a team in the FA Youth Cup, which is an under-18s' competition. This team is drawn from any of the under-18 age-group teams operating at Altrincham FC
FOR CURRENT NEWS OF THE AFC COLTS and the
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Above: Altrincham FC Youth pictured before their FA Youth Cup tie against Carlisle United on 31 October, 2024.
THE LEAGUES
The names by which Altrincham's age-group teams are known in their respective leagues add further confusion to which team is which.Below, we hope to clarify which team plays under which label.
National League U19 Alliance
A team labelled by the league as Altrincham competes in this division. This is what is popularly known as the Altrincham FC Academy.
National Football Youth League North West Championship
A team labelled as Altrincham FC U-19 competes in the National Football Youth League North West Championship.This is the second Altrincham FC Academy team.
North West Youth Alliance League Development Division
A team labelled as Altrincham AFC Colts competes in the North West Youth Alliance League Development Division.