There will be no domestic cup final for Manchester United this season but one of their players could play at Wembley. Twice.
Jack Kingdon, on loan at Rochdale since January, is likely be in the Rochdale defence this afternoon against Spennymoor Town in the FA Trophy semi-final. The last time Dale were at the national stadium for a final was in the League Two Play-Off defeat to Stockport in 2008.
Kingdon, 19, started for United at Spotland in the National League Cup in December. Rochdale's manager, Jimmy McNulty, sidled over to the United Under-21 coach Travis Binnion during the second half and you wondered then whether he had his eye on a player.
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Fifth-tier Rochdale signed Sam Mather on loan from United last season and it is a well-trodden path from Trafford to north Manchester. Sam Murray, Ethan Hamilton and Joel Pereira were loaned to Dale in the recent past while Max Taylor and Ollie Rathbone signed for the club permanently.
Dale train at Platt Lane, City's old base before they relocated to Carrington in 2001. A framed City shirt signed by the squad from Stuart Pearce's tenure adorns one of the walls at a complex that is now owned by Manchester Metropolitan University.
Rochdale used to train at the cricket ground around the corner from Spotland. Platt Lane is a more professional HQ that enables McNulty to hold analytical meetings the day before matches. McNulty will hold a meeting that roughly lasts between 20-25 minutes and he pours through the opponent's goal kicks, set pieces and their shape in and out of possession.
Kingdon sat on a Zoom call with McNulty in January when the former centre back pitched Rochdale to the United centre back. Automatic promotion is beyond Dale, sixth in the table, but they currently occupy a play-off berth with seven games remaining.
They also operate with a back three. That is well-timed for Kingdon, what with Ruben Amorim wedded to a 3-4-2-1 system. "When he first came, a lot of us went in to train with him," Kingdon says of Amorim's arrival in November. "Learning how he wants to play, a new style, a new system, it’s a pretty similar system to here at Rochdale, so it’s benefited me in that way.
“You can tell he’s a really good coach. He has a style and he will play that. He won’t change it, he wants to play that way. Rochdale play in more or less the same, so it’s good to get experience here and bring it back to United.
"If he sees something and it’s completely wrong, he’ll stop [the session], any coach would. But he likes to be free-flowing, he likes to see how it’ll pan out. He likes to let it roll.
"With every new manager that comes in, comes a new opportunity, everyone wants to impress. Everybody works their hardest, as they do anyway, but they’re trying to impress and it was really good to meet a new manager, a new coaching staff and a new style.
"In a back three, if you’re playing as the wider centre back, you can get on a bit more, get involved in the attack a bit more. As a two, you’re more keeping the play going, locking up at the back. Three at the back is a bit more freedom and you can get forward."
Kingdon was also drafted into first-team training sessions by Erik ten Hag and Ruud van Nistelrooy. "It’s normally Travis or the manager who gives us a quick text the night before or the morning (to say that they are training). Anything could happen. A player could be ill and you’re with them in the morning. But the training is really intense and I’ve learnt a lot that I can bring over here (to Rochdale) and show.
"It was good learning from Ten Hag and Steve McClaren. They’ve been in the game a long time, they know what they’re doing, it was good to see what they had to say and see how they wanted to play.
"They (the coaches) are quite close to us, they always say hello to us when they come over, really warm with us and welcoming."
A Bolton-born United fan, Kingdon got stick from his school friends for not supporting the Trotters. His father, born and raised in Stranraer, is to blame for his allegiance at club and international level. Kingdon is a Scotland youth international.
United clapped eyes on Kingdon when he played against them for Morecambe as a 14-year-old in the Floodlit Cup at Carrington. Shortly after he turned 15 in December 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic still impinging on the public's freedom, Kingdon signed his first scholarship contract with the club.
Kobbie Mainoo captained Kingdon in the United youth squad that crossed the Atlantic to compete in the Dallas Cup in 2022. That was Kingdon's first time in the United States and he is aiming to visit again in the summer.
United currently have seven senior centre backs, including the prone Lisandro Martinez, but Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof are likely to be released in the summer. The leap from the National League to the Premier League would be steep but Kingdon has already caught Amorim's eye. He was under consideration to be named in the squad for the Portuguese's first match in the Old Trafford dugout against Bodo/Glimt.
"Considering Rochdale and United play a similar formation, a similar style, obviously different levels, but it’s the same idea and principles. I’m hoping to bring what I’ve learnt here to United in pre-season, hopefully impress there, go on tour and then hopefully I’m with them every day," Kingdon adds. "But if not, I’ll look for another loan and see what happens, really."
Kingdon was part of the United Under-18 side that swept almost all before them last season. Five of the starters against Chelsea in the Premier League final have made the bench for the first team while Ethan Wheatley and Harry Amass became academy graduates 250 and 253.
Kingdon's unfussy nature and quietness belie his confidence. He has seen Scotland Under 19 teammates receive an invitation to train with the senior squad at Hampden Park. “Being so close to it, the first step is Scotland U21s, playing there, training there, and then catching Steve Clarke’s eye and him saying, ‘I want him next’."
That belief has grown at Rochdale, where his technical proficiency was notable in the recent derby at Oldham Athletic. With two opponents breathing down his neck and Kingdon retreating into his own area, his fleet of foot deceived both as he went one way and they went the other. The Rochdale press officer jokes that if the club had a TikTok account they would have clipped it up.
"I can be [vocal] at times but I just like to lead through my playing," he explains, "that’s how I like to lead the team. I can feel subconsciously that I'm more confident on the ball. Not taking my time, but I’ll spend more time on the ball to drag in the press or beat a player. That's through playing well, doing good things in the game, keeping the ball, winning the ball.”
Before then, there is the prospect of second and third visits to Wembley for Kingdon and the chance to get on the pitch this time. He was in the stands when United won the League Cup in February 2023 and it remains the only time he has been to the UK's biggest stadium.
"Playing at Wembley is all you want to do as a kid. That would be a surreal experience. Even for a Scotland youth international!”
