Carsley chases legacy as England Under-21s target historic Euro treble
Lee Carsley has yet to get his picture on the wall at St George's Park, but the England Under-21s head coach is chasing a far bigger prize: a third consecutive European Championship title, a feat never achieved in the competition's current 16-team format.
Back-to-back title wins have put the Young Lions on the brink of history. England lifted successive trophies in 1982 and 1984 before enduring a 39-year wait, until Carsley's men beat Spain in the final in Georgia and Romania in 2023, and then sealed their title defence with an extra-time victory over Germany in Bratislava last summer, thanks to Jonathan Rowe's strike.
'I want to leave a legacy'
At England's base, framed photographs of every senior England manager line opposite sides of a corridor — from Walter Winterbottom to Sam Allardyce, who was in charge for only one game. Despite winning back-to-back European Championships with the Under-21s, Carsley remains absent, even though he managed the senior side for six games after Gareth Southgate's departure.
Carsley, however, is not concerned with personal accolades as he plots a treble. "The older you get, you want to leave a legacy, don't you?" he said, with England top of Group D and three points clear of Slovakia.
"There would have been an easy move, after the first win, to go and do club management and go and accept a few of the offers. But I enjoy the job I'm doing and I enjoy that I'm part of a bigger quest to win a major tournament. I want to be part of the FA when we do that."
The former Everton and Derby midfielder also insists he welcomes the pressure of attempting something no Young Lions team has done before.
"I think we have to embrace that. They come to play for the under-21s, you're back-to-back champions. There's a bullseye that goes with that. We have to be aware of that and go for it."
"The expectancy, we'll just get through the group and then we'll win the quarters, we'll win the semis and then we'll just win the final... it's very difficult. My priority is definitely qualifying and then that's something I'll think about," he added.
Road to Euro 2027
Winning the tournament three times in a row has only ever been done once before, by Italy in the 1990s — although never in the competition's current guise of 16 teams. Victories against Kazakhstan, at Wolves' Molineux Stadium on Friday, and Slovakia next week will book a spot at Euro 2027 and keep Carsley and his players on course for history.
England started their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win in Kazakhstan last September, although they had not played since beating Moldova in March. They have won six of their seven games, but needed an injury-time Rico Lewis penalty to rescue a 1-1 draw in Andorra in March. The Young Lions host Slovakia in Stoke on 2 October before travelling to Cork to wrap up Group D against Ireland four days later.
A pipeline to the senior side
Like Lewis, there are plenty of recognisable names within the current squad, including Tottenham's Archie Gray and Dortmund's Jobe Bellingham. It is also noteworthy how many of the recent England Under-21 winners have gone on to represent the senior side — particularly the 2023 squad, which featured Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon. Noni Madueke, who featured in this year's World Cup, could not even get in the starting XI, while Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford was also part of the Euro 2023-winning side.
Their triumphs in 2023 and 2025 were not without nervy moments. England only won Group F by a point in Euro 2025 qualifying, needing two late goals by James McAtee to beat Ukraine in their penultimate game to take the race for top spot to the final match. They then beat Azerbaijan 7-0, as Ukraine lost 1-0 to Serbia, to overhaul their rivals and top the group.
'We are a big scalp'
Carsley is refusing to take anything for granted this time around.
"We can't just be arrogant and think, we'll just turn up, we've got better players. We've got to make sure we constantly make these players aware we are a big scalp, this is a chance for them to make a big deal in their own country, so it's important mentally and physically you're ready to challenge."
"It's very difficult to qualify. I've never known an easy qualification process, but sometimes you forget — when you're on the pitch and you've got the trophy in your hands — the journey you've gone on to get there," he said, aware of both the challenge ahead and the lasting impact more success could have.