2016–17 Professional U23 Development League

The 2016–17 Professional U23 Development League was the fifth season of the Professional Development League system, and the first since the age limit was raised from under-21 to under-23.

League 1

Premier League 2

Season	2016–17
Champions	Division 1 Everton U23s (1st Title) Division 2 Swansea City U23s (1st Title)
Promoted	Swansea City U23s West Ham United U23s
Relegated	Reading U23s Southampton U23s
Matches played	267 (264 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	813 (3.04 per match) (805 RS, 8 PO)
Top goalscorer	Donovan Wilson Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s (13 goals)
Biggest home win	Leicester City U23s 5–0 Derby County U23s (18 November 2016)
Biggest away win	Arsenal U23s 0–5 Everton U23s (19 September 2016)
Highest scoring	Reading U23s 3–6 Everton U23s (17 October 2016)
Longest winning run	9 Matches Swansea City U23s
Longest unbeaten run	10 Matches Manchester City EDS
Longest winless run	12 Matches Middlesbrough U23s
Longest losing run	6 Matches Middlesbrough U23s
Highest attendance	17,525 Everton U23s 1–2 Liverpool U23s (8 May 2017)
Lowest attendance	52 Stoke City U23s 2–4 Aston Villa U23s (26 November 2016)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Premier League 2 (previously the Under 21 Premier League) was the fifth season of the competition since its introduction in 2012, and the first since being changed from an under-21 league to under-23.

The league was split into two divisions, with teams allocated places in Division 1 or 2 based on their performance in the 2015–16 season.

At the end of the season, the team which finished top of Division 1 was crowned as overall champions, and the bottom two teams in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2 for the 2017–18 season.

Division 1

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	Everton U23s (C)	22	15	3	4	48	21	+27	48
2	Manchester City EDS	22	13	6	3	54	33	+21	45
3	Liverpool U23s	22	13	4	5	47	27	+20	43
4	Arsenal U23s	22	10	3	9	40	32	+8	33
5	Chelsea U23s	22	7	9	6	40	32	+8	30
6	Manchester United U23s	22	6	8	8	29	38	−9	26
7	Sunderland U23s	22	6	7	9	27	37	−10	25
8	Derby County U23s	22	6	6	10	31	42	−11	24
9	Leicester City U23s	22	5	8	9	31	42	−11	23
10	Tottenham Hotspur U23s	22	6	4	12	33	44	−11	22
11	Reading U23s (R)	22	6	4	12	36	56	−20	22	Relegation to Division 2
12	Southampton U23s (R)	22	5	6	11	28	40	−12	21

Updated to match(es) played on 15 May 2017. Source: ^[1]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	CHE	DER	EVE	LEI	LIV	MNC	MNU	REA	SOT	SUN	TOT
Arsenal U23s		4–1	2–1	0–5	3–0	1–3	3–3	2–2	0–2	0–0	4–0	2–0
Chelsea U23s	1–2		2–2	2–2	0–0	4–1	3–4	3–1	2–0	3–2	3–0	3–1
Derby County U23s	1–3	2–1		2–3	0–0	0–0	2–3	5–3	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–2
Everton U23s	1–0	1–1	2–0		4–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	2–0	0–1	4–1
Leicester City U23s	2–1	0–4	5–0	1–4		1–3	3–3	0–0	3–2	0–2	2–3	2–0
Liverpool U23s	3–2	2–0	1–2	2–0	4–0		3–2	0–1	2–0	1–4	3–0	3–2
Manchester City EDS	1–0	2–2	4–1	3–0	1–1	1–0		1–1	2–1	4–2	4–1	2–2
Manchester United U23s	1–0	1–1	3–2	1–3	1–0	1–1	1–3		0–2	3–3	0–2	3–2
Reading U23s	2–5	2–1	3–3	3–6	2–2	1–5	3–2	2–2		4–2	3–2	1–4
Southampton U23s	1–3	0–0	0–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–3	2–0	3–1		0–2	1–0
Sunderland U23s	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–1	2–2	0–0	2–4	1–3	1–1	3–0		2–2
Tottenham Hotspur U23s	0–2	2–2	2–0	0–2	1–4	2–6	1–2	1–1	4–0	3–1	1–0

Source: Premier League 2 Division 1 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	Swansea City U23s (P)	22	17	1	4	43	22	+21	52	Promotion to Division 1
2	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	22	12	5	5	42	30	+12	41	Qualification for Play-offs
3	Newcastle United U23s	22	11	4	7	34	30	+4	37
4	Fulham U23s	22	10	3	9	39	33	+6	33
5	West Ham United U23s (P)	22	9	6	7	32	26	+6	33
6	Blackburn Rovers U23s	22	9	5	8	24	28	−4	32
7	Aston Villa U23s	22	8	6	8	34	32	+2	30
8	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	22	7	7	8	20	22	−2	28
9	West Bromwich Albion U23s	22	6	4	12	25	33	−8	22
10	Middlesbrough U23s	22	5	6	11	25	34	−9	21
11	Stoke City U23s	22	4	8	10	25	36	−11	20
12	Norwich City U23s	22	4	5	13	18	35	−17	17

Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 2017. Source: ^[2]
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BLB	B&H	FUL	MID	NEW	NOR	STO	SWA	WBA	WHU	WOL
Aston Villa U23s		4–0	2–0	3–3	0–0	4–0	1–2	0–2	1–2	2–5	2–0	0–1
Blackburn Rovers U23s	0–0		2–0	3–2	0–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	3–2
Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	1–1	0–0		1–0	4–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	2–1
Fulham U23s	3–0	1–0	4–0		1–0	2–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	4–1	1–4
Middlesbrough U23s	1–2	4–1	0–0	1–4		0–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–1	0–1	0–1
Newcastle United U23s	4–2	1–2	1–0	3–1	2–0		1–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–0	0–0
Norwich City U23s	0–1	1–3	0–0	2–2	1–2	0–3		0–1	0–2	2–1	0–2	0–1
Stoke City U23s	2–4	0–1	1–1	1–2	3–1	2–3	1–1		1–4	2–1	0–3	1–1
Swansea City U23s	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	3–2	3–1	2–0	2–1		1–0	2–0	2–2
West Bromwich Albion U23s	3–3	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–1		0–4	0–1
West Ham United U23s	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–3	3–1	2–1	1–1	2–3	2–1		2–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	1–2	3–0	2–1	4–3	2–1	4–1	3–1	1–1	3–4	3–1	0–4

Source: Premier League 2 Division 2 results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	1
	5	West Ham United U23s	2
						3	Newcastle United U23s	1
						5	West Ham United U23s	2
	3	Newcastle United U23s	2
	4	Fulham U23s	0

Semifinals

Newcastle United U23s	2–0	Fulham U23s
Holmes 6' Findlay 35'	Report

8 May 2017

13:00

St. James' Park, Newcastle

Attendance: 437

Referee: Thomas Bramall

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Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	1–2	West Ham United U23s
Deslandes 25'	Report	Hector-Ingram 80' Samuelsen 90+1'

8 May 2017

13:00

Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton

Attendance: 772

Referee: Joseph Johnson

Final

Newcastle United U23s	1–2	West Ham United U23s
Heardman 19'	Report	Martínez 43', 54'

16 May 2017

13:00

St. James' Park, Newcastle

Attendance: 1,824

Referee: Tom Nield

League 2

U23 Professional Development League

Season	2016–17
Champions	Sheffield Wednesday U23s (1st Title)
Matches played	283 (280 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	933 (3.3 per match) (920 RS, 13 PO)
Top goalscorer	George Hirst Sheffield Wednesday U23s (16 Goals)
Biggest home win	Ipswich Town U23s 8–0 Watford U23s (6 February 2017)
Biggest away win	Colchester United U23s 1–7 Queens Park Rangers U23s (17 April 2017)
Highest scoring	Charlton Athletic U23s 7–2 Coventry City U23s (5 September 2016) Sheffield United U23s 6–3 Nottingham Forest U23s (19 December 2016)
Longest winning run	6 Matches Sheffield Wednesday U23s
Longest unbeaten run	12 Matches Charlton Athletic U23s
Longest winless run	14 Matches Leeds United U23s
Longest losing run	5 Matches Crystal Palace U23s Leeds United U23s Millwall U23s
Highest attendance	2,745 Sheffield Wednesday U23s 3–1 Hull City U23s (12 May 2017)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The Professional U23 Development League 2, also known as U23 PDL-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 28 games each.

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. 20 Teams competed this season, 1 fewer than last time. Brentford withdrawing at the end of last season after they closed their academy meant Coventry City moved to the south division for an even distribution of 10 teams per division.

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sheffield Wednesday U23s	28	15	5	8	43	28	+15	50	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Hull City U23s	28	15	3	10	51	42	+9	48
3	Bolton Wanderers U23s	28	13	7	8	53	42	+11	46
4	Birmingham City U23s	28	13	7	8	47	39	+8	46
5	Crewe Alexandra U23s	28	13	7	8	53	46	+7	46
6	Huddersfield Town U23s	28	13	5	10	54	42	+12	44
7	Sheffield United U23s	28	12	6	10	49	43	+6	42
8	Nottingham Forest U23s	28	10	5	13	43	39	+4	35
9	Barnsley U23s	28	9	4	15	35	50	−15	31
10	Leeds United U23s	28	6	6	16	33	52	−19	24

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Charlton Athletic U23s	28	15	8	5	53	26	+27	53	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Millwall U23s	28	12	6	10	47	33	+14	42
3	Cardiff City U23s	28	10	8	10	46	44	+2	38
4	Coventry City U23s	28	11	5	12	50	58	−8	38
5	Bristol City U23s	28	10	6	12	45	49	−4	36
6	Queens Park Rangers U23s	28	11	3	14	51	63	−12	36
7	Ipswich Town U23s	28	11	2	15	57	54	+3	35
8	Colchester United U23s	28	8	9	11	42	56	−14	33
9	Watford U23s	28	9	5	14	42	65	−23	32
10	Crystal Palace U23s	28	8	5	15	26	49	−23	29

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

Sheffield Wednesday U23s	2–1	Millwall U23s
Hirst		Philpot

8 May 2017

19:00

Hillsborough, Sheffield

Attendance: 1,059

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Charlton Athletic U23s	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Hull City U23s
Hanlan 103' Ahearne-Grant 105' Charles-Cook 109'	Report	Bowen 94' Ter Horst 102' Edwards 120'
Penalties
Charles-Cook Doughty Hackett-Fairchild Lapslie Ahearne-Grant	4–5	McKenzie Bowen Edwards Olley Clackstone

8 May 2017

19:00

The Valley, Charlton

Attendance: 290

Referee: P Kelly

Final

Sheffield Wednesday U23s	3–1	Hull City U23s
Hirst 9', 25' Williams 65'		McKenzie 41' (pen.)

12 May 2017

19:00

Hillsborough, Sheffield

Attendance: 2,745

See also

• 2016–17 Professional U18 Development League
• 2016–17 Premier League Cup
• 2016–17 in English football