as a result of his form for watford during the 2005–06 season, in february 2006 young earned a call-up to peter taylor's england under-21 league squad to face an italian serie b squad alongside teammate chris eagles. young started alongside eagles in the 1–0 win, playing the first half. his continued form into the 2006–07 season earned him a first england under-21 call-up to face switzerland in september 2006. young played the last 15 minutes of the match as england scored a late goal to win 3–2, topping their group, and reaching a play-off for a place in the 2007 uefa european under-21 championship. at the finals, young played three times. he took part in the semi-final penalty shoot-out against hosts netherlands, scoring twice in the shoot-out as england lost 13–12. from 2006 to 2007, he earned 10 caps for the under-21s.