The FA Youth Cup – a coveted trophy that given rise to decorated careers and renowned names, something former Millwall defender Mark Beard can attest to.
By the age of 16, on schoolboy forms, the teenager had lifted a trophy but not just any trophy – a trophy also won by the likes of George Best, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Paul Pogba. A precursor for success with both club and country on the senior stage.
And a year later, Roehampton-born Beard could claim to have led a team out at Old Trafford, seeing off the famous team that would later become known by their famous moniker, the Class of 92.
“There’s no other tournament like it,” reminisced Beard. “For me to be a winner and to get to the semi-final in the space of two years was incredible.”
A 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and a goalless stalemate back at The Den in the 1990-91 two-legged FA Youth Cup Final saw Millwall crowned champions for the second time in their history – the first coming in 1979.
“My school were really good because the further we got in the competition – and we were also challenging for the league – I literally didn’t go to school for two months!” Beard admitted.
“We were the underdogs in every game. In typical Millwall style, we just upset everyone.
“I think winning the first leg 3-0 at Hillsborough was an incredible experience in front of a big crowd. The return leg at The Den was a quieter game. All we had to do was obviously keep a clean sheet and we knew we were winners. To be part of that as a 16 year old was what dreams are made of.”
It wasn’t until the following year that Beard, now a second-year scholar, was entrusted with the captain’s armband as the club geared up to defend their title.
Victory over Nottingham Forest in the quarter-final set Beard and his teammates up for a blockbuster tie – the carrot and the stick which gave them extra motivation to win the replay.
And the so-called ‘Fergie Fledglings’ awaited in the semi-final – a two-legged affair which would see Millwall travel to Old Trafford in the first match-up before welcoming Manchester United to The Den.
“I did my knee in that game [against Forest] and they told me I was going to be out for eight weeks,” he remembered. “We then had the replay at The Den and we won and we knew we had Man United. I played that Man United game and my leg was nowhere near right but there was no way I was missing that game.”
And it was only the small matter of finding a way past some future footballing greats and England internationals.
“They had Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Keith Gillespie, Ben Thornley – they had an incredible team,” he recalled.
“I think Paul Scholes is probably one of the best players I ever played against. He’s so tiny but we prided ourselves on being aggressive but we just couldn’t touch him.
“Their actual best players at the time were Keith Gillespie and Ben Thornley. Ben Thornley, I said would’ve been better than Beckham. He was an incredible player but he did his ACL quite early and back then, the operations weren’t quite as clean-cut and I think he was never the same again.”
Incredibly, it was Millwall, skippered by Beard who led the teams out at Old Trafford, that came out on top – a 2-1 win.
“The thing that stands out about it is we went up the day before, stayed in a hotel and we were all bored and we all had skinheads!” he laughed. “We came out onto the pitch and my mum didn’t even recognise I was playing for the first ten minutes because I had a grade zero skinhead!
“Growing up, I was a Man United fan and to beat the team that everyone said was unbeatable at Old Trafford was just an incredible experience.
“I remember Alex Ferguson came in the changing room afterwards and congratulated every single one of us. Memories like that live with you forever.”
A packed-out Den awaited in the second leg but unfortunately, the Lions couldn’t make the home advantage count.
Despite taking a 2-1 lead into the game, they eventually lost 2-0 in the second leg. Nicky Butt booked Manchester United’s place in the final with a last-gasp winner, sealing a 3-2 win on aggregate, as the Red Devils went on to dethrone Millwall.
“Even the second leg, it was so close,” said Beard. “They went 1-0 up, we had a chance to make it 1-1 in the 85th minute which meant we would’ve gone through. We missed that chance and they went up the other end.
“I reckon there were 11,000 or 12,000 there – Man United brought 2,000 fans. The atmosphere was incredible.
“As a 16 or 17 year old, playing in games like that, you’re used to playing on a Saturday in the league in front of about 50 people. To go from that to then playing in a packed-out stadium against one of the best teams in the world was just an incredible experience.”
And the club kept up their annual tradition of an FA Youth Cup run, with Beard’s brother-in-law, Geoff Pitcher, turning out for Millwall in the final a year later when they were denied a chance to get their hands on the trophy again, this time by Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Beard, who had graduated to the seniors, penning his first professional deal under Mick McCarthy, making his debut aged 18, went on to make more memories in the FA Cup the following season when Millwall reached the fifth round in 1994-95.
“You draw on your experiences from this Youth Cup,” he continued. “In the FA Cup, we had great experiences.
“I scored at Highbury against Arsenal – we won 2-0 and beat the famous Arsenal backline of [Tony] Adams and Nigel [Winterburn]. Then we beat Chelsea in the next round and matched Sheffield United and managed to get an FA Cup semi-final against Newcastle and played all the way through that as well. It’s just such a special cup – it’s like nothing else.”
Some three decades on from lifting the FA Youth Cup, the 51 year old has a different slant on the competition, currently installed as Hull City’s under-18s coach.
His Tigers side host Swansea City in the third round proper later this week, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs entering the competition at this stage.
“I tell the boys now, you only get two years as a scholar and the FA Youth Cup is probably the best youth competition for kids in the world,” explained Beard.
“What I stress to my players is your career goes so quick. These moments, playing in the Youth Cup, they’re the best years of your life. Being on the other side now, it’s the next best thing to that.”
