Why Max Dowman, 15, can play in the FA Cup for Arsenal — but not ...

In November, Salford City’s Marshall Heys became the youngest player to feature in the FA Cup for a professional team when he came on as a substitute against Shrewsbury Town at the age of 15 years, two months and six days.

He was nearly outdone in the same weekend when Notts County’s Kameron Muir was brought on in the 78th minute in their 5-1 win over Alfreton Town in the first round. At 15 years, two months and nine days, the midfielder clocked in as a verifiable pensioner in comparison.

There are 14 other players who have made their FA Cup debut at the age of 15, including Jordon Ibe and John Bostock, but six of those have been this decade and Jermaine Pennant is the only one not to come this century.

The overall record for the FA Cup is held by Paris Hamilton-Downes who was 13 years, 11 months and one day, although this was at non-League Carshalton Athletic in 2019 during the preliminary rounds.

If there is the sense that footballers are becoming younger, well, it is because they are. A number of teenagers could be brought into the matchday squads of clubs in this weekend’s FA Cup third round, particularly the bigger clubs for whom the early rounds are a chance to rotate their team.

Another of those names is Arsenal’s Max Dowman, who would break the record for the FA Cup proper if he was to play any part against Manchester United on Sunday.

In September, the midfielder became the youngest player to score in the UEFA Youth League at the age of 14 years, eight months and 19 days, and last month he became the youngest player to represent Arsenal at under-21 level, a month before he turned 15 on December 31.

It broke a record held by Ethan Nwaneri, and Dowman has already been training with Mikel Arteta’s first team this season.

(David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Nwaneri remains the youngest ever player to play in the Premier League at 15 years, five months and 28 days, but due to a strange inconsistency in the different competition rules Dowman will not be able to play in the Premier League this season despite being eligible to play in the FA Cup.

According to the FA rules, an academy player under the age of 16 can play in the FA Cup, providing they are registered correctly and a letter of consent has been provided to the FA from the player’s parent or guardian and school.

Whereas in the Premier League, no player below the under-16 age group can be named in a matchday squad. It means that a player had to have been 15 years of age by August 31, 2024 to be eligible to play at any stage this season.

The earliest Dowman can debut in the Premier League will be August, by which point he will be several months older than Nwaneri when he made his debut in 2022.

There is another idiosyncrasy in the rules, however. While Dowman could feasibly face Manchester United at the Emirates, he was not old enough to feature in Arsenal’s FA Youth Cup third-round 4-3 win away to Hertford Town under-18s in front of a 1,500 crowd in December.

The FA Youth Cup rules are complicated. In all matches this season where a National League system club is involved (e.g. Arsenal vs Hertford Town in the third round), only players who had turned 15 by midnight on August 31, 2024 would be able to play. So Dowman wasn’t eligible. But for matches involving clubs in the Premier League or English Football League (e.g. Arsenal vs QPR in the fourth round), any players under the age of 18 at midnight on August 31, 2024, are eligible to play. So Dowman can play in that one.

The easing of Arsenal’s first-team injury crisis means it is unlikely that Dowman will be given the experience of being part of the squad for the match against Manchester United this Sunday, but the fact in theory he could despite not being able to in the Premier League, or in FA Youth Cup games against teams outside the top four divisions, is a strange contradiction.

(David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)