Ipswich Town Academy

Ipswich Town FC runs a category 1 academy based in East Anglia. They have a strong youth development program to nurture young talent.

Following a successful audit by the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC), the Academy was awarded Category One status after meeting all the required standards.

This marks an upgrade from its previous Category Two classification and took effect from the 2025/26 season.

Academy Competitions

Each season, the Academy competes across the standard slate of competitions for its Category:

• U18 Premier League – split into North and South divisions; Ipswich Town’s Under-18s play in the South League.
• U17 & U18 Premier League Cup – introduced by the Premier League in 2017; seven group winners plus the best runner-up (by points, goal difference, then head-to-head) progress to the quarter-finals.
• FA Youth Cup – the traditional nationwide knockout competition open to academy sides across English football.
• Premier League 2 – since 2023, all Category One academies play in a single Swiss-style league, with entry and removal governed by Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) accreditation criteria.
• U21 Premier League Cup – introduced in the 2013/14 season to add a knockout tournament alongside the regular Professional Development Phase league schedule, featuring nine groups with the top team in each group plus the seven best runners-up advancing to the knockout stage.
• U17 Professional Development League Plate – an English youth football tournament for Category Two clubs’ Under-17 sides, contested by Ipswich Town prior to their promotion to Category One.

2025/26 Season

The Academy enters the 2025/26 season under Academy Director Dmitri Halajko and Under-21 Head Coach John McGreal.

The club exercised its option to extend defender Elkan Baggott’s contract by an additional year, as the young defender returned from his loan spell with League One side Blackpool.

Full details of players retained, released, or returned from loan following the 2024/25 season can be found on the club’s official retained list.

Academy Players on Loan 2025/26

• Jokūbas Mažionis (Defender) – Cheltenham Town
• Tommy Taylor (Forward) – Cheltenham Town; Woking
• Finlay Barbrook (Midfielder) – Lincoln City; Colchester United
• Tyler Young (Midfielder) – Chatham Town; Potters Bar Town
• Steven Turner (Midfielder) – Wealdstone; Woking
• Rio Oudine-Morgan (Midfielder) – Billericay; King’s Lynn; Havant & Waterlooville
• Henry Gray (Goalkeeper) – Braintree Town; Harrogate Town
• Daniel Babb (Defender) – AFC Sudbury
• Woody Williamson (Goalkeeper) – Eastbourne Borough
• Abube Onuchukwu (Midfielder) – Chelmsford City
• Ashley Boatswain (Forward) – Woking
• George Barrett (Goalkeeper) – Enfield Town
• Stevy Brouwers (Defender) – Brantham Athletic; Heybridge Swifts
• Will Unadike (Forward) – Lowestoft Town; Heybridge Swifts
• Jackson Nsofor (Forward) – AFC Sudbury
• Cameron Humphreys (Midfielder) – Huddersfield Town
• Nelson Eze (Midfielder) – Dartford
• Will Fletcher (Goalkeeper) – Brantham Athletic
• Leon Ayinde (Forward) – Boreham Wood

Academy Players in the First Team 2025/26

Finley Barbrook (Midfielder, #35), Cameron Humphreys (Midfielder, #30).

International Players 2025/26

• Somto Boniface (DF) – England U20
• Leon Ayinde (FW) – Ireland U21

2025/26 Tournament Groupings

In the U17 Premier League Cup, Ipswich Town’s Under-17s were drawn in Group G against Under-17 sides from Norwich City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

For the U18 Premier League Cup, the Under-18s were drawn in Group E against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and West Ham United.

In the U21 Premier League Cup, the Under-21s were drawn in Group C against Charlton Athletic, Leicester City and Preston North End.

Season Timeline

August 2025

• Former Ipswich Town academy midfielder Jude Robertson earned a professional contract with Crawley Town following an impressive trial spell during pre-season.

September 2025

• Ipswich Town secured the signing of promising forward Luca Fletcher, arriving on an initial loan from Manchester City to link up with Town’s Under-21 squad.
• Tyler Young followed in the footsteps of his father, Ashley, by joining Ipswich after his release from Peterborough United, putting pen to paper with the Tractor Boys’ Under-21s following a successful trial spell.

October 2025

• Former Barnsley youth defender Oliver Wilkinson joined Ipswich Town’s Under-21s.

November 2025

• Ipswich Town defender Somto Boniface received a call-up to the England Under-20 squad for their match against Japan at Doncaster Rovers.
• Ipswich Town’s Under-18s were confirmed to travel to face Sheffield United in the FA Youth Cup third round, with kick-off scheduled for Thursday 11 December at Bramall Lane.

December 2025

• Ipswich Town’s Under-18s booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup, setting up a tie against Bromley.
• Jayden Adetiba signed his first professional contract at Portman Road, agreeing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club.

January 2026

• Steven Turner returned to Ipswich Town following the conclusion of his loan spell at Wealdstone in the National League.
• Midfielder Abube Onuchukwu returned to Ipswich Town following the conclusion of his loan spell with Chelmsford City.

February 2026

• Ipswich Town’s Under-18s’ FA Youth Cup journey came to an end in the fourth round, following their tie away to Everton.
• Ashley Boatswain completed a permanent move to Gateshead FC, following a series of successful loan spells, most recently a first-half-of-season stint at Woking FC in the National League.

March 2026

• Kellyan Olawole signed his first professional contract with Ipswich Town; the 17-year-old defender, currently a first-year academy scholar, agreed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club.

2024/25 Season

A proud 2024/25 season for the Ipswich Academy, then competing as a Category Two academy, saw the Under-17s reach the Round of 32 of the U17 Professional Development League Plate, and the Under-21s reach the Round of 16 of the U21 Premier League Cup.

Academy Players on Loan 2024/25

• Elkan Baggott (Defender) – Blackpool
• Leon Ayinde (Forward) – Rochdale
• Edwin Agbaje (Defender) – Sutton United
• Finlay Barbrook (Midfielder) – Sutton United
• Ryan Carr (Midfielder) – Gateshead; Ebbsfleet United
• Cameron Humphries (Midfielder) – Wycombe Wanderers
• Henry Gray (Goalkeeper) – Braintree Town
• Woody Williamson (Goalkeeper) – Chelmsford City
• Osman Foyo (Forward) – Chelmsford City
• Ashley Boatswain (Forward) – AFC Fylde
• Emmanuel Okunowo (Midfielder) – Braintree Town
• Jokubas Mazionis (Defender) – Woking
• Harry Barbrook (Defender) – Lowestoft; Chelmsford City
• Daniel O’Connor (Defender) – Farnborough
• Oliver Davies (Forward) – St Albans City

International Players 2024/25

• Darragh McCann (DF) – Northern Ireland U17
• Woody Williamson (GK) – Scotland U16
• Cieran Slicker (GK) – Scotland U21

2024/25 Tournament Groupings

In the U21 Premier League Cup, Ipswich Town’s Under-21s were drawn in Group F against Under-21 sides from Cardiff City, Watford and Everton.

Season Timeline

November 2024

• Ipswich Town were drawn away to AFC Bournemouth in the third round of the FA Youth Cup.
• The FA Youth Cup tie against AFC Bournemouth was confirmed to be played at Eastleigh’s Silverlake Stadium on Wednesday 11 December.

December 2024

• Ipswich Town’s FA Youth Cup journey came to an end, following their tie away to AFC Bournemouth.
• Ipswich Town first-year academy scholar Nelson Eze signed his first professional contract with the club; the 17-year-old midfielder joined the Blues at Under-16 level and had been a key player for the Under-18s that season.

January 2025

• Woody Williamson and Osman Foyo returned to Ipswich Town following their loan stints at Chelmsford City.

February 2025

• Left-back Somto Boniface signed for Ipswich Town from Chelsea.

May 2025

• Tommy Taylor was named Academy Player of the Year, an award sponsored by Seckford Hall.

Released Academy Players (end of 2024/25)

Luke Towler (joined Norwich City), Mathaeus Roberts (joined Stevenage).