The Prospects: Matty Young, Sunderland

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Club: Salford City (on loan from Sunderland) Date of birth: November 24, 2006 (19) Young joined the Sunderland academy at the age of seven and has been following in the footsteps of other notable academy graduates, such as England and Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and Anthony Patterson, who was Sunderland’s No 1 during their Championship promotion campaign last season and is now on loan at Millwall. Young progressed through the ranks and has also gained England recognition at under-18, under-19, and under-20 levels. He turned professional in November 2023 and first linked up with the club’s senior squad when he joined the pre-season tour of North America at just 16 years old.  He spent time on loan at Darlington during the 2023-24 season, making 14 appearances in the National League North, English football’s sixth tier, and was named the club’s young player of the season. The 19-year-old joined Salford on loan in the summer of 2024 and made 27 appearances last season. After again spending pre-season with the Sunderland senior squad and featuring in a pre-season friendly against Portuguese champions Sporting CP at the Estadio Algarve, he rejoined Salford for a second season. He has started all but two of their League Two games this season as Salford chase automatic promotion to League One, and has made 43 appearances in total, keeping 13 clean sheets. It was a Good Friday clash with fellow promotion hopefuls Notts County at the Peninsula Stadium, and while there was a dramatic finale with three goals coming in seven minutes of added time to settle the scoreline in Salford’s favour, it wasn’t a great fixture for Young to showcase his abilities. It was more of a study in concentration for the teenager in the first half, due mainly to County’s lack of cutting edge and the prowess of the defenders to protect him. County had 12 shots in the game, with half of them blocked and only one ‘on target’. The only evidence of Young’s shot-stopping on display was a good effort diving back towards his near post to push away a low cross from Tom Iorpenda that threatened to sneak in. There was more evidence of Young’s renowned ability to produce strong saves in Salford’s honourable 2-0 FA Cup defeat at Manchester City earlier in the year, when he made three saves at the Etihad Stadium. So far this season in the league, he is averaging 2.7 saves per game for Salford, but officially, he did not make one against Notts County. "I'm confident of our abilities" 🗣️@mattyoungg1 on his return to Salford 🤩 pic.twitter.com/tMKVdJxTfW — Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) July 24, 2025 Despite the lack of goal activity, Young’s confidence was still obvious, and he instructed his team-mates and organised the back line. What was noticeable, especially in the first half, was how little Young was called upon to be involved in any build-up play. Karl Robinson’s side played direct and did not look to go back to their young goalkeeper. Only in small spells in the second half did they use Young as an outlet when under pressure. He dealt with what he was required to do reasonably well, although he did slice one rushed backpass into the stands after the interval. He tended not to take any risks and looked to go long when given possession. He made 26 passes in the game, with 22 of them long balls. There was a good range to his kicking, too. In fact, when the wind picked up behind him in the second half, one long free kick sailed over everyone’s heads to his opposite number in the County goal, prompting a voice from the Salford dugout to shout ‘Youngy, come on!’ in frustration. Occasionally, he had to come to claim the ball and his handling was solid, and he did look to redistribute quickly to push Salford onto a counter-attack.  Despite the lack of activity, there was no evidence of him losing concentration during the game. He was denied what would have been a routine clean sheet when, just three minutes after Ryan Graydon had put Salford ahead in added time, County equalised when a cross was headed up into the air. As Young jostled to claim it, he appeared to be bumped and lost his footing, with Luke Browne duly converting. Young appealed to the referee and linesman for the foul, but to no avail.  He may have been fouled and goalkeepers usually are given plenty of protection, but at 6ft 3in (191cm), Young has the stature to be able to take such bumps.   Regardless, Salford went straight back up the other end and won the game through Matt Butcher’s 97th-minute winner. There has been no shortage of praise for Young’s displays this season, and his nomination is a reward for his consistency, which can be rare for young goalkeepers. He is also highly regarded at Sunderland as one of the brightest prospects at the club after Chris Rigg, who has broken into the senior team. It would be interesting to see Young next season in a higher league and in a side that asks more of him in possession, as is the modern trend for goalkeepers.  Nonetheless, he appears to be a talented, confident goalkeeper making solid progress in senior football. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Rob has been a journalist for twenty years and for the past ten he has covered Leicester City, including their Premier League title success of 2016. He is the author of 5000-1, The Leicester City Story. Follow Rob on Twitter @RobTannerLCFC