2020–21 Professional U18 Development League

Football League Youth Alliance
Season	2020-21
Champions	North-East Division ; Notts County U18s; North-West Division ; Fleetwood Town U18s; South-East Division ; Peterborough United U18s; South-West Division ; Oxford United U18s; Merit League One; Plymouth Argyle U18s; Merit League Two; Southend United U18s; Merit League Three'; AFC Bournemouth U18s
Matches played	555
Goals scored	2,116 (3.81 per match)
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →

U18 Professional Development League 2
Season	2020–21
Champions	Wigan Athletic U18s
Matches played	228; (225 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	927 (4.07 per match); (917 RS, 10 PO)
Top goalscorer	Tom Costello (20 goals)
Longest winless run	9 matches Queens Park Rangers U18s
Longest losing run	9 matches Queens Park Rangers U18s
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →

U18 Premier League
Season	2020–21
Champions	Manchester City U18s (2nd Title)
Matches played	313
Goals scored	1,301 (4.16 per match)
Top goalscorer	Charlie McNeill (24 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea U18s 8–1 Leicester City U18s; (7 November 2020); Manchester United U18s 8–1 Middlesbrough U18s; (8 May 2021)
Biggest away win	Leicester City U18s 0–8 Fulham U18s; (1 May 2021)
Highest scoring	Southampton U18s 8–2 Leicester City U18s; (17 October 2020); Aston Villa U18s 6–4 West Bromwich Albion U18s; (20 April 2021); Southampton U18s 6–4 Reading U18s; (8 May 2021)
Longest winning run	9 matches Fulham U18s
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches Manchester City U18s
Longest winless run	16 matches Southampton U18s
Longest losing run	8 matches Reading U18s
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →

U18 Premier League

The 2020–21 Professional U18 Development League was the ninth season of the Professional Development League system. A total of 26 teams are split regionally into north and south leagues. Teams face their regional opponents both home and away before the top two face each other to determine the national champion. This results in 24 games played by both teams this season. Burnley U18s,^[1] Crystal Palace U18s^[2] and Leeds United U18s^[3] joined the U18 Premier League for the 2020–21 season after gaining category one status academies. Prior to the start of the season Swansea City left the league after downgrading their academy to category two.^[4]

North

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City U18s (C, Q)	24	19	4	1	76	19	+57	61	Qualification for the National Final
2	Manchester United U18s	24	20	0	4	79	27	+52	60
3	Liverpool U18s	24	17	1	6	75	26	+49	52
4	Middlesbrough U18s	24	12	3	9	48	48	0	39
5	Everton U18s	24	11	2	11	42	42	0	35
6	Blackburn Rovers U18s	24	10	3	11	37	43	−6	33
7	Derby County U18s	24	10	3	11	43	54	−11	33
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s	24	10	3	11	38	50	−12	33
9	Burnley U18s	24	8	4	12	34	38	−4	28
10	Newcastle United U18s	24	7	3	14	50	57	−7	24
11	Stoke City U18s	24	6	5	13	28	61	−33	23
12	Leeds United U18s	24	4	3	17	30	73	−43	15
13	Sunderland U18s	24	4	2	18	35	77	−42	14

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Premier League Under 18 Table
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Fulham U18s (C, Q)	24	18	2	4	78	25	+53	56	Qualification for the National Final
2	Crystal Palace U18s	24	18	2	4	67	32	+35	56
3	Brighton & Hove Albion U18s	24	14	3	7	63	40	+23	45
4	Arsenal U18s	24	12	4	8	52	45	+7	40
5	Aston Villa U18s	24	11	5	8	45	52	−7	38
6	Tottenham Hotspur U18s	24	10	7	7	52	37	+15	37
7	Chelsea U18s	24	11	3	10	57	43	+14	36
8	West Bromwich Albion U18s	24	9	3	12	51	62	−11	30
9	Norwich City U18s	24	9	2	13	58	58	0	29
10	West Ham United U18s	24	6	7	11	35	57	−22	25
11	Reading U18s	24	5	4	15	51	83	−32	19
12	Leicester City U18s	24	4	6	14	38	73	−35	18
13	Southampton U18s	24	3	4	17	35	75	−40	13

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Premier League Under 18 Table
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

National Final

22 May 2021

8:00

Manchester City U18s	3–1	Fulham U18s
Edozie 3' Forbs 7' Bobb 45+2'	Report	Pajaziti 49' (pen.)

Academy Stadium, Manchester

Referee: Jordan Crossley

Professional Development League 2

The 2020-21 Under-18 League 2, or Under-18s Professional Development League 2 as it is sometimes referred to, is the seventh campaign of post-EPPP Under-18 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. The league is split regionally into north and south divisions, with each team facing opponents in their own region twice both home and away and opponents in the other region once home OR away. This results in 25 games being played in the North Division, and South Division. The sides finishing in the top two positions in both regions at the end of the season will progress to a knockout stage to determine the overall league champion. Wigan Athletic U18s and Millwall U18s are the defending regional champions. Swansea City U18s^[4] dropped down to Category Two status in August 2020 and will join the South division this season.

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wigan Athletic U18s	25	17	4	4	68	38	+30	55	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Birmingham City U18s	25	16	4	5	67	44	+23	52	Qualification for Knock-out stage
3	Sheffield United U18s	25	15	5	5	63	36	+27	50
4	Sheffield Wednesday U18s	25	12	6	7	48	30	+18	42
5	Barnsley U18s	25	12	6	7	46	34	+12	42
6	Crewe Alexandra U18s	25	10	4	11	50	47	+3	34
7	Hull City U18s	25	10	3	12	46	58	−12	33
8	Coventry City U18s	25	9	3	13	50	46	+4	30
9	Nottingham Forest U18s	25	9	3	13	45	56	−11	30

Source: [1]

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Charlton Athletic U18s	25	16	3	6	65	34	+31	51	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Ipswich Town U18s	25	13	2	10	53	54	−1	41	Qualification for Knock-out stage
3	Watford U18s	25	9	5	11	40	46	−6	32
4	Millwall U18s	25	9	4	12	56	58	−2	31
5	Cardiff City U18s	25	10	1	14	54	58	−4	31
6	Bristol City U18s	25	9	2	14	44	53	−9	29
7	Colchester United U18s	25	9	1	15	52	64	−12	28
8	Swansea City U18s	25	5	7	13	37	73	−36	22
9	Queens Park Rangers U18s	25	3	1	21	33	88	−55	10

Source: [2]

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

15 May 2021

Wigan Athletic U18s	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Ipswich Town U18s
Costello 2' McHugh 107' (pen.)	Report	Buabo 49'

Christopher Park, Wigan

15 May 2021

Charlton Athletic U18s	3–2	Birmingham City U18s
Henry 9' Burstow 71', 90+1'	Report	Wakefield 85', 88'

The Valley, London

Professional Development League Two Play-Off Final

21 May 2021

Charlton Athletic U18s	0–2	Wigan Athletic U18s
	Report	Fulton 7' Brown 74'

The Valley, London

Attendance: 592

EFL Youth Alliance

The EFL Youth Alliance is run by the Football League under the auspices of the Football League Youth Alliance. 45 teams competed this season, 2 teams fewer than the previous season. Barnet U18s did not participate as they lost their EPPP license,^[5] alongside Chesterfield U18s, and Hartlepool United U18s. For clubs that get relegated to the National League, they have two years to gain promotion back to the EFL. Otherwise, they lose their license with the League. Bolton Wanderers U18s would join the league this year as their academy was Category 3.

League stage

As of match played 15 May 2021^[6]

North-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Notts County U18s (C)	22	15	2	5	53	32	+21	47
2	Scunthorpe United U18s	22	13	1	8	52	47	+5	40
3	Grimsby Town U18s	22	10	6	6	32	24	+8	36
4	Mansfield Town U18s	22	11	1	10	34	30	+4	34
5	Burton Albion U18s	22	10	3	9	36	40	−4	33
6	Rotherham United U18s	22	10	2	10	46	41	+5	32
7	Doncaster Rovers U18s	22	8	2	12	38	40	−2	26
8	Lincoln City U18s	22	8	2	12	36	38	−2	26
9	Bradford City U18s	22	8	1	13	38	50	−12	25
10	Huddersfield Town U18s	22	7	0	15	32	55	−23	21

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

North-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Fleetwood Town U18s (C)	26	19	1	6	62	36	+26	58
2	Rochdale U18s	26	17	3	6	64	29	+35	54
3	Carlisle United U18s	26	17	3	6	55	27	+28	54
4	Blackpool U18s	26	15	4	7	59	43	+16	49
5	Preston North End U18s	26	14	3	9	73	51	+22	45
6	Bolton Wanderers U18s	26	13	5	8	55	43	+12	44
7	Shrewsbury Town U18s	26	11	5	10	42	45	−3	38
8	Salford City U18s	26	10	1	15	46	59	−13	31
9	Walsall U18s	26	9	4	13	31	56	−25	31
10	Morecambe U18s	26	8	5	13	32	49	−17	29
11	Tranmere Rovers U18s	26	7	5	14	38	51	−13	26
12	Accrington Stanley U18s	26	6	6	14	41	57	−16	24
13	Oldham Athletic U18s	26	6	3	17	41	59	−18	21
14	Port Vale U18s	26	4	4	18	36	70	−34	16

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Peterborough United U18s (C)	18	11	4	3	39	16	+23	37
2	Cambridge United U18s	18	10	2	6	37	27	+10	32
3	Luton Town U18s	18	8	6	4	39	25	+14	30
4	Southend United U18s	18	9	3	6	35	25	+10	30
5	Northampton Town U18s	18	8	5	5	32	20	+12	29
6	Gillingham U18s	18	7	5	6	26	27	−1	26
7	AFC Wimbledon U18s	18	6	4	8	27	34	−7	22
8	Milton Keynes Dons U18s	18	5	2	11	26	45	−19	17
9	Stevenage U18s	18	3	6	9	27	45	−18	15
10	Leyton Orient U18s	18	2	5	11	23	47	−24	11

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Oxford United U18s (C)	20	15	2	3	58	24	+34	47
2	AFC Bournemouth U18s	20	13	3	4	62	27	+35	42
3	Exeter City U18s	20	10	4	6	43	36	+7	34
4	Portsmouth U18s	20	9	5	6	49	40	+9	32
5	Forest Green Rovers U18s	20	8	5	7	54	48	+6	29
6	Plymouth Argyle U18s	20	8	4	8	51	40	+11	28
7	Swindon Town U18s	20	6	4	10	33	43	−10	22
8	Bristol Rovers U18s	20	6	4	10	32	45	−13	22
9	Newport County U18s	20	5	5	10	35	44	−9	20
10	Cheltenham Town U18s	20	5	3	12	29	65	−36	18
11	Yeovil Town U18s	20	4	3	13	35	69	−34	15

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Merit League Stage

The teams in the Southeast and Southwest Divisions played another ten games to determine the champions of Merit League One and Merit League Two and for this season only Merit League 3 as all three leagues would only contain 7 teams. Due to Covid, the Three Merit Leagues were regionalized for this season only.

Merit League One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Plymouth Argyle U18s (C)	6	3	2	1	11	4	+7	11
2	Exeter City U18s	6	3	1	2	13	9	+4	10
3	Forest Green Rovers U18s	6	3	1	2	11	13	−2	10
4	Cheltenham Town U18s	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	8
5	Bristol Rovers U18s	6	2	1	3	6	8	−2	7
6	Yeovil Town U18s	6	1	3	2	10	14	−4	6
7	Newport County U18s	6	1	2	3	9	12	−3	5

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Merit League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Southend United U18s (C)	6	4	1	1	15	10	+5	13
2	Northampton Town U18s	6	3	1	2	20	14	+6	10
3	Luton Town U18s	6	3	0	3	11	14	−3	9
4	Cambridge United U18s	6	2	2	2	17	13	+4	8
5	Stevenage U18s	6	2	2	2	13	14	−1	8
6	Peterborough United U18s	6	2	0	4	9	9	0	6
7	Milton Keynes Dons U18s	6	1	2	3	8	19	−11	5

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Merit League Three

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	AFC Bournemouth U18s (C)	6	4	1	1	10	7	+3	13
2	Portsmouth U18s	6	4	0	2	20	8	+12	12
3	Oxford United U18s	6	2	2	2	14	12	+2	8
4	Swindon Town U18s	6	2	2	2	15	14	+1	8
5	Leyton Orient U18s	6	2	1	3	12	15	−3	7
6	AFC Wimbledon U18s	6	2	1	3	12	19	−7	7
7	Gillingham U18s	6	1	1	4	7	15	−8	4

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

References

^ "Clarets Academy granted Category 1 status by the Premier League". Burnley Express. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^ "Category 1 Academy status approved". Crystal Palace FC. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^ "LEEDS UNITED ACADEMY AWARDED CATEGORY ONE STATUS". Leeds United. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Swansea City's academy blow and what the future holds as pathway that brought through glut of stars is downgraded". Wales Online. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
^ "Academy structure set to change". Barnet F.C.
^ "Football League Youth Alliance". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 October 2024.

[1] "Clarets Academy granted Category 1 status by the Premier League". Burnley Express. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

[2] "Category 1 Academy status approved". Crystal Palace FC. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

[3] "LEEDS UNITED ACADEMY AWARDED CATEGORY ONE STATUS". Leeds United. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

[auto-4] "Swansea City's academy blow and what the future holds as pathway that brought through glut of stars is downgraded". Wales Online. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.

[5] "Academy structure set to change". Barnet F.C.

[6] "Football League Youth Alliance". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 October 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Professional Development League
U21/U23	2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
U18	2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

U18 Premier League

North

South

National Final

Professional Development League 2

Tables

North Division

South Division

Knock-out stage

EFL Youth Alliance

League stage

North-East Division

North-West Division

South-East Division

South-West Division

Merit League Stage

Merit League One

Merit League Two

Merit League Three

See also

References