​Football celebrations for York House School as longstanding pupil is signed to Manchester City FC as U18 scholar

A talented former pupil of York House, a local independent prep school on the outskirts of Croxley Green, has been signed to Manchester City FC having been scouted by England following his international debut in December 2022.

Formerly a pupil at York House, Luca Fletcher has made exceptional progress over recent years, having previously been signed to Reading FC at the age of 12. He is a grass roots footballer and has progressed through the age groups via the academy system for U16’s. His incredible progress this last year has led to him being approached by Manchester City.

Luca joined York House at nursery stage, right through to Year 8 and the school is very proud of his ongoing success. Will Woodford, Director of Sport at York House reflected on Luca’s early progress. He said: “It was always clear that Luca had a bright sporting future as he shone in all sporting areas, but perhaps the earliest and clearly remarkable attribute was his extraordinary pace. He left other pupils standing in his slipstream and there were plenty of quick runners in his year at the time. Luca was regularly trained by Linford Christie, and I feel sure that his pace will be a strong feature in his bright footballing future.”

Luca will join Manchester City FC as a scholar in the U18’s squad in the professional development stage of academy football. He will continue on a full-time programme, training daily, combined with full-time education in the coming academic year. Luca will also benefit from opportunities to play in the Academy League system as well as the League Cup, FA Youth Cup, and UEFA Youth Champions League, to name a few.

Luca Fletcher commented on his recent signing with Manchester City FC: “It is a dream come true and I am really excited to see what the future holds.”

Luca has just completed his GCSE exams this summer and will be studying for his A levels in full time education from this September.

Jon Gray, Headmaster at York House, added: “Luca was always a bright pupil and very coachable, so he has always been able to make decisions with a level of maturity and intellect well ahead of his age. All of us at York House feel hugely proud of Luca’s success and we are excited by the future ahead of him.”