FA Youth Cup final set to attract record crowd at Old Trafford

Nearly 60,000 tickets have been sold for clash between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest youngsters on Wednesday

Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United celebrates with teammates after scoring in the FA Youth Cup semi-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford on March 9, 2022. Getty

Charlie McNeill of Manchester United celebrates after scoring the third goal during the FA Youth Cup semi-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford. Getty

Charlie McNeill of Manchester United's youth team celebrates scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford. Getty

Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers' FA Youth Cup semi-final at Old Trafford on March 9, 2022. PA

Manchester United defeated Wolves 3-0 in their FA Youth Cup semi-final. PA

Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United celebrates after scoring his side's second goal. Getty

Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho scores their side's second goal of the game during the FA Youth Cup semi final match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Picture date: Wednesday March 9, 2022.

Manchester United will face Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup final. Getty

The 2022 FA Youth Cup final is set to attract the biggest crowd of the season in England outside of games at Wembley and Manchester United’s home matches. Wednesday’s match between Manchester United Under-18s and Nottingham Forest’s youngsters will be staged at Old Trafford and 59,500 tickets were purchased by noon on Saturday, including 5,200 to Forest fans. Their supporters haven’t visited Old Trafford since 1999.

United have sold 10,000 tickets in the last two days as the crowd nudges towards their stadium’s 73,000 capacity. The gate is set to beat the 60,356 which attended the Premier League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in October, the 60,223 crowd which witnessed Arsenal against Manchester United two weeks ago and 59,958 which saw West Ham’s highest league crowd of the season – also against Manchester United.

Tickets cost just £1 to see Travis Binnion’s side and all proceeds are going towards United’s charitable foundation. United have won the competition a record 10 times, including the first five competitions in the 1950s, with Chelsea lifting the trophy nine times.

Chelsea, who Forest beat in a dramatic semi-final in Nottingham, have been the pre-eminent force in English youth football in the last decade, while United have not won the Youth Cup since 2011 – that two-legged final was watched by 29,977 in Sheffield and 24,916 at Old Trafford.

Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, who are both set to leave United this summer, played in that game, while Harry Maguire featured for Sheffield United.

A home crowd of 24,347 watched United lose to Liverpool in the 2007 final, while there were 19,518 at Anfield. United’s success at Old Trafford against Middlesbrough in the 2003 final second leg was watched by 14,849.

In 1995, 3,503 watched Tottenham in the final against United, with a crowd of 20,190 in the second leg as United won the cup.

United’s famous class of ‘92 final attracted a crowd of 14,681 to Old Trafford for the second leg of their final against Crystal Palace which featured David Beckham, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Keith Gillespie, Ben Thornley and Robbie Savage, while crowds of 30,562 and 31,037 saw both legs of the 1993 final between Manchester United and the victorious Leeds United.

Manchester United 3-0 Brentford ratings

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea 7. Awkward high ball dealt with early on in the rain and alert for an Eriksen shot. Saved well from the excellent Eriksen on 55 minutes and again from Toney a few minutes later. EPA

Diogo Dalot 6. Perfect pass to Ronaldo on two minutes and another for Elanga on eight which led to the opening goal. End product questionable but combined well with Ronaldo and hit the cross bar – though offside was given. Reuters

Victor Lindelof 7. A clean sheet for his defence and his best moment was when he read a 56th minute Brentford attack well to head the ball out of danger. PA

Raphael Varane 7. Toney was a handful for him and Brentford’s players held him back to execute a free-kick. Then scored his first United goal, sweeping in a corner in front of the Stretford End. EPA

Alex Telles 6. Had to concentrate as Brentford’s wingbacks pushed up against him. Apologised to his teammates after being robbed of the ball in his own area by Toney. Ball headed against his hand and saw penalty appeals, while his corner set up the third. EPA

Nemanja Matic 7. Reliable in his final appearance at Old Trafford. A lovely scooped pass to Fernandes on 52 minutes was the highlight, that and being applauded off by fans and players. Booked. PA

Scott McTominay 5. Passed ball straight to a yellow shirt during Brentford’s best moment of pressure, but then won possession after 79 minutes and drove forward before giving it to Ronaldo when he could have had a shot himself. Getty Images

Juan Mata 8. Almost certainly playing at Old Trafford for the last time, he deserved his start after some impressive substitute cameos. Shot wide after being set up by Ronaldo. Then involved in the best move of the match which saw Ronaldo score but it was disallowed. Lovely footballer. Needs to be playing every week. Getty Images

Bruno Fernandes 6. First goal in 11 games and he was up for it. United haven’t scored enough this season and the goal difference is a pitiful five after 35 games. Shot wide having been set up by Ronaldo soon after. Getty Images

Anthony Elanga 7. Got to the byline to cross to Fernandes for the first goal. Had space against a mediocre Brentford team. Still improving and one of the bright spots for United this season. AP Photo

Cristiano Ronaldo 9. On it tonight, he even tracked back at one point. Struck a 23rd minute free-kick on target. Cleverly backheeled a chance for Mata on 32. Won a penalty superbly, then converted it in front of the Stretford End for his 18th league of the season. Top performance. Reuters

SUBS: Fred 6 (on for Matic). One of the better players in a poor season for United. Positive that he’s back. Reuters

Edinson Cavani 5 (on for Elanga). He’s been a huge disappointment, picking up a vast salary while barely being fit to play. PA

Phil Jones 5 (on for Mata). Likely to be his last appearance at Old Trafford. The fans sang his name, he had a chance to score, but best for all parties that he moves on. Reuters

BRENTFORD RATINGS: David Raya - 5, Was lucky to see Ronaldo’s goal ruled out, while his passes put Brentford’s defenders under pressure at times. Made a good save to deny Dalot, although that also turned out to be offside. Had no chance of stopping Ronaldo’s penalty. AP Photo

Mads Roerslev - 5, Looked very uncomfortable whenever called upon defensively in the first half, with United’s attackers getting away from him with ease at times. Looked more confident in the second half. AP Photo

Kristoffer Ajer - 5, Delivered a cross that troubled De Gea but had times where he was caught out with United pushing the ball behind him, including Matic’s ball for a Fernandes chance. PA

Pontus Jansson - 5, Did well to stop Ronaldo when it looked like he might get through and put good pressure on United’s attackers in the first half. Was grateful for Raya tipping the ball wide after it seemed he might have deflected Ronaldo’s pass into his own net, but wasn’t so lucky when Varane’s shot went in off him moments later. Reuters

Mads Bech Sorensen - 5, Did enough to stop Elanga reaching a cross in the early stages but couldn’t keep up with him moments later as the Swede assisted the opener. His long throws didn’t cause too many problems on this occasion. EPA

Rico Henry - 3, Fired an early shot over the crossbar. Had a narrow escape after being put under pressure by Elanga. Was then nudged off the ball by Ronaldo and retaliated by conceding a penalty and wasn’t strong enough when defending against Varane at a corner as the Frenchman scored. Getty Images

Vitaly Janelt - 6, Put in some good work in the middle and was unlucky to see his pass cut out when trying to lead a counter. Getty Images

Christian Norgaard - 6, Overhit his pass when a good opportunity opened up for Brentford, but had positive moments including a good pass that created a chance for Toney. Reuters

Christian Eriksen - 7, Showed an outstanding range of passing from the very beginning as he found Mbeumo, with another picking out Ivan Toney. Saw his free-kick attempt parried away. Didn’t impact the game quite as much in the second period. Getty Images

Bryan Mbeumo - 6, Rose well but headed wide and hit the side netting after beating Fernandes. Almost found Eriksen with a good cross. EPA

Ivan Toney - 5, Headed a good chance over, but put in a lot of work and linked play well at times. Made a complete mess of his strike after spinning around the back. Saw a decent shot well saved by De Gea, but didn’t manage to connect with Eriksen’s cross in the latter stages. EPA

Mathias Jensen (Norgaard, 71’) – N/R, Hit a good shot but it didn’t trouble De Gea as it was blocked well. Getty Images

Yoane Wissa (Mbeumo, 76) – N/R, Struggled to have much of an impact on the game after being brought on. AP