Former Brentford academy chief Stephen Torpey was unveiled as the head of Man Utd’s academy on Wednesday.Torpey was unveiled on Wednesday.(Image: Manchester United)

Manchester United formally announced Stephen Torpey as the head of the academy on Wednesday.

In June, it was confirmed that Nick Cox was set to leave after nine years of service to become technical director at Everton. During his time in charge, Cox has played a pivotal role in United’s academy’s renaissance, securing top youth signings and overseeing an FA Youth Cup triumph in 2021/22.

Torpey has big shoes to fill. He worked closely with Jason Wilcox at Manchester City and the pair sat together at Old Trafford to watch the Under-21s against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

United have hired Torpey from Brentford, where he worked as the academy director from January 2024. Brentford hired Torpey to essentially build their academy from scratch and deliver Category One academy status. Torpey was previously at City, where he spent nine-and-a-half years in different positions.

Torpey joined City in 2014 and gradually worked his way up in their academy to become the head of coaching between the Under-15 and Under-23 age groups, a role in which he oversaw trophy wins.

The 43-year-old is credited with helping City implement a Barcelona-style coaching system, which has subsequently enabled the club’s youth teams to win trophies with a similar style of football to their first-team.

Torpey played a role in the development of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Rico Lewis, who all progressed through the academy system at City to make senior debuts under Pep Guardiola. He also played a role in player recruitment as part of a team of academy staff who pitched to potential new signings.

After a modest playing career, Torpey explored a career in coaching and returned to former club Liverpool. He was welcomed back to Merseyside as a Liverpool academy graduate, and worked in the youth system while it underwent a period of change, guided by the Spanish influence of Rafael Benitez.

Speaking in a recent interview with The Times, Torpey said: “When you see players walk out for the first team and you’ve worked with them from the very earliest ages, they feel like one of your own.

“There’s no better feeling for a fan than to watch one of your own. I think that’s the challenge here: to try and create that same special feeling for our fans when they see one of our local players run out at the Gtech and play in the Premier League and represent the club that they love.”

Torpey was born in Kirby in Merseyside. He began his playing career in Liverpool’s academy and played for the likes of Prescot Cables, Altrincham and FC United of Manchester during a lengthy non-league career.

The new United chief joined FC United in 2005 following the founding of the club as a protest against the Glazer family. Torpey scored the club’s first goal in a friendly match against Flixton in August 2005.

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