Action! Cut… Action! Cut… Action! Cut…Try as they did, no one could keep their face straight long enough to get the shot. Certainly not the teenage twins hiding underneath the conveyor belt.Tyler and Jack Fletcher, the two sons of former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher, were cast to play jack-in-the-box roles in an advert fronted by Scott McTominay.As fellow Adidas-sponsored athletes also playing for Manchester United at the time, their almost-but-not-quite identical features made the brothers natural choices. The acting? Less so.The Fletchers were to jump from out of nowhere, either side of McTominay, shouting ‘GOOOOOOAL’ after he had scanned through a pair of Predator boots.
Those on set that day cannot recall the number of takes required. All they remember were the involuntary laughs that kept breaking the silence.That was in early 2024 when McTominay was a utility player at Manchester United and the Fletchers were 16, having just crossed the Manchester divide from City to United.‘Unexpected item in the bagging area’ was the strap line of the Adidas advert. Two-and-a-half years later, Tyler Fletcher would be forgiven for thinking that is the name of the film set he is on.In the space of a week, the 19-year-old has gone from the relative obscurity of academy football, off the radar of most Tartan Army foot soldiers, to a Scotland debut and a place on the plane to North America in what is Scotland’s first World Cup appearance in 28 years.There is a running joke inside Manchester United’s academy with those close to Darren Fletcher, now under-18 head coach.A father to twins, one of whom plays for England and the other Scotland, one who supports the red side of the city and the other blue? He must have failed as a parent.“It’s quite the opposite in reality. They are a wonderful family,” says Nick Cox, Everton technical director, who was Manchester United academy director until last year and instrumental in bringing the twins to Old Trafford alongside first-team coach Travis Binnion.“Tyler is a really self-assured, quiet but headstrong boy. He knows his own mind and takes his own route to get where he wants to get to. He doesn’t follow the crowd and doesn’t follow his brother and isn’t phased by living up to his dad’s reputation.”It must have been difficult to build an identity when being subjected to comparisons whichever direction he turns.The Fletcher twins both play for Manchester United (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)Cox continues: “They’re both wonderful players. Jack has always been deemed to be ahead of Tyler by many, although Tyler would tell you he was quietly confident and happy making slow, steady progress week by week.“Tyler came in to some real form at the end of last season but this season was when it really became clear he was on a trajectory that could see him impact the first team.“It’s been an incredible season for the family. Darren as caretaker manager and both boys making debuts. I’m pleased for them all.”Some believe that Tyler’s rapid ascension to the Scotland senior squad and a World Cup spot could be the persuasive tonic needed for his brother Jack to follow suit, given the likelihood of a full England international career is going to take far longer to realise, if at all. Switch and it could be both Fletchers playing for Scotland at the next World Cup in 2030.Multiple sources close to the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, say that the Scottish FA invested similar time into trying to convince Jack that his international ambitions would be best served with Scotland. As it stands, he remains committed to England.The brothers met on opposite sides for the first time in November’s under-19 match between the Auld Enemies. Tyler captained Scotland but Jack came on to score the final goal for England in a 4-0 thrashing.But while Jack awaits a breakthrough into the England under-21 set-up, it is Tyler who is in Miami eyeing a berth in Scotland’s midfield against Haiti in their World Cup opener.It was not so long ago that both brothers were together in the England set-up.In 2023, they were part of only the seventh English team to win the prestigious under-16 Montaigu tournament, beating Japan in the final of what was its 50th anniversary edition.Around 6,000 people congregate to observe the talent on display, with tournament alumni that includes Didier Deschamps, Pavel Nedved, Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe.In attendance was their grandfather Bobby, who raised the family in Mayfield, a former mining village south of Edinburgh. Both had played a few times for Scotland at under-16 level but were settled for their mother’s nation — the one they grew up in.“Seeing them both together at the end in the kit with their grandad was a really special moment,” their national team coach at the time, Greg Lincoln, tells The Athletic.“Darren has captained Scotland but he was first class how he dealt with it and so supportive.”Tyler Fletcher made impressive progress last season (George Wood/Getty Images)Jack had started every game while Tyler had been an unused sub in the previous two rounds. At half-time in the final, however, Tyler replaced his brother.“It is hard to describe but they both have slightly different mannerisms on the pitch,” laughs Lincoln, now head of coaching and personal development at West Ham.“Tyler’s always been a very intelligent footballer with a good range of passing. He saw things before they happened. Played in the future.”Fletcher’s missed penalty in the final shootout victory proved to be his final kick in an England shirt.The English FA are proactive in securing dual-nationality players as early as possible after missing out on Michael Olise to France and Jamal Musiala to Germany. However, despite their efforts, Tyler declared for Scotland at under-17 level while his brother remained.“We wanted both of them to commit to us. We pride ourselves at the FA on a fantastic coaching programme and games programme,” says Lincoln.“Darren was supportive and let them decide. Of course there was disappointment. He enjoyed his time with us but you have to respect his decision.“What an experience the past week will have been for him. It’s every child’s dream to play at a World Cup.”The presence of the twins at City’s academy, where they had been for nine years, was a little awkward given Darren Fletcher’s stature as a United player who played 342 times for the Old Trafford club.It was not surprising that United were interested in coaxing them to the red side of Manchester. Players could not be signed on name alone. The Fletchers were certainly good enough. A deal worth a combined £1.25million was struck, with central defender Harrison Parker going in the other direction.Although they both moved, there was accepted to have been a gap at that age. While Jack was establishing himself as one of the most exciting prospects, Tyler was in his shadow, somewhere in the peloton.Injury niggles and a disruptive growth spurt initially tampered with his co-ordination after joining from Manchester City in 2023.“You could see his body was going through a lot of changes,” says one coach familiar with his progress, speaking anonymously to protect relationships.“You could see the potential and the last 18 months he has really kicked on. A lot of that is to do with his physical development. He is moving a lot better and has played a big number of games in the last two years.”In the last 18 months, he has made improvements in his ability to screen and intercept, while improving his mobility around the pitch. On the ball, he is becoming more natural at receiving on the back foot, playing on the half-turn.Tyler Fletcher comes on for Kobbie Mainoo. Could he play alongside him next season? (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)He developed to the extent that he won this season’s under-21 player of the year award and made the first-team bench 13 times. His debut came in February against Tottenham, marking the first time that a set of twins and their father had all played in the English top flight.“He’s tall and leggy. In terms of long-term athletic potential, you can see what he’s going to look like in his early twenties. He is going to be a unit,” says another coach who has worked with him, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships.“You can definitely see his dad in him in terms of being able to get around the pitch.”While you might expect the players to be subject to claims of nepotism, there is none of that around Carrington. Staff and players see just two regular talents. If anything, it is felt that the pair work even harder to avoid any suspicion of favouritism.Fletcher senior is part of the furniture now, a custodian of the traditional Manchester United shaped by Sir Alex Ferguson. His sons are seen as living embodiments of those values of humility and hard work.Of all the youth players at Carrington, it is Tyler Fletcher and Shea Lacey who have been most regularly training with Michael Carrick’s first-team squad. So much so that Fletcher spends more time training with Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo than he does with the Under-21’s.He is now firmly regarded as a high-potential player at Old Trafford and will be part of the pre-season squad for the tour of Scandinavia in July. With Casemiro exiting, there is the opportunity for Fletcher to carve out a role as a squad option.The presence of his former youth coach Travis Binnion on the first-team staff is felt to have aided his transition, flipping the narrative that he is the silver medalist of the brothers.“I’ve always disagreed,” says a coach who closely witnessed their rise throughout the game, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships.“They’re two totally different players and if you look at pro footballers, it’s the end game. It’s harder to come through as a No 10 with the level of talent around rather than a defensive midfielder.”Tyler would probably say Jack is the one with the more talent, but the one who is more all-round for what managers want is probably Tyler.“You’d never say to sign him first out of all the players on the team-sheet but he reminds me of an under-appreciated player like James Milner. There’s no cheat codes to being a footballer.”It speaks volumes that Fletcher has forced his way onto the World Cup-bound plane as the replacement for Billy Gilmour.Having only made his under-21 bow in March, he was one of three young outfielders, along with Dundee’s Luke Graham and Spurs forward James Wilson, drafted in by Steve Clarke to pad out the training squad while he awaited the late arrival of some senior players. That was the extent of the invitation.After Billy Gilmour injured his knee in the first-half of last month’s friendly against Curacao, there was surprise when Fletcher emerged at half-time. A 19-year-old with only 17 minutes’ experience of senior football, who was only there to make up the numbers?He surprised everyone, including the coaching staff, by how comfortable he was at the level. Norwich midfielder Kenny McLean said he could tell after one session that he had “something special”.The World Cup, though, surely requires a certain degree of battle readiness. There were players already on standby, having already been disappointed once by not making the 26-man squad.Lennon Miller, who played 26 times for Serie A club Udinese this season, Andy Irving, who played 25 times for Sparta Prague and West Ham, and Connor Barron, who played 37 times for Rangers.“Tyler joined us this week and trained well this week, so is a little bit closer than the other three,” said Clarke.Closer in a geographical and logistical sense, given they were flying out to Miami at noon the next day? Or closer in a ‘he’s leapfrogged established internationals’ way?As the other three players sat waiting for the phone to ring the next morning, it was becoming clear it was the latter. Clarke did speak to all three to explain his decision, but, as he knows from missing out on a place in Andy Roxburgh’s 22-man squad for the 1990 World Cup in Italy despite being in the preliminary group, it is a brutal call to make.For Fletcher, it vindicated his decision to switch allegiance from England, just like his co-star McTominay.
