Darren Fletcher rips into Man City and the FA for what Man Utd players 'had to deal with'

Darren Fletcher tore into Manchester City for announcing the names of individual coaches during the trophy-lift celebrations after defeating Manchester United to claim the FA Youth Cup. Fletcher also confessed he was "disappointed" with the FA for permitting the final not to be held at the Etihad. United suffered a 2-1 defeat against City in the Youth Cup final, losing after a late strike from Reigan Heskey. During the trophy-lifting ceremony, the City announcer at the Joie Stadium called out the names of every player in the City squad, alongside the names of their Under-18 coaches. Fletcher was irritated by City's post-match celebrations, which he believed were over the top, and City officials observed that United's U18 manager approached FA officials while the presentations were taking place to express his concerns. Fletcher addressed reporters after the final whistle and pulled no punches when he was questioned if the Youth Cup final loss was a harsh lesson. "Not only to watch a team lift a trophy, but to be a Man City parade when it's an FA Youth Cup final. I've never heard individual coaches be shouted out, every individual player be shouted out," he said. FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page "That doesn't happen in cup finals. So I'm disappointed in the FA for everything that's gone around this game, for the location, for everything. And then our players having to deal with that. "But as you say, it's disappointing. You have to stand there. You have to respect the opposition. But not when Man City take over an FA Youth Cup. It's an FA competition. It should never have been like that. But that's my one gripe for tonight. But the best team won, compliments to them." The choice of venue for the Youth Cup final proved a contentious issue in the lead-up to the match. Traditionally, finals in the competition are held at a club's main ground, but City were unable to host the fixture at the Etihad owing to ongoing construction work surrounding their three remaining Premier League home fixtures. Fletcher diplomatically voiced his disappointment with the decision in a pre-match interview, yet he pulled no punches when questioned over whether the FA could have done more to guarantee the final was staged at a main stadium. City were granted special dispensation to stage their Youth Cup matches at the Joie Stadium this season, though it is understood the FA were supportive of the game being held at the Etihad if feasible. United put forward Old Trafford as a potential host venue, but City turned down the offer before hitting back at criticism surrounding their choice to stage the final at the Joie Stadium. "Probably a little bit," he said of whether the FA had to take 'control back' in the Youth Cup. "If you see the things that have gone on throughout this game, it's a historic competition. "So there's been a lot of disappointments in the build-up. But what I will say is Man City have got a fantastic manager. He's a great, really nice guy. Dead respectful. Coaches his team the right way. "You know, no antics on the sidelines between both of us. So I've got a massive respect for them. And their players have got a lot of good players. But, you know, it's an FA competition and it felt like it was a Man City competition for this whole build-up to the game in terms of how we had to deal with that at the end there. "So that was my one little bit of disappointment from that is that these things are looked at. You know, we have other things with the Under-21s game being 48 hours after this. So some of our players aren't going to experience that. "We're dealing with a lot of difficult dynamics just now in terms of these youth fixtures, which is disappointing. And hopefully people take a step back now when they've come away from it. And there's a lot of learning to be done for the Premier League and for the FA for these historic competitions." United were allocated 968 tickets for the final at the 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium. City's club website referenced "a sold-out Joie Stadium crowd" following the match, yet empty seats were visible in various sections of the ground throughout the game. Some 67,000 supporters packed Old Trafford when United's U18s defeated Nottingham Forest in the 2022 Youth Cup final.