Darren Fletcher's son rescues Manchester United's record of 4332 matches

Manchester United was forced to summon a youth player to uphold the astonishing 88-year-old record that faced the threat of ending this weekend.

Since October 30, 1937, when Tom Manley and Jack Wassall appeared in Manchester United’s away match at Fulham, the "Red Devils" have always had at least one academy graduate included in the matchday squad for every game, creating a continuous streak that has lasted until now 4,332 consecutive matches.

This season, Kobbie Mainoo has kept this tradition alive; despite limited playing time under coach Ruben Amorim, he regularly features in the registered squad. Goalkeeper Tom Heaton was also a familiar name but was recently dropped after the club signed new goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

The newly called-up player is Jack Fletcher, son of former Man Utd midfielder Darren Fletcher, who now coaches the club’s U18 team. Jack and his twin brother Tyler were previously part of Manchester City's academy before transferring to Man Utd for a total transfer fee of around £1.25 million.

Jack Fletcher has yet to make his first-team debut but was finally included by Ruben Amorim in the squad for the match against Tottenham, which ended in a dramatic 2-2 draw. He had also been on the bench for several previous games.

The Portuguese coach has expressed his desire to maintain this legacy: “We want to preserve that tradition. I don’t want to be the one to break the record or lose the club’s identity. Manchester United’s history is built on players developed right here. That must remain a goal for the future.”

By definition, a “homegrown” player is one who signed a contract before turning 21, has never played for another professional club, and has been part of Man Utd’s youth teams.

In the era of the Premier League, Man Utd has always been proud of its prestigious academy, which produced the legendary “Class of ’92” including David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, and brothers Gary and Phil Neville. Together, they won multiple Premier League titles and played a key role in the historic treble in 1999.

However, major shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently criticized Man Utd’s academy for not producing as many talents as before: “Manchester United’s academy has really declined. A big club needs to constantly develop young talent, which helps preserve the club’s identity and brings financial benefits. But this isn’t something that can be fixed overnight. We have just appointed a new academy director.”

Currently, the academy director role at Man Utd is held by Stephen Torpey.

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