For the first time since the pandemic hit and Philadelphia Union II left the USL Championship, in advance of the season the club has provided a thorough Union II roster update to members of the media. It does not address first team reserves. But it enumerates all Union II professionals. And it lists comprehensively the members of the Academy U17 side who might appear for Union II at various times this year.

We already published our estimate of both likely first team reserves and enumerated the signed Union II professionals (see link). But our earlier academy list is now inadequate.

The fresh academy information is newsworthy because it illustrates concretely that the side head coach Marlon LeBlanc called the third-youngest in the entire league in 2023 may be getting even younger.

Relevant roster rules

Before we provide the lightly edited actual list — it is not easily discovered by the general public currently, although time may change that — we use our own words to review two league rules.

1. At any one time only five or fewer amateur players may be on the pitch during a game for a participating side, i.e., six or more of the team actually playing must always be  signed professionals.
2. For a gameday roster on a specific date, only eleven players may be actual amateurs.

The numbers matter because the list of academy amateurs the organization has connected with Union II  totals 16.

2024’s Academy amateurs

We order the amateurs by age from oldest to youngest.

The younger members of the group will become more prominent after this year’s seniors have graduated and moved on.