2018–19 Professional U23 Development League

The 2018–19 Professional U23 Development League was the seventh season of the Professional Development League system.^[1]

Premier League 2

Premier League 2

Season	2018–19
Champions	Division 1 Everton U23s Division 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s
Promoted	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s Southampton U23s
Relegated	West Ham United U23s Swansea City U23s
Matches played	267 (264 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	839 (3.14 per match) (830 RS, 9 PO)
Top goalscorer	Adam Idah Norwich City U23s (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s 7–0 Sunderland U23s (24 September 2018)
Biggest away win	Leicester City U23s 0–6 Liverpool U23s (14 April 2019)
Highest scoring	Manchester City U23s 6–5 Arsenal U23s (11 August 2018)
Longest winning run	4 Matches Arsenal U23s
Longest unbeaten run	9 Matches Arsenal U23s
Longest winless run	11 matches Sunderland U23s
Longest losing run	7 Matches Sunderland U23s
Highest attendance	4,362 Liverpool U23s 0–2 Everton U23s (4 March 2019)
Lowest attendance	19 West Bromwich Albion U23s 2–0 Reading U23s (27 August 2018) West Bromwich Albion U23s 0–4 Norwich City U23s (8 December 2018)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Division 1

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Everton U23s (C)	22	12	5	5	31	14	+17	41
2	Arsenal U23s	22	10	7	5	48	36	+12	37
3	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	22	9	8	5	37	27	+10	35
4	Liverpool U23s	22	9	7	6	38	27	+11	34
5	Blackburn Rovers U23s	22	9	4	9	38	37	+1	31
6	Chelsea U23s	22	9	4	9	34	33	+1	31
7	Derby County U23s	22	9	3	10	29	34	−5	30
8	Manchester City U23s	22	9	3	10	38	48	−10	30
9	Tottenham Hotspur U23s	22	7	7	8	26	38	−12	28
10	Leicester City U23s	22	8	3	11	24	33	−9	27
11	West Ham United U23s (R)	22	8	2	12	41	43	−2	26
12	Swansea City U23s (R)	22	3	7	12	28	42	−14	16

Updated to match(es) played on 3 May 2019. Source: ^[2][3]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	BLA	B&H	CHE	DER	EVE	LEI	LIV	MNC	SWA	TOT	WHU
Arsenal U23s		0–4	1–1	4–5	5–0	0–0	3–0	4–0	5–1	2–2	2–1	1–0
Blackburn Rovers U23s	0–0		2–2	0–3	1–3	0–3	7–1	2–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3
Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	2–2	2–1		1–2	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	5–0	2–2	2–0	2–1
Chelsea U23s	1–3	0–1	2–3		0–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	0–2	1–1	3–2
Derby County U23s	5–0	2–2	1–0	0–1		1–0	0–2	1–3	0–1	1–5	1–0	2–2
Everton U23s	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–0		1–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	6–0	2–1
Leicester City U23s	1–2	4–1	2–2	2–1	0–1	1–0		0–6	0–0	1–0	1–2	3–0
Liverpool U23s	4–1	1–2	1–1	3–2	2–3	0–2	3–1		1–1	3–0	1–1	1–2
Manchester City U23s	6–5	3–0	0–1	1–4	3–2	4–3	1–0	1–1		3–1	1–2	1–5
Swansea City U23s	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–3	1–1	1–4		1–2	0–3
Tottenham Hotspur U23s	0–4	0–3	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–4		1–3
West Ham United U23s	2–3	1–3	2–4	1–2	0–2	2–1	1–0	0–1	4–6	5–3	1–1

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
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s (P)	22	13	4	5	45	22	+23	43
2	Southampton U23s (P)	22	13	4	5	37	21	+16	43
3	Reading U23s	22	12	4	6	45	33	+12	40
4	Newcastle United U23s	22	13	1	8	46	37	+9	40
5	Aston Villa U23s	22	11	4	7	35	30	+5	37
6	Manchester United U23s	22	8	6	8	33	31	+2	30
7	Stoke City U23s	22	7	7	8	42	37	+5	28
8	Middlesbrough U23s	22	6	8	8	32	36	−4	26
9	West Bromwich Albion U23s	22	5	9	8	33	38	−5	24
10	Fulham U23s	22	5	7	10	26	34	−8	22
11	Norwich City U23s	22	5	4	13	30	52	−22	19
12	Sunderland U23s	22	2	6	14	14	47	−33	12

Updated to match(es) played on 13 May 2019. Source: ^[4]
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	AST	FUL	MNU	MID	NEW	NOR	REA	SOT	STK	SUN	WBA	WOL
Aston Villa U23s		2–1	5–1	1–1	2–5	2–0	4–5	2–1	0–3	1–0	0–0	1–0
Fulham U23s	0–1		2–2	2–2	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–3	1–0
Manchester United U23s	3–1	1–3		2–0	1–4	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	2–3
Middlesbrough U23s	1–2	4–3	0–2		0–1	2–1	2–3	1–2	2–2	0–0	2–2	0–0
Newcastle United U23s	0–3	5–2	0–5	1–3		2–1	2–4	0–1	3–2	5–0	4–2	2–0
Norwich City U23s	2–1	0–4	0–1	2–3	2–1		3–2	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–6	1–3
Reading U23s	3–2	3–0	0–1	2–2	0–2	4–3		2–0	2–1	4–1	0–0	2–2
Southampton U23s	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	4–1	1–2		2–0	5–1	1–0	3–2
Stoke City U23s	3–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–3	7–2	2–1	1–4		0–0	4–1	2–2
Sunderland U23s	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–3	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–2		2–1	0–1
West Bromwich Albion U23s	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	3–2	3–1		2–4
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–2	3–1	2–1	7–0	4–1

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

Play-offs

	Semi-finals					Final
	2	Southampton U23s	2
	5	Aston Villa U23s	0
						2	Southampton U23s	2
						4	Newcastle United U23s	1
	3	Reading U23s	2 (2)
	4	Newcastle United U23s	2 (3)

Semifinals

Reading U23s	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Newcastle United U23s
Howe 60' Holsgrove 108'		Roberts 76' Watts 120+2'
Penalties
Holsgrove McIntyre Liddle Holmes Frost	2–3	Bailey Watts Longstaff Sangare Sterry

3 May 2019

13:00

Select Car Leasing Stadium, Reading

Attendance: 378

Referee: Alan Dale

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Southampton U23s	2–0	Aston Villa U23s
Smallbone 7' O'Connor 71'	Report

3 May 2019

13:00

St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton

Attendance: 623

Referee: Richard Hulme

Final

Southampton U23s	2–1	Newcastle United U23s
Nlundulu 39' Johnson 54'	Report	Bailey 81'

13 May 2019

13:00

St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton

Attendance: 1,552

Referee: Sam Purkiss

Professional Development League

U23 Professional Development League

Season	2018–19
Champions	Leeds United U23s
Matches played	283 (280 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	898 (3.17 per match) (890 RS, 8 PO)
Top goalscorer	Dan Agyei Burnley U23s (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Ipswich Town U23s 8–0 Hull City U23s (20 August 2018)
Biggest away win	Watford U23s 2–6 Queens Park Rangers U23s (29 October 2018)
Highest scoring	Burnley U23s 3–6 Leeds United U23s (11 December 2018) Coventry City U23s 6–3 Crystal Palace U23s (14 December 2018) Queens Park Rangers U23s 3–6 Charlton Athletic U23s (4 February 2019)
Longest winning run	5 Matches Crewe Alexandra U23s
Longest unbeaten run	12 Matches Ipswich Town U23s
Longest winless run	11 Matches Hull City U23s
Longest losing run	6 Matches Watford U23s
Highest attendance	7,818 Leeds United U23s 0–0 Birmingham City U23s (6 May 2019)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The Professional Development League season is the seventh campaign of post-EPPP Under-23 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. A total of 20 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 28 games. 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. Bolton Wanderers U23s are the defending champions. 20 Teams competed in the league this season, 1 fewer than last season. Huddersfield Town U23s dropped out of the league at the end of the 2017-18 campaign after 6 seasons as part of their academy restructuring process.

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Leeds United U23s	28	17	6	5	59	31	+28	57	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Birmingham City U23s	28	14	6	8	47	25	+22	48
3	Crewe Alexandra U23s	28	13	8	7	46	37	+9	47
4	Burnley U23s	28	14	3	11	61	48	+13	45
5	Nottingham Forest U23s	28	12	7	9	53	42	+11	43
6	Bolton Wanderers U23s	28	13	4	11	39	42	−3	43
7	Barnsley U23s	28	10	9	9	36	44	−8	39
8	Sheffield Wednesday U23s	28	11	5	12	35	46	−11	38
9	Sheffield United U23s	28	9	9	10	35	41	−6	36
10	Hull City U23s	28	5	6	17	30	57	−27	21

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ipswich Town U23s	28	15	7	6	67	38	+29	52	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Coventry City U23s	28	13	6	9	49	38	+11	45
3	Crystal Palace U23s	28	12	6	10	55	49	+6	42
4	Charlton Athletic U23s	28	11	7	10	44	41	+3	40
5	Bristol City U23s	28	11	5	12	45	49	−4	38
6	Millwall U23s	28	10	7	11	32	31	+1	37
7	Cardiff City U23s	28	8	8	12	41	43	−2	32
8	Queens Park Rangers U23s	28	8	7	13	54	61	−7	31
9	Watford U23s	28	6	6	16	32	50	−18	24
10	Colchester United U23s	28	6	2	20	30	77	−47	20

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

Leeds United U23s	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Coventry City U23s
Gotts 4' Edmondson 84' Temenuzhkov 114'		Bremang 59' Eccles 90+3'

29 April 2019

19:00

Elland Road, Beeston

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Ipswich Town U23s	0–3	Birmingham City U23s
		O'Keeffe 2' George 25' Hurst 90+4'

30 April 2019

19:00

Portman Road, Ipswich

Final

Leeds United U23s	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Birmingham City U23s
	Report
Penalties
Bogusz Struijk Edmondson Temenuzhkov Clarke	4–2	McCoy Bajrami Redmond Boyd-Munce

6 May 2019

19:00

Elland Road, Beeston

Attendance: 7,818

See also

• 2018–19 in English football