2015–16 Professional U21 Development League

The 2015–16 Professional U21 Development League is the fourth season of the Professional Development League system.

League 1

Barclays U21 Premier League

Season	2015–16
Champions	Manchester United U21s (3rd Title) Division 2 Derby County U21s (1st Title)
Promoted	Derby County U21s Arsenal U21s
Relegated	Middlesbrough U21s Norwich City U21s
Matches played	267 (264 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	788 (2.95 per match) (778 RS, 10 PO)
Top goalscorer	Stephy Mavididi Arsenal U21s (13 goals)
Biggest home win	Manchester United U21s 7–0 Norwich City U21s (8 February 2016)
Biggest away win	Leicester City U21s 1–6 Sunderland U21s (2 November 2015) Norwich City U21s 0–5 Middlesbrough U21s (17 November 2015) Liverpool U21s 0–5 Southampton U21s (20 March 2016)
Highest scoring	Tottenham Hotspur U21s 7–4 Leicester City U21s (21 September 2015)
Longest winning run	6 Matches Manchester United U21s
Longest unbeaten run	7 Matches Arsenal U21s, Aston Villa U21s, Swansea City U21s
Longest winless run	19 Matches Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s
Longest losing run	5 Matches Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s
Highest attendance	9,278 Norwich City U21s 0–0 Liverpool U21s (21 December 2015)
Lowest attendance	20 Everton U21s 2–2 Middlesbrough U21s (17 March 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

League 1, referred to as the Barclays Under 21 Premier League for sponsorship reasons, was split into two divisions, with teams allocated places in Division 1 or 2 based on their performance in the 2014–15 season.

At the end of the season, the team which finished top of Division 1 was crowned as overall League 1 champions, and the bottom two teams in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2 for the 2016–17 season.^[1]

Division 1

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester United U21s (C)	22	15	3	4	44	19	+25	48
2	Sunderland U21s	22	13	4	5	38	20	+18	43
3	Everton U21s	22	10	7	5	35	27	+8	37
4	Manchester City EDS	22	10	4	8	35	26	+9	34
5	Chelsea U21s	22	9	6	7	34	30	+4	33
6	Southampton U21s	22	8	6	8	39	40	−1	30
7	Liverpool U21s	22	8	4	10	26	37	−11	28
8	Tottenham Hotspur U21s	22	7	6	9	44	43	+1	27
9	Reading U21s	22	7	6	9	34	40	−6	27
10	Leicester City U21s	22	6	3	13	25	48	−23	21
11	Middlesbrough U21s (R)	22	5	5	12	33	37	−4	20	Relegation to 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2
12	Norwich City U21s (R)	22	5	4	13	30	50	−20	19

Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2016. Source: ^[2][3]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	CHE	EVE	LEI	LIV	MNC	MNU	MID	NOR	REA	SOT	SUN	TOT
Chelsea U21s		0–0	2–1	4–0	0–2	0–1	1–0	5–0	3–3	1–3	1–3	1–3
Everton U21s	2–0		3–1	3–3	1–0	2–0	2–2	3–1	0–2	3–1	1–1	1–1
Leicester City U21s	3–0	1–1		0–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–6	0–3
Liverpool U21s	0–1	1–3	2–1		0–3	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–5	0–2	2–0
Manchester City EDS	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–0		1–0	5–1	1–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–3
Manchester United U21s	1–1	3–1	6–1	1–0	1–0		1–0	7–0	1–0	4–0	1–0	3–1
Middlesbrough U21s	1–3	1–0	4–0	2–3	3–1	1–2		1–1	1–1	1–3	0–1	1–2
Norwich City U21s	2–2	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	2–0	0–5		4–4	7–2	0–2	2–3
Reading U21s	1–3	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–3	1–3	3–2	2–0		2–5	2–1	1–1
Southampton U21s	0–0	0–2	3–1	1–2	2–2	2–1	1–1	3–2	1–1		0–2	1–1
Sunderland U21s	0–0	3–2	0–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	3–2	3–1	2–1	2–2		1–0
Tottenham Hotspur U21s	4–5	4–1	7–4	1–1	2–2	2–3	1–2	1–2	1–4	0–2	3–1

Updated to match(es) played on 29 April 2016. Source: U21 Premier League results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Division 2

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
1	Derby County U21s (P)	22	13	3	6	44	26	+18	42	Promotion to 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 1
2	Arsenal U21s (P)	22	12	4	6	40	25	+15	40	Qualification for Play-offs
3	Swansea City U21s	22	12	3	7	42	24	+18	39
4	Aston Villa U21s	22	11	6	5	28	27	+1	39
5	Blackburn Rovers U21s	22	10	4	8	29	33	−4	34
6	West Bromwich Albion U21s	22	8	9	5	24	20	+4	33	Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2
7	West Ham United U21s	22	9	5	8	37	34	+3	32
8	Stoke City U21s	22	10	2	10	24	24	0	32
9	Fulham U21s	22	8	5	9	26	29	−3	29
10	Newcastle United U21s	22	4	6	12	30	48	−18	18
11	Brighton & Hove Albion U21s	22	2	8	12	17	36	−19	14
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s	22	2	7	13	20	35	−15	13

Updated to match(es) played on 10 May 2016. Source: ^[4]
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	BLB	B&HA	DER	FUL	NEW	STO	SWA	WBA	WHU	WOL
Arsenal U21s		1–2	3–2	4–1	3–2	1–0	3–1	0–1	0–0	1–2	5–0	1–1
Aston Villa U21s	1–0		2–2	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	3–2	1–0
Blackburn Rovers U21s	1–0	2–2		3–0	0–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	4–3	2–1
Brighton & Hove Albion U21s	1–2	1–1	0–1		0–4	3–3	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–0
Derby County U21s	1–2	0–1	3–0	2–2		3–0	6–4	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–0
Fulham U21s	0–3	2–2	3–0	1–0	0–1		0–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–3	0–3
Newcastle United U21s	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–4	1–3	0–3		1–2	1–1	0–0	1–4	2–1
Stoke City U21s	1–3	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–2	3–0		1–2	2–1	2–1	1–0
Swansea City U21s	3–1	5–0	5–0	4–0	2–1	3–0	5–3	2–0		1–2	0–1	3–2
West Bromwich Albion U21s	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–0	3–0		2–1	0–0
West Ham United U21s	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	3–2	0–2	2–2	1–0	1–2	2–1		4–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s	2–3	2–3	2–3	0–0	1–2	0–3	3–1	0–3	1–1	0–0	1–1

Updated to match(es) played on 19 April 2016. Source: U21 Premier League results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Arsenal U21s	2
	5	Blackburn Rovers U21s	1
						2	Arsenal U21s	3
						4	Aston Villa U21s	1
	3	Swansea City U21s	1
	4	Aston Villa U21s	2

Semifinals

Swansea City U21s	1–2	Aston Villa U21s
Gorre 38'		Hale 36' Hepburn-Murphy 53' (pen.)

25 April 2016

13:00

Liberty Stadium, Swansea

Attendance: 988

Referee: Richard Hulme

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Arsenal U21s	2–1	Blackburn Rovers U21s
Willock 49', 80'		Rankin-Costello 64'

3 May 2016

13:00

Emirates Stadium, Holloway

Attendance: 1,106

Referee: Christopher O'Donnell

Final

Arsenal U21s	3–1	Aston Villa U21s
Willock 36' Mavididi 64', 87'	Report	Hepburn-Murphy 10'

10 May 2016

13:00

Emirates Stadium, Holloway

Attendance: 2,357

Referee: Carl Brook

League 2

U21 Professional Development League 2

Season	2015–16
Champions	Huddersfield Town U21s (1st Title)
Matches played	313 (310 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	957 (3.06 per match) (949 RS, 8 PO)
Top goalscorer	Alex Jakubiak Watford U21s (16 Goals)
Biggest home win	Barnsley U21s 6–0 Nottingham Forest U21s (14 December 2015)
Biggest away win	Watford U21s 0–5 Crystal Palace U21s (14 March 2016)
Highest scoring	Queens Park Rangers U21s 5–5 Huddersfield Town U21s (17 August 2015)
Longest winning run	12 Matches Huddersfield Town U21s
Longest unbeaten run	17 Matches Sheffield United U21s
Longest winless run	12 Matches Watford U21s
Longest losing run	6 Matches Bristol City U21s
Highest attendance	4,018 Sheffield United U21s 1–2 Huddersfield Town U21s (14 May 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

League 2, referred to as the U21 Professional Development League 2, is split into two regional divisions.

Teams will play each team in their own division twice, and each team in the other division once, for a total of 30 games for North division teams, and 29 games each for South division teams.

At the end of the season, the teams finishing in the top two positions of both divisions will meet in the knockout stage to determine the overall league champion.

21 Teams competed in the league this season, 2 more than last season. Swansea City U21s left the league after 3 seasons to join the Premier League 2 as a Category One Academy on July 10.^[5] Meanwhile, Bolton Wanderers U21s joined the league after dropping their Academy to Category Two Status in June.^[6] Hull City U21s, and Watford U21s joined the league after obtaining Category Two Academy status with Hull City joining in May,^[7] and on July 3 for Watford.^[8][7]

League stage

North Division table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Huddersfield Town U21s	30	20	5	5	62	33	+29	65	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Sheffield United U21s	30	17	6	7	43	24	+19	57
3	Hull City U21s	30	13	7	10	55	42	+13	46
4	Birmingham City U21s	30	11	6	13	43	39	+4	39
5	Nottingham Forest U21s	30	12	3	15	49	50	−1	39
6	Bolton Wanderers U21s	30	9	10	11	41	45	−4	37
7	Leeds United U21s	30	9	10	11	39	47	−8	37
8	Crewe Alexandra U21s	30	10	6	14	47	55	−8	36
9	Coventry City U21s	30	10	6	14	43	57	−14	36
10	Sheffield Wednesday U21s	30	8	8	14	28	42	−14	32
11	Barnsley U21s	30	9	4	17	41	55	−14	31

Updated to match(es) played on 25 April 2016. Source: ^[9]

South Division table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Charlton Athletic U21s	29	16	9	4	52	29	+23	57	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Millwall U21s	29	15	9	5	45	25	+20	54
3	Cardiff City U21s	29	16	5	8	50	30	+20	53
4	Colchester United U21s	29	16	3	10	45	38	+7	51
5	Crystal Palace U21s	29	11	7	11	55	51	+4	40
6	Queens Park Rangers U21s	29	9	8	12	55	64	−9	35
7	Ipswich Town U21s	29	9	6	14	35	45	−10	33
8	Brentford U21s	29	8	8	13	50	63	−13	32
9	Bristol City U21s	29	9	3	17	38	59	−21	30
10	Watford U21s	29	5	7	17	33	56	−23	22

Updated to match(es) played on 25 April 2016. Source: ^[9]

Results

Home \ Away	BAR	BIR	BOL	BRE	BRI	CAR	CHA	COL	COV	CRE	CPA	HUD	HUL	IPS	LEE	MIL	NOT	QPR	SHE	SHW	WTF
Barnsley U21s		0–4	1–0		2–3				3–0	1–1	0–4	0–1	0–3	1–2	3–3		6–0	1–1	0–0	2–1
Birmingham City U21s	2–0		2–2	1–3		1–2			2–1	1–0		2–1	2–2	3–1	1–2	3–0	1–2		0–0	1–1	2–0
Bolton Wanderers U21s	2–0	1–1			2–1		2–1		1–1	2–2		0–1	0–0		1–2	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	3–2
Brentford U21s	4–2		1–3		2–1	3–2	1–2	1–2		3–3	2–2			1–1	2–2	0–3		0–0	2–3		4–3
Bristol City U21s		3–2		3–0		0–1	2–3	0–2	0–4		2–1	1–4		1–1		0–1	3–1	2–3	2–1	1–2	2–1
Cardiff City U21s	0–2		1–1	3–0	2–0		1–2	3–2		4–0	3–1		1–0	1–0		0–0		3–2	0–4	3–0	2–1
Charlton Athletic U21s	3–0	1–2		2–1	2–2	1–1		3–1	1–1		3–2	1–1		1–1	1–0	1–1		2–0		4–0	2–1
Colchester United U21s	4–1	2–1	1–0	3–1	2–0	0–2	2–1			3–0	2–3		1–0	1–0		1–2	2–0	2–5			0–0
Coventry City U21s	0–1	1–0	4–3	4–2		2–1		4–1		2–0		1–1	3–0		1–2		2–6	3–3	1–2	0–1	2–0
Crewe Alexandra U21s	4–2	4–1	1–1		3–1		0–3		2–0		2–3	0–3	2–1		3–1		0–2		1–1	3–0	5–3
Crystal Palace U21s		1–0	3–3	2–3	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–1			2–3	1–1	2–1	0–0	3–3		1–3	2–0		6–2
Huddersfield Town U21s	3–2	1–0	2–1	4–0		2–1		4–0	6–1	1–1			3–2	1–0	2–2		0–2		1–0	3–1
Hull City U21s	2–3	2–1	3–0	3–1	2–0		1–1		5–0	1–3		3–1			1–1	0–0	2–4		1–1	0–2
Ipswich Town U21s			2–1	1–3	6–1	0–5	2–2	0–3	3–0	4–2	0–1		1–2			0–2	1–1	1–0		1–0	0–2
Leeds United U21s	1–4	0–0	3–3		3–0	1–3		1–1	1–0	0–2		0–2	1–3	1–2			2–1	3–3	2–1	1–0
Millwall U21s	4–2			1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	4–1	1–0	5–1	0–2		3–0	3–1			2–2	1–2		0–0
Nottingham Forest U21s	1–0	3–1	5–1	2–2		2–1	1–3		1–2	3–1	0–1	1–2	2–3		2–0	3–1			1–0	1–1	1–2
Queens Park Rangers U21s		1–4		0–3	4–5	1–0	0–1	0–1		3–1	5–2	5–5	2–6	1–1		0–4	3–1			3–2	2–1
Sheffield United U21s	1–0	2–0	2–0				0–3	0–2	3–0	2–0		2–0	3–1	2–1	1–1		2–0	3–0		1–1
Sheffield Wednesday U21s	1–0	0–2	0–2	2–2				1–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–2		0–2	0–0	2–0		2–0		0–0
Watford U21s	0–2		1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–1			0–5	1–2	1–3	1–2	1–0	0–1		3–3	0–2

Updated to match(es) played on 29 April 2016. Source: U21 League 2 results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Knock-out stage

Semifinals

Charlton Athletic U21s	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Sheffield United U21s
Thomas 34'		Girolamo 61' (pen.), 97'

2 May 2016

13:00

The Valley, Charlton

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Huddersfield Town U21s	2–0	Millwall U21s
Booty 29' Kane 39'	Report

3 May 2016

14:00

PPG Canalside, Huddersfield

Attendance: 160^[10]

Final

Sheffield United U21s	1–2	Huddersfield Town U21s
Whiteman 81'	Report	Boyle 80' Hanson 85'

14 May 2016

13:00

Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Attendance: 4,018

See also

• 2015–16 Professional U18 Development League
• 2015–16 FA Cup
• 2015–16 FA Youth Cup
• 2015–16 Under-21 Premier League Cup
• 2015–16 in English football