Noel Blake's U18s to host Poland at Crewe in March.

England v Poland
U18 International Match
7pm, Wednesday 7 March 2012
Gresty Road, Crewe Alexandra FC
Call 01270 252610 for tickets

England are returning to Crewe after The FA confirmed today that the U18s would play Poland in an international match at Gresty Road on 7 March.

Crewe Alexandra are no strangers to hosting international youth development team football, with England’s U19 team chalking up a 2-0 win over Slovakia in September 2010 thanks to goals from Liverpool duo Michael Ngoo and Jonjo Shelvey.

The match fixture will be England’s second of the season at U18 level and Alex fans will be hoping that Head Coach Noel Blake, might give home debuts to Max Clayton and Nick Powell who both played for the Young Lions at the U17 World Cup in Mexico last summer.

“There’s a possibility that the Crewe lads might be involved. Max was in the U18 team that got a 1-1 draw with Slovakia last year but Nick Powell was injured at the time so missed out on that trip,” said Blake, who made close to 300 combined appearances for Portsmouth, Birmingham City and Leeds United.

Yesterday saw Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain make his full Premier League debut for Arsenal and it was only 12 months ago that the young Gunner was wearing an England U18 shirt: “He had 45 minutes in our 3-0 win over Poland in 2010 and has progressed through our international system with the U19s and Under-21s which is great to see,” commented Blake.

Poland have been a common opponent for England U18s in the past and Blake is looking forward to locking horns with the eastern European nation again in March: “Poland are a very good nation at youth international level and will offer a different style of play and mentality for us to test ourselves against and of course it’s a home game too, so it gives a chance for the fans to see some of our brightest young talent in action.”

Ticket prices for England U18s are £3 for adults, £1 concessions and available via 01270 252610.