2017–18 Professional U23 Development League

The 2017–18 Professional U23 Development League was the sixth season of the Professional Development League system.

Premier League 2

Premier League 2

Season	2017–18
Champions	Arsenal U23s (1st Title) Division 2 Blackburn Rovers U23s (1st Title)
Promoted	Blackburn Rovers U23s Brighton & Hove Albion U23s
Relegated	Sunderland U23s Manchester United U23s
Matches played	267 (264 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	951 (3.56 per match) (939 RS, 12 PO)
Top goalscorer	Lukas Nmecha Manchester City U23s (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Aston Villa U23s 6–0 Newcastle United U23s (30 October 2017)
Biggest away win	Sunderland U23s 0–5 Chelsea U23s (14 January 2018) Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s 0–5 Brighton & Hove Albion U23s (23 April 2018) Tottenham Hotspur U23s 0–5 Manchester City U23s (2 May 2018)
Highest scoring	Reading U23s 3–5 Blackburn Rovers U23s (18 August 2017) Southampton U23s 6–2 Newcastle United U23s (16 October 2017)
Longest winning run	6 Matches Liverpool U23s
Longest unbeaten run	11 Matches Leicester City U23s
Longest winless run	9 Matches West Bromwich Albion U23s
Longest losing run	7 Matches Newcastle United U23s
Highest attendance	5,049 Liverpool U23s 1–2 Manchester United U23s (9 March 2018)
Lowest attendance	15 West Bromwich Albion U23s 1–1 Stoke City U23s (12 March 2018)
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Division 1

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal U23s (C)	22	13	3	6	48	32	+16	42
2	Liverpool U23s	22	13	1	8	43	27	+16	40
3	Leicester City U23s	22	11	6	5	36	20	+16	39
4	Swansea City U23s	22	11	4	7	40	31	+9	37
5	West Ham United U23s	22	9	4	9	30	32	−2	31
6	Manchester City U23s	22	8	6	8	41	31	+10	30
7	Everton U23s	22	9	3	10	32	36	−4	30
8	Chelsea U23s	22	8	5	9	34	35	−1	29
9	Tottenham Hotspur U23s	22	7	5	10	38	48	−10	26
10	Derby County U23s	22	7	3	12	32	44	−12	24
11	Sunderland U23s (R)	22	6	4	12	19	39	−20	22
12	Manchester United U23s (R)	22	4	8	10	22	40	−18	20

Updated to match(es) played on 13 May 2018. Source: ^[1]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	CHE	DER	EVE	LEI	LIV	MNC	MNU	SUN	SWA	TOT	WHU
Arsenal U23s		3–1	3–3	4–0	1–0	1–2	4–3	4–0	2–0	1–0	1–3	3–0
Chelsea U23s	2–2		2–0	0–3	1–0	1–3	3–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–2	0–0
Derby County U23s	2–3	0–3		0–1	0–2	2–0	0–4	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–0	1–0
Everton U23s	4–2	2–1	1–3		0–1	1–3	3–4	0–0	0–1	2–0	4–1	0–4
Leicester City U23s	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–1		4–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	2–0	6–1	3–1
Liverpool U23s	1–1	5–1	1–0	4–0	1–2		1–0	1–2	3–0	1–3	4–2	0–1
Manchester City U23s	0–1	0–0	4–1	0–3	2–2	3–2		1–1	2–2	0–1	4–2	0–1
Manchester United U23s	0–2	0–4	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	1–1		4–0	1–1	1–3	0–3
Sunderland U23s	1–3	0–5	2–1	2–1	4–1	1–4	0–2	0–1		0–2	2–1	1–2
Swansea City U23s	3–1	2–0	5–2	1–2	3–1	0–2	1–3	2–0	1–0		2–2	3–0
Tottenham Hotspur U23s	3–2	2–3	4–2	1–2	1–1	1–0	0–5	3–0	0–0	2–2		2–3
West Ham United U23s	1–3	0–1	1–5	0–0	0–0	0–2	2–1	4–2	0–1	5–2	2–2

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	Blackburn Rovers U23s (P)	22	15	4	3	47	20	+27	49	Promotion to Division 1
2	Aston Villa U23s	22	14	1	7	51	29	+22	43	Qualification for Play-offs
3	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s (P)	22	11	7	4	46	25	+21	40
4	Middlesbrough U23s	22	11	4	7	41	36	+5	37
5	Reading U23s	22	10	4	8	38	44	−6	34
6	Southampton U23s	22	10	3	9	41	37	+4	33
7	Fulham U23s	22	9	3	10	38	37	+1	30
8	Norwich City U23s	22	8	6	8	32	33	−1	30
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	22	8	4	10	30	41	−11	28
10	Newcastle United U23s	22	6	3	13	29	45	−16	21
11	Stoke City U23s	22	6	2	14	31	46	−15	20
12	West Bromwich Albion U23s	22	2	3	17	21	52	−31	9

Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2018. Source: ^[2]
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BLB	B&H	FUL	MID	NEW	NOR	REA	SOT	STO	WBA	WOL
Aston Villa U23s		0–3	1–0	1–3	4–0	6–0	0–1	3–1	4–0	1–2	3–1	6–1
Blackburn Rovers U23s	0–1		0–2	4–0	1–3	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	5–1
Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	3–0	2–2		4–2	2–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	5–1	5–1	1–1
Fulham U23s	2–3	0–1	1–1		1–2	3–0	2–0	2–2	0–2	2–1	3–0	0–3
Middlesbrough U23s	4–1	3–3	0–3	0–2		1–0	4–0	3–4	3–3	2–1	2–1	3–1
Newcastle United U23s	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–1		2–2	4–1	1–5	0–2	2–0	0–1
Norwich City U23s	1–2	1–1	1–2	0–3	1–0	4–3		2–0	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–1
Reading U23s	3–2	3–5	2–1	2–1	2–3	1–4	2–2		1–1	3–1	2–0	0–0
Southampton U23s	1–4	0–1	0–1	3–4	2–1	6–2	2–1	4–0		3–0	3–2	2–4
Stoke City U23s	1–3	0–1	2–3	4–1	3–2	3–4	1–3	2–3	0–2		4–2	1–0
West Bromwich Albion U23s	1–4	1–4	5–1	2–1	0–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–1	1–1		1–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	0–2	0–3	0–5	1–4	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–2	3–0	1–1	2–0

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

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Aston Villa U23s	4
	5	Reading U23s	3
						2	Aston Villa U23s	0
						3	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	2
	3	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	3
	4	Middlesbrough U23s	0

Semifinals

Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	3–0	Middlesbrough U23s
Gyökeres 71', 80' Bjørdal 78'	Report

27 April 2018

AMEX Stadium, Falmer

Attendance: 640

Referee: David Rock

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Aston Villa U23s	4–3	Reading U23s
Hepburn-Murphy 62', 90+4' Suliman 64' Blackett-Taylor 79'	Report	Osho 61' McIntyre 75' Howe 81'

1 May 2018

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 1,044

Referee: Joseph Johnson

Final

Aston Villa U23s	0–2	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s
	Report	Bjørdal 23' Connolly 69'

12 May 2018

7:00

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 1,869

Referee: Conor Farrell

Professional Development League

U23 Professional Development League

Season	2017–18
Champions	Bolton Wanderers U23s (1st Title)
Matches played	313 (310 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	1,020 (3.26 per match) (1012 RS, 8 PO)
Top goalscorer	Connor Hall Bolton Wanderers U23s (22 Goals)
Biggest home win	Ipswich Town U23s 6–0 Coventry City U23s (18 December 2017)
Biggest away win	Burnley U23s 0–5 Birmingham City U23s (15 February 2018) Nottingham Forest U23s 0–5 Sheffield United U23s (23 February 2018) Cardiff City U23s 0–5 Nottingham Forest U23s (23 April 2018)
Highest scoring	Bristol City U23s 5–5 Watford U23s (6 February 2018)
Longest winning run	5 Matches Crystal Palace U23s
Longest unbeaten run	10 Matches Nottingham Forest U23s
Longest winless run	9 Matches Bristol City U23s
Longest losing run	5 Matches Burnley U23s
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The Professional Development League is the sixth campaign of post-EPPP Under-23 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. A total of 21 teams are 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 for a total of 30 games each in the North Division, and 29 games in the South division.

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. Burnley U23s were officially granted Category Two status in the summer of 2017 and became the league's 21st team.

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bolton Wanderers U23s	30	16	3	11	50	44	+6	51	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Nottingham Forest U23s	30	13	11	6	65	50	+15	50
3	Sheffield Wednesday U23s	30	14	8	8	48	39	+9	50
4	Sheffield United U23s	30	14	3	13	50	43	+7	45
5	Hull City U23s	30	14	3	13	47	57	−10	45
6	Leeds United U23s	30	13	5	12	50	46	+4	44
7	Huddersfield Town U23s	30	12	5	13	49	53	−4	41
8	Birmingham City U23s	30	10	8	12	46	42	+4	38
9	Crewe Alexandra U23s	30	10	5	15	38	53	−15	35
10	Burnley U23s	30	10	4	16	33	54	−21	34
11	Barnsley U23s	30	9	6	15	49	55	−6	33

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Crystal Palace U23s	29	19	3	7	67	31	+36	60	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Charlton Athletic U23s	29	14	6	9	51	39	+12	48
3	Ipswich Town U23s	29	13	5	11	61	49	+12	44
4	Watford U23s	29	11	8	10	56	44	+12	41
5	Coventry City U23s	29	11	6	12	54	60	−6	39
6	Queens Park Rangers U23s	29	11	5	13	54	59	−5	38
7	Colchester United U23s	29	10	7	12	39	48	−9	37
8	Millwall U23s	29	9	10	10	28	38	−10	37
9	Cardiff City U23s	29	10	5	14	38	51	−13	35
10	Bristol City U23s	29	5	8	16	39	57	−18	23

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

Bolton Wanderers U23s	3–1	Charlton Athletic U23s
King 15' Politic 41' Edwards 76'	Report	Hackett-Fairchild 65'

1 May 2018

19:00

Macron Stadium, Horwich

Attendance: 329

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Crystal Palace U23s	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Nottingham Forest U23s
		Gomis 93'

1 May 2018

19:00

Selhurst Park, Selhurst

Final

Nottingham Forest U23s	1–2	Bolton Wanderers U23s
Preston 77'	Report	Duke-McKenna 6' Politic 44'

4 May 2018

19:00

City Ground, West Bridgford

Attendance: 1,200

Referee: Scott Simpson

See also

• 2017–18 Professional U18 Development League
• 2017–18 Premier League Cup
• 2017–18 in English football