England

England are second only to Spain when it comes to qualifying for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship; this is their seventh appearance in the nine seasons, six of them under current manager John Peacock. They have only made the final once and fell in the group stage in Germany last year, but this season's squad looks formidable − goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, Louis Laing, Luke Garbutt and Benik Afobe all have experience of the tournament from 12 months ago. They were the only team to win all their qualifiers.

Qualifying round: Kazakhstan 6-2, Azerbaijan 4-0, Serbia 1-0 (Group 1 winners)

Elite round: Sweden 4-0, Malta 5-0, Slovakia 2-0 (Group 7 winners)

Key players
Luke Garbutt (defender, Everton), Benik Afobe (forward, Arsenal FC), Connor Wickham (forward, Ipswich Town FC)

Coach: John Peacock

Date of Birth: 27 March 1956
Nationality: English
Playing career: Scunthorpe United FC
Coaching career: England U16, Derby County FC (academy), England U17/U20

Previously a player with Scunthorpe before injury ended his career aged 24 in 1980, John Peacock qualified as a coach three years later and spent eight years at the Football Association (FA) in a variety of roles, including with the England Under-16 team. In 1998 he took charge of Derby's academy, and in four years where the scheme massively expanded in size produced nine first-team players and 14 youth internationals. It was appropriate that he was then appointed by the FA to be the England U17 coach in 2002, later landing the U20 role. Since 2007 Peacock has also been the FA's head of coaching and is among a very small number of Englishmen to hold the FA Academy Directors' Licence and UEFA Pro Licence.

He is a believer in a holistic approach, interested in educational and welfare provision for young players as well as improving their footballing ability − while at Derby his brightest charges studied for the UK's A-level exams (for 18-year-olds) at the prestigious Repton public school. As England U17 coach, his first two European Championships produced two semi-final appearances and his team qualified again in 2004/05, when he also took up the role of national U20 manager. In 2006/07 England reached the European U17 final for the first time, losing 1-0 to Spain, and competed in their first FIFA U-17 World Cup, making the last eight. Now Peacock has led England to the European U17 finals for the sixth time in eight seasons.

Team facts

Qualifying top scorer
Benik Afobe: 4

UEFA European Under-17 Championship best
Runners-up 2007

Honours in UEFA youth competitions
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Runners-up 2005, 2009
UEFA European Under-18 Championship
Winners 1993
International Youth Tournament (U18)
Winners 1948, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1980
Runners-up 1958, 1965, 1967