Manchester City's academy dominance reflects 10-12 years of hard work behind the scenes, says under-18 head coach Ben Wilkinson.
City's under-18s overcame a quality West Ham side at the Etihad on Wednesday to secure the U18 Premier League national title for the third year in a row after winning their northern division, completing a treble-double after the under-21s won their third successive Premier League 2 title two weeks ago.
No side had ever won both U21 and U18 titles in the same season, with City now completing the achievement for three years running. The National Final win on Wednesday also saw City become the first team to win the final three years in a row - and Wilkinson says the records show the sheer amount of work that has taken place behind the scenes for a number of years.
ALSO READ: City ride the storm to make Premier League history with academy treble-double
"It's a really amazing achievement to go three time in a row," Wilkinson said after lifting the U18 trophy.
"It shows a level of player, and also the work that's gone in over a long long time. This hasn't been won tonight, these boys have been here for 10-12 years. The work done has been fantastic and there's a lot of people sat in the stand who deserve a lot of credit for that. It's a massive achievement for everyone and really proud of everyone."
Captain Nico O'Reilly admitted that his side felt some pressure to emulate the previous years' achievement, but they ultimately used that to their advantage after falling behind against West Ham on the night.
"It's an amazing feeling, captaining the team there's a lot of pressure from previous years," he said. "You feel the pressure before the game, but that's normal. Just winning the north, if we didn't win this it wouldn't feel right. But we've won both now and we're very happy.
"We all just gave it everything, everyone was 100 per cent. A slow start in the first half, but we all got together in the changing room and gave it everything. We said we've got nothing to lose, leave it all out there. We changed a bit tactically as well and that worked."
Forward Justin Oboavwoduo levelled the scores in normal time with a header that squeezed under the West Ham goalkeeper, before smashing in the winner in extra time, and he also pointed to the expectations from the club when it comes to winning the national titles at academy level.
"The aim for Man City Football Club is to be one of the best - the best - in the country," he said. "Us winning the league title on multiple occasions shows the levels, and that a lot of top-quality players are at the club. It's an objective that every year we want to win, to be able to do that is good for all of the club.
"Hopefully we defend the title next season, that's the aim! We'll reevaluate at the end of the season but that will obviously be the objective come next season to come back again and win the Northern League and win the National title again."
READ NEXT
How City plan to get Haaland more involved in Real Madrid second leg
Guardiola sends message to academy after third double title win
- Follow the latest City news, views and analysis
Two City players named in England squad for 2023 U20 World Cup
Man City face tricky wait to see full extent of Real Madrid pain
