2019–20 Professional U23 Development League

The 2019–20 Professional U23 Development League was the eighth season of the Professional Development League system.^[1]

The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic after group stage matches on 12 March 2020, and was originally to restart in June 2020. However, the season was eventually cancelled on 1 May 2020.^[2] The league was decided on a points-per-game system in August 2020 with Chelsea winning the Division 1 title and Wolverhampton Wanderers being relegated. In Division 2, West Ham United and Manchester United were promoted with no promotion play-offs being played.^[3]

Premier League 2

Premier League 2

Season	2019–20
Champions	Chelsea U23s (2nd Title) Division 2 West Ham United U23s (2nd Title)
Promoted	West Ham United U23s Manchester United U23s
Relegated	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s
Matches played	212
Goals scored	748 (3.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nathan Holland West Ham United U23s, Anthony Scully West Ham United U23s (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Reading U23s 6–0 Newcastle United U23s (12 August 2019) West Bromwich Albion U23s 6–0 Sunderland U23s (23 August 2019) Everton U23s 8–2 Southampton U23s (30 August 2019)
Biggest away win	West Bromwich Albion U23s 0–5 Manchester United U23s (9 August 2019)
Highest scoring	Everton U23s 8–2 Southampton U23s
Longest winning run	7 Matches Manchester United U23s West Ham United U23s
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Full season Chelsea U23s West Ham United U23s
Longest winless run	18 matches Full Season Sunderland U23s (12 August 2019 – 1 March 2020)
Longest losing run	17 matches Sunderland U23s (18 August 2019– 1 March 2020)
Highest attendance	5,731 Tottenham Hotspur U23s 3–1 Manchester City U23s (16 August 2019)
Lowest attendance	40 Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s 1–1 Chelsea U23s (23 November 2019)
← 2018–19 2020–21 →

Division 1

Table

^[4]

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea U23s (C)	18	10	8	0	34	20	+14	38
2	Leicester City U23s	18	10	5	3	36	21	+15	35
3	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	18	10	1	7	36	26	+10	31
4	Derby County U23s	18	7	6	5	33	32	+1	27
5	Liverpool U23s	17	7	5	5	34	34	0	26
6	Arsenal U23s	18	6	7	5	32	32	0	25
7	Everton U23s	18	5	7	6	32	33	–1	22
8	Blackburn Rovers U23s	17	6	3	8	27	26	+1	21
9	Manchester City U23s	18	6	3	9	30	29	+1	21
10	Tottenham Hotspur U23s	18	6	3	9	31	34	–3	21
11	Southampton U23s	18	4	3	11	23	47	–24	15
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s (R)	18	2	5	11	21	35	–14	11

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	BLA	B&H	CHE	DER	EVE	LEI	LIV	MNC	SOU	TOT	WOL
Arsenal U23s		3–1	2–1	1–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–4	1–0	–	–
Blackburn Rovers U23s	1–3		1–2	–	2–0	–	3–1	–	0–3	2–2	4–0	1–2
Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	1–0	3–5		–	1–2	1–2	0–1	3–5	2–1	–	4–1	2–0
Chelsea U23s	3–1	2–1	2–1		3–3	1–0	–	3–0	2–1	–	2–2	–
Derby County U23s	2–2	1–0	1–4	0–1		4–1	–	–	2–0	4–2	2–2	2–2
Everton U23s	3–3	2–1	–	2–2	2–1		0–0	–	2–2	8–2	1–3	3–2
Leicester City U23s	–	1–1	0–3	2–2	4–1	2–1		2–2	–	3–0	3–2	5–1
Liverpool U23s	3–0	0–0	–	1–1	3–3	2–1	–		1–4	5–0	0–4	4–3
Manchester City EDS	1–1	–	0–1	2–2	–	4–1	0–2	1–0		3–4	2–0	1–2
Southampton U23s	–	1–3	1–4	0–2	0–1	–	1–3	2–4	2–0		–	1–0
Tottenham Hotspur U23s	1–3	–	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	4–0	3–1	2–2		3–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	–	0–0	0–2	1–2	–	1–2	1–2

Source: Premier League 2 Division 1 results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Division 2

Table

^[5]

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	West Ham United U23s (P)	18	14	4	0	58	21	+37	46
2	Manchester United U23s (P)	17	14	1	2	45	17	+28	43
3	West Bromwich Albion U23s	16	11	1	4	38	22	+16	34
4	Stoke City U23s	18	8	3	7	32	27	+5	27
5	Middlesbrough U23s	18	8	2	8	34	43	–9	26
6	Newcastle United U23s	18	8	1	9	29	32	–3	25
7	Aston Villa U23s	17	6	4	7	27	28	–1	22
8	Swansea City U23s	17	6	3	8	22	32	–10	21
9	Reading U23s	18	6	2	10	35	37	–2	20
10	Fulham U23s	18	6	2	10	26	32	–6	20
11	Norwich City U23s	17	5	2	10	23	35	–12	17
12	Sunderland U23s	18	0	1	17	10	53	–43	1

Results

Home \ Away	AST	FUL	MNU	MID	NEW	NOR	REA	STK	SUN	SWA	WBA	WHU
Aston Villa U23s		1–0	4–1	5–3	3–2	1–1	1–3	–	4–0	1–1	0–1	–
Fulham U23s	2–0		–	2–4	1–2	–	5–4	0–2	4–0	1–1	1–3	3–3
Manchester United U23s	–	1–0		–	2–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	3–0	–	3–1	2–2
Middlesbrough U23s	1–0	1–0	1–4		0–2	3–4	2–1	0–2	–	3–2	–	3–4
Newcastle United U23s	–	3–0	0–4	2–2		3–2	0–1	4–2	2–0	0–1	–	1–2
Norwich City U23s	2–1	1–2	1–2	2–2	–		–	0–2	3–1	0–1	2–4	1–4
Reading U23s	3–3	–	1–4	0–1	6–0	0–1		0–4	–	5–0	2–1	3–3
Stoke City U23s	2–0	0–1	2–3	2–3	–	–	3–0		1–1	0–1	2–2	0–4
Sunderland U23s	1–2	0–3	–	2–3	0–2	1–2	0–4	0–1		–	0–4	2–4
Swansea City U23s	1–1	–	1–4	5–1	0–4	2–1	–	3–4	1–0		0–1	2–4
West Bromwich Albion U23s	–	3–1	0–5	4–1	2–1	–	4–2	–	6–0	2–0		–
West Ham United U23s	4–0	3–0	2–0	–	4–0	4–0	3–0	2–2	4–2	–	2–0

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

Professional Development League

U23 Professional Development League

Season	2019–20
Champions	Nottingham Forest U23s (North Division) Millwall U23s (South Division)
Matches played	227
Goals scored	751 (3.31 per match)
Top goalscorer	Sam Dalby Watford U23s (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Leeds United U23s 6–0 Watford U23s (16 September 2019) Birmingham City U23s 6–0 Bolton Wanderers U23s (1 November 2019) Nottingham Forest U23s 6–0 Bolton Wanderers U23s (22 November 2019)
Biggest away win	Bristol City U23s 1–6 Watford U23s (6 January 2020) Bolton Wanderers U23s 0–5 Nottingham Forest U23s (9 March 2020)
Highest scoring	Ipswich Town U23s 6–3 Bolton Wanderers U23s (9 October 2019)
Longest winning run	5 Matches Leeds United U23s
Longest unbeaten run	16 Matches Burnley U23s
Longest winless run	16 Matches Bolton Wanderers U23s
Longest losing run	13 Matches Bolton Wanderers U23s
← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The 2019–20 Professional Development League season was the eighth campaign of post-EPPP under-23 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category Two status. A total of 21 teams were 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. The teams that finished in the top two places in both regions at the end of the season were supposed to advance to the knockout stage to determine the overall league champion, but the season was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. Leeds United U23s were the defending champions.

21 Teams competed in the league this season, 1 more than last season. Wigan Athletic U23s acquired Category Two status in July 2019 and joined the North Division this season after a six year absence.

Tables

Final league positions were determined by points per game methodology due to season curtailment.

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nottingham Forest U23s (C)	21	14	5	2	53	21	+32	47	North Champions
2	Burnley U23s	21	11	8	2	41	21	+20	41
3	Leeds United U23s	20	11	6	3	40	18	+22	39
4	Wigan Athletic U23s	21	12	3	6	38	28	+10	39
5	Birmingham City U23s	22	11	4	7	39	26	+13	37
6	Hull City U23s	20	10	2	8	33	35	−2	32
7	Crewe Alexandra U23s	23	9	3	11	36	39	−3	30
8	Barnsley U23s	23	8	3	12	37	44	−7	27
9	Sheffield Wednesday U23s	22	6	6	10	36	40	−4	24
10	Sheffield United U23s	25	5	5	15	32	48	−16	20
11	Bolton Wanderers U23s	22	1	1	20	16	74	−58	4

Source: premierleague.com
(C) Champions

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Millwall U23s (C)	21	11	5	5	35	22	+13	38	South Champions
2	Watford U23s	23	12	5	6	52	37	+15	41
3	Coventry City U23s	22	11	6	5	33	28	+5	39
4	Charlton Athletic U23s	21	9	6	6	41	33	+8	33
5	Cardiff City U23s	23	9	5	9	33	38	−5	32
6	Queens Park Rangers U23s	21	7	8	6	40	35	+5	29
7	Bristol City U23s	21	7	4	10	29	39	−10	25
8	Ipswich Town U23s	20	6	5	9	31	36	−5	23
9	Crystal Palace U23s	21	4	4	13	27	38	−11	16
10	Colchester United U23s	21	4	4	13	29	51	−22	16

Source: premierleague.com
(C) Champions

See also

• 2019–20 in English football