Alan's Hansen's immortal words came back to bite him at the end of that season, with Manchester United going on to win the Premier League, before going on a long period of dominance, with success both domestically and in Europe. All of this was achieved with the spine of the team being Academy products, and the Class of 92 being at the forefront.
In many ways, Leicester Tigers and Manchester United have emulated each other, in particular both clubs' respective histories of producing talented young players from their academies into their first team, powering them onto success. Certainly at Tigers, the names just come one after another - Johnson x 2, Deacon x 2, Youngs x 2, Moody, Ellis, we could go on. However, in recent seasons, the pathway into the first team has slowed down, and has been an important factor in Tigers' decline in fortunes.
This is now starting to change. Led by previous Head Coach Geordan Murphy, there has been an emphasis change at the club, with more and more young players getting their shot in the first team. Since the arrival of new Head Coach Steve Borthwick, any concerns that this would stop have been put aside, with matchday 23's regularly featuring at least 40-50% academy graduates, including those at the very start of their journey and careers. This of course, coming off the back of three successive academy league victories.
So as Tigers begin their revolution under Steve Borthwick, are there signs that the club has a bright future ahead of them with young players leading the way? Well, so far the evidence would suggest yes, with a spine of a team forming that could be very exciting over the next 5 years at least for the club. Under Murphy, Joe Heyes, Ben White and Tommy Reffell all enjoyed regular game time, with both White and Heyes making their 50th appearances in recent months, and Tommy Reffell going on to win Premiership Rugby Cup breakthrough player in March 2020.
As this season has progressed, further names can be added to the roster of promising young players beginning to show that they can make it at first team level. At full-back, Freddie Steward this season has been exceptional, cementing the number 15 shirt as his own. Talk of an England call up is justified, with his try scoring performance against Bath, certainly one that will put him on the radar of Eddie Jones. Jack van Poortvliet at scrum half, followed up his enterprising cameo in the win at Bayonne, with another in the last quarter in the Bath victory, providing strong competition for the 9 jersey. Young second row Cam Henderson came off the bench in that game, going on to score a try alongside Steward, following on from previous tries against Gloucester and Wasps. His fellow second row George Martin made a welcome return against Bath, having recovered from injury, in the 6 position. In addition, Ollie Chessum and Thom Smith in the backrow, James Whitcombe at prop, and Dan Kelly at centre are all young players currently in the development squad that have made their first team debuts in the last 6 months, and made a positive impact when appearing. Archie Vanes, Emeka Ilione and Jack Rowntree (son of Tigers legend Graham) are all highly rated development squad players, who are awaiting first team debuts, are also ones to keep an eye out for.
It is not just those that are in the development squad that are impressing. It is easy to forget that Ellis Genge is only 25, turning 26 in February, Harry Wells is 27, exciting new signing Jasper Wiese, as well as his fellow South African backrow Hanro Liebenberg are also only 25. When you start combining these four with those in the development squad, and the three mentioned earlier on (Heyes, White and Reffell) and suddenly a core group of players begins to form. One that certainly form the basis of the squad over the next few years.
As can be seen, the Borthwick revolution is progressing nicely, and is being powered by an exciting group of young and talented players. Under Borthwick's tutelage, we can be sure that their development is in safe hands and will continue making an impact in a Tigers shirt. Just maybe, there will be some more names to add to the list Tigers' legends who came through the academy/development team pathway.