2020–21 Professional U23 Development League

The 2020–21 Professional U23 Development League was the ninth season of the Professional Development League system.

Burnley U23s,^[1] Crystal Palace U23s^[2] and Leeds United U23s^[3] joined the Premier League 2 for the 2020–21 season after gaining category one status academies. Prior to the start of the season Swansea City left the league after downgrading their academy to category two.^[4]

Premier League 2

Premier League 2

Season	2020–21
Champions	Division 1 Manchester City U23s (1st Title) Division 2 Leeds United U23s (1st Title)
Promoted	Leeds United U23s Crystal Palace U23s
Relegated	Southampton U23s
Matches played	341 (338 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	1,134 (3.33 per match) (1,127 RS, 7 PO)
Top goalscorer	Liam Delap Manchester City U23s (24 goals)
Biggest home win	Crystal Palace U23s 6–0 Reading U23s (9 November 2020) Leeds United U23s 7–1 Fulham U23s (21 December 2020) Manchester City U23s 7–1 Southampton U23s (15 March 2021) Leicester City U23s 7–1 Southampton U23s (19 April 2021)
Biggest away win	Sunderland U23s 0–6 Middlesbrough U23s (19 October 2020) Blackburn Rovers U23s 0–6 Manchester United U23s (6 November 2020)
Highest scoring	Manchester United U23s 6–4 Blackburn Rovers U23s (5 February 2021)
Longest winning run	9 Matches Leeds United U23s
Longest unbeaten run	18 Matches Manchester City U23s
Longest winless run	10 Matches Southampton U23s
Longest losing run	8 Matches Southampton U23s
Highest attendance	3,000 Crystal Palace U23s 0–0 Sunderland U23s (24 May 2021) Play Off Final
Lowest attendance	0 Most matches were behind closed doors due to covid
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Division 1

Table

As of match played 10 May 2021^[5]

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City U23s (C)	24	17	5	2	79	30	+49	56
2	Chelsea U23s	24	12	6	6	50	36	+14	42
3	Tottenham Hotspur U23s	24	11	5	8	45	44	+1	38
4	Blackburn Rovers U23s	24	10	7	7	48	41	+7	37
5	Everton U23s	24	10	6	8	44	28	+16	36
6	Derby County U23s	24	11	3	10	43	49	–6	36
7	Liverpool U23s	24	10	5	9	48	50	–2	35
8	Manchester United U23s	24	10	4	10	58	59	–1	34
9	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	24	7	9	8	36	42	–6	30
10	Arsenal U23s	24	6	8	10	37	43	–6	26
11	West Ham United U23s	24	6	6	12	32	48	–16	24
12	Leicester City U23s	24	6	4	14	41	55	–14	22
13	Southampton U23s (R)	24	4	4	16	29	65	–36	16

Results

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

Updated to match(es) played on 3 May 2021. Source: Premier League 2 Division 1 results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Division 2

Table

As of match played 10 May 2021^[6]

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Leeds United U23s (P)	24	18	2	4	62	29	+33	56
2	Stoke City U23s	24	14	3	7	41	30	+11	45
3	Crystal Palace U23s (P)	24	11	3	10	45	41	+4	36
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	24	10	6	8	40	36	+4	36
5	Sunderland U23s	24	10	5	9	42	41	+1	35
6	Middlesbrough U23s	24	10	4	10	44	35	+9	34
7	Burnley U23s	24	10	4	10	38	41	–3	34
8	Reading U23s	24	10	2	12	41	54	–13	32
9	Aston Villa U23s	24	9	4	11	46	48	-2	31
10	Fulham U23s	24	9	3	12	38	46	–8	30
11	Norwich City U23s	24	7	4	13	32	40	–8	25
12	West Bromwich Albion U23s	24	7	4	13	37	49	–12	25
13	Newcastle United U23s	24	7	4	13	31	47	–16	25

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BUR	CRY	FUL	LEE	MID	NEW	NOR	REA	STK	SUN	WBA	WOL
Aston Villa U23s		2–3	4–4	2–3	1–2	1–1	1–1	3–0	1–2	3–4	0–2	2–1	4–0
Burnley U23s	2–2		0–1	2–1	1–4	3–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–2	3–2	3–1	0–0
Crystal Palace U23s	0–1	1–0		2–3	2–0	3–2	3–0	4–0	6–0	2–2	1–2	3–3	2–1
Fulham U23s	4–1	1–4	5–2		1–1	3–1	2–2	0–2	0–3	1–2	2–0	1–0	0–2
Leeds United U23s	3–2	5–2	4–1	7–1		1–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–2
Middlesbrough U23s	4–1	3–0	0–1	1–0	2–4		2–1	0–3	2–3	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–1
Newcastle United U23s	1–2	0–2	2–0	2–1	4–3	2–2		0–2	1–2	3–2	0–4	3–2	0–3
Norwich City U23s	2–3	0–0	3–0	0–0	0–2	1–3	0–1		3–0	2–1	2–3	2–2	1–2
Reading U23s	3–1	0–2	2–1	0–4	3–2	2–4	3–2	1–3		1–3	0–2	5–2	5–0
Stoke City U23s	0–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	4–1		0–0	4–3	3–1
Sunderland U23s	2–3	3–0	3–4	5–3	1–3	0–6	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–1		2–3	2–1
West Bromwich Albion U23s	3–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–5	0–1	1–0	3–2	1–1	0–1	3–1		2–4
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	1–3	3–2	2–0	3–0	0–2	1–4	4–0	3–0	2–2	3–0	0–0	1–1

Updated to match(es) played on 16 April 2021. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Play-offs

	Semi-finals					Final
	2	Stoke City U23s	0
	5	Sunderland U23s	2
						3	Crystal Palace U23s	0 (5)(p)
						5	Sunderland U23s	0 (3)
	3	Crystal Palace U23s	3
	4	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	2

Semifinals

Crystal Palace U23s	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s
Street 7' Rich-Baghuelou 36' Omilabu 100'	Report	Corbeanu 47', 75'

17 May 2021

13:00

Selhurst Park, Selhurst

Attendance: 1,031

Referee: Lewis Smith

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Stoke City U23s	0–2	Sunderland U23s
	Report	Hawkes 56' Younger 65'

17 May 2021

13:00

Bet365 Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent

Attendance: 1,481

Referee: Martin Woods

Final

Crystal Palace U23s	0–0	Sunderland U23s
Penalties
Street Hannam Boateng Gordon Omilabu	5–3	Hackett Harris Neil Taylor

24 May 2021

Selhurst Park, Selhurst

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Tom Reeves

Professional Development League

U23 Professional Development League

Season	2020–21
Champions	Birmingham City U23s (1st Title)
Matches played	228 (225 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	726 (3.18 per match) (717 RS, 9 PO)
Top goalscorer	Louis Britton Bristol City U23s (16 Goals)
Biggest home win	Queens Park Rangers U23s 5–0 Ipswich Town U23s (22 September 2020) Millwall U23s 6–1 Colchester United U23s ( 15 December 2020) Sheffield United U23s 5–0 Birmingham City U23s (12 March 2021) Cardiff City U23s 6–1 Wigan Athletic U23s (30 March 2021)
Biggest away win	Wigan Athletic U23s 1–11 Birmingham City U23s (10 May 2021)
Highest scoring	Wigan Athletic U23s 1–11 Birmingham City U23s (10 May 2021)
Longest winning run	7 Matches Sheffield United U23s
Longest unbeaten run	9 Matches Sheffield United U23s
Longest winless run	9 Matches Colchester United U23s
Longest losing run	8 Matches Colchester United U23s
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020-2021 Professional Development League season is the ninth campaign of post-EPPP Under-23 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. A total of 18 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 25 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. Nottingham Forest and Millwall are the defending regional champions.

18 Teams competed in the league this season, a record low with 3 fewer teams than last season. Swansea City U23s dropped down to Category Two status in August 2020 and will join the South division this season after 5 years in the Premier League 2,^[4] while Burnley U23s,^[7] Crystal Palace U23s,^[8] and founding member Leeds United U23s^[9] joined the Premier League 2 for the 2020–21 season after gaining Category One status Academies after 3 seasons in the league for Burnley U23s, 7 seasons in the league for Crystal Palace U23s and 8 seasons in the league for founding member Leeds United U23s respectively. Bolton Wanderers U23s^[10] also left dropping down to Category Three after 5 seasons in the league.

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sheffield United U23s	25	17	4	4	60	22	+38	55	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Birmingham City U23s	25	15	2	8	67	42	+25	47
3	Nottingham Forest U23s	25	12	6	7	46	30	+16	42
4	Barnsley U23s	25	11	8	6	36	28	+8	41
5	Hull City U23s	25	12	3	10	36	32	+4	39
6	Wigan Athletic U23s	25	11	3	11	32	54	−22	36
7	Coventry City U23s	25	9	7	9	43	31	+12	34
8	Sheffield Wednesday U23s	25	8	5	12	32	41	−9	29
9	Crewe Alexandra U23s	25	6	7	12	27	45	−18	25

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bristol City U23s	25	16	2	7	51	35	+16	50	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Ipswich Town U23s	25	12	6	7	44	41	+3	42
3	Cardiff City U23s	25	10	2	13	43	42	+1	32
4	Watford U23s	25	9	5	11	37	50	−13	32
5	Charlton Athletic U23s	25	9	4	12	46	48	−2	31
6	Millwall U23s	25	8	6	11	31	35	−4	30
7	Swansea City U23s	25	6	8	11	33	47	−14	26
8	Queens Park Rangers U23s	25	6	5	14	27	42	−15	23
9	Colchester United U23s	25	3	7	15	26	52	−26	16

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

Bristol City U23s	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Birmingham City U23s
Edwards 26'	Report	George 48' (pen.) Redmond 119'

14 May 2021

19:00

Ashton Gate, Bristol

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Sheffield United U23s	4–0	Ipswich Town U23s
Brooks 25' Osula 32', 36', 41'	Report

17 May 2021

19:00

Brammall Lane, Sheffield

Attendance: Behind Closed Doors

Professional Development League National Final

Sheffield United U23s	0–2	Birmingham City U23s
		George 6', 15'

24 May 2021

19:00

Brammall Lane, Sheffield

See also

• 2020–21 in English football