2023–24 Professional U18 Development League

The 2023–24 Professional U18 Development League was the 12th season of the Professional Development League system. There were 26 teams competing, divided into North and South divisions according to their region.

U18 Premier League

Season	2023–24
Champions	Manchester United (1st Title)
Matches played	313
Goals scored	1,371 (4.38 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chido Obi Arsenal (32 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 9–1 West Bromwich Albion (27 December 2023) Everton 8–0 Newcastle United (18 May 2024)
Biggest away win	Reading 0–9 Southampton (20 April 2024) Norwich City 0–9 Arsenal (27 April 2024)
Highest scoring	Arsenal 8–3 Crystal Palace (16 March 2024)
Longest winning run	14 Matches – Manchester United (12 August 2023 – 30 January 2024)
Longest unbeaten run	17 Matches – Manchester United – (12 August 2023 – 24 February 2024)
Longest winless run	15 Matches –Aston Villa – (15 December 2023–11 May 2024)
Longest losing run	9 Matches – Norwich City – (12 August 2023–11 November 2023)
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Reading regained Category One status in the summer.^[1]

North

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United (C, Q)	24	20	2	2	78	28	+50	62	Qualification for the National Final
2	Manchester City	24	18	2	4	71	27	+44	56
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	24	12	5	7	43	34	+9	41
4	Derby County	24	11	4	9	55	51	+4	37
5	Leeds United	24	10	3	11	54	51	+3	33
6	Liverpool	24	10	2	12	56	62	−6	32
7	Nottingham Forest	24	8	8	8	37	47	−10	32
8	Newcastle United	24	10	2	12	49	61	−12	32
9	Middlesbrough	24	7	6	11	33	47	−14	27
10	Blackburn Rovers	24	8	3	13	39	60	−21	27
11	Everton	24	7	4	13	39	39	0	25
12	Stoke City	24	7	2	15	43	61	−18	23
13	Sunderland	24	5	3	16	32	61	−29	18

Source: ^[2]
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Results

Home \ Away	BLB	DER	EVE	LEE	LIV	MNC	MNU	MID	NEW	NFO	STK	SUN	WOL
Blackburn Rovers	—	4–1	0–2	2–4	2–4	2–3	0–3	1–1	2–1	0–2	2–1	3–0	1–1
Derby County	5–2	—	2–0	1–6	5–1	0–3	2–2	4–1	5–3	1–1	3–1	5–1	2–3
Everton	1–3	1–3	—	0–3	2–2	0–0	0–2	0–1	8–0	1–0	1–2	3–0	2–3
Leeds United	4–1	5–0	1–4	—	4–1	1–4	0–6	2–4	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–2
Liverpool	5–1	2–0	2–1	1–3	—	1–2	1–9	3–1	1–2	4–2	3–1	7–1	2–4
Manchester City	6–0	5–1	1–1	5–2	3–0	—	4–1	2–1	4–2	3–4	3–1	1–3	3–0
Manchester United	5–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	4–3	1–0	—	3–0	5–1	2–1	4–2	1–3	2–0
Middlesbrough	1–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–6	0–4	—	3–4	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0
Newcastle United	3–0	1–2	4–2	2–1	4–3	1–2	1–3	1–3	—	3–2	2–4	3–0	3–2
Nottingham Forest	2–1	0–6	3–2	2–2	2–1	1–4	2–2	1–0	1–4	—	1–1	0–0	1–1
Stoke City	3–5	0–1	1–4	1–6	2–4	1–3	1–4	1–1	4–1	5–3	—	4–2	1–2
Sunderland	1–2	1–1	0–2	4–3	1–2	1–3	2–3	2–4	2–2	1–2	1–2	—	3–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	4–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	3–0	—

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea (C, Q)	24	17	3	4	72	41	+31	54	Qualification for the National Final
2	West Ham United	24	16	1	7	72	48	+24	49
3	Arsenal	24	14	5	5	83	43	+40	47
4	Tottenham Hotspur	24	14	3	7	73	57	+16	45
5	Fulham	24	14	2	8	66	49	+17	44
6	Crystal Palace	24	12	5	7	60	48	+12	41
7	Brighton & Hove Albion	24	11	4	9	60	55	+5	37
8	Leicester City	24	7	7	10	44	55	−11	28
9	West Bromwich Albion	24	7	4	13	43	65	−22	25
10	Southampton	24	6	5	13	47	56	−9	23
11	Norwich City	24	6	1	17	41	81	−40	19
12	Aston Villa	24	5	2	17	50	70	−20	17
13	Reading	24	5	2	17	28	71	−43	17

Source: ^[2]
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AVL	BHA	CHE	CRY	FUL	LEI	NOR	REA	SOU	TOT	WBA	WHU
Arsenal	—	4–2	1–3	5–2	8–3	5–2	2–1	4–3	3–0	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–0
Aston Villa	2–3	—	0–6	5–0	0–1	0–2	2–4	1–4	3–1	0–4	4–0	7–1	2–4
Brighton & Hove Albion	3–5	3–2	—	0–2	4–2	4–2	1–0	1–6	5–2	2–2	2–2	4–3	1–3
Chelsea	3–2	2–0	3–0	—	2–1	1–3	3–2	1–2	2–0	3–2	3–4	9–1	4–3
Crystal Palace	3–3	3–2	3–3	1–2	—	4–2	1–1	3–1	2–1	5–0	1–1	2–1	1–4
Fulham	1–0	7–2	3–2	3–3	4–3	—	4–3	5–0	2–0	3–2	1–3	2–3	3–4
Leicester City	0–4	3–3	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–5	—	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–4	4–0	0–3
Norwich City	0–9	0–7	2–6	3–6	1–4	0–0	1–2	—	2–4	2–3	2–0	1–4	1–5
Reading	2–2	3–2	3–2	1–4	0–3	0–3	2–2	2–1	—	0–9	1–6	0–1	1–5
Southampton	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–2	0–3	1–4	1–1	4–2	2–1	—	3–6	3–1	2–2
Tottenham Hotspur	3–2	3–2	4–2	1–4	2–5	3–4	3–4	7–2	3–0	2–2	—	5–3	2–4
West Bromwich Albion	1–1	2–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	2–1	2–5	0–3	2–3	3–2	1–2	—	2–0
West Ham United	1–8	5–2	3–1	2–3	5–4	3–0	5–0	2–0	3–0	2–1	2–3	2–5	—

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

National Final

Chelsea	1–2	Manchester United
Acheampong 47'	Report	Wheatley 21' Williams 54'

14 May 2024

19:00

Stamford Bridge, London

Referee: Luke Scott

Season statistics

As of 2 September 2023

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[3]
1	Tom Olyott	Fulham	5
	Sean Neave	Newcastle United
	Rory Wilson	Aston Villa
4	Jesse Derry	Crystal Palace	4
	Jayden Danns	Liverpool
	Lleyton Brown	Leeds United

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Lleyton Brown	Leeds United	Stoke City	6–1 (A)	12 August 2023	[4]
Zach Marsh	Crystal Palace	Southampton	5–0 (H)	12 August 2023	[5]
Rory Wilson	Aston Villa	Tottenham Hotspur	4–0 (H)	12 August 2023	[6]
Tom Olyott	Fulham	Leicester City	4–3 (H)	26 August 2023	[7]
Ato Ampah	Chelsea	Aston Villa	5–1 (A)	26 August 2023	[8]
Alfie Harrison	Manchester City	Blackburn Rovers	6–0 (H)	26 August 2023	[9]

Note

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Professional Development League 2

U18 Professional Development League 2

Season	2023–24
Champions	Birmingham City (1st Title)
Matches played	313 (310 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	1,307 (4.18 per match) (1,294 RS, 13 PO)
Top goalscorer	Micah Mbick Charlton Athletic (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Millwall 12–0 Queens Park Rangers (9 March 2024) League Record
Biggest away win	Colchester United 1–10 Millwall (13 January 2024)
Highest scoring	Millwall 12–0 Queens Park Rangers (9 March 2024) Millwall 8–4 Cardiff City (1 May 2024)
Longest winning run	8 matches – Birmingham City (8 February 2024 – 28 March 2024) Cardiff City (30 September 2023 – 20 January 2024)
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches – Charlton Athletic (19 March 2024–18 May 2024)
Longest winless run	18 matches – Colchester United (30 September 2023–26 March 2024)
Longest losing run	8 matches – Fleetwood Town (30 September 2023 – 3 February 2024) Peterborough United (20 February 2024 – 13 April 2024)
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

The 2023–24 season was the 12th edition of the Professional Development League 2, an under-18 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. The league was 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, resulting in 30 games played for the North Division, while the South Division played 29 games. The sides finishing in the top two positions in both regions at the end of the season progressed to a knockout stage to determine the overall league champion. Barnsley were the defending national champions while AFC Bournemouth and Fleetwood Town joined the division for the 2023–24 season.^[10]

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Birmingham City	30	21	4	5	73	37	+36	67	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Barnsley	30	18	3	9	71	43	+28	57
3	Sheffield Wednesday	30	16	4	10	56	36	+20	52
4	Burnley	30	12	10	8	56	38	+18	46
5	Sheffield United	30	11	9	10	57	48	+9	42
6	Crewe Alexandra	30	12	3	15	71	73	−2	39
7	Fleetwood Town	30	12	2	16	46	65	−19	38
8	Hull City	30	10	6	14	47	70	−23	36
9	Coventry City	30	9	5	16	51	75	−24	32
10	Wigan Athletic	30	8	4	18	49	67	−18	28
11	Peterborough United	30	6	2	22	44	87	−43	20

Source:

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Charlton Athletic	29	21	5	3	94	51	+43	68	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Bristol City	29	20	2	7	75	35	+40	62
3	Cardiff City	29	18	3	8	76	51	+25	57
4	Watford	29	15	5	9	60	36	+24	50
5	AFC Bournemouth	29	13	0	16	65	71	−6	39
6	Millwall	29	12	2	15	86	67	+19	38
7	Ipswich Town	29	11	3	15	67	77	−10	36
8	Swansea City	29	11	1	17	49	63	−14	34
9	Queens Park Rangers	29	8	2	19	54	111	−57	26
10	Colchester United	29	5	7	17	47	93	−46	22

Source:

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

Charlton Athletic	5–3	Barnsley
Mbick 2' Wales 31' Casey 45', 62' Hunter 76'	Report	Jalo 26', 48' Alker 38'

18 May 2024

Sparrows Lane, London

Birmingham City	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Bristol City
Penalties
Tattum Ahmed Sanders Burrell Bateman Ruiz Rente Da Silva Dodd	6–5	Hewlett Meerholz Ap-Sion Yeboah James Phillips Bak Morrison

18 May 2024

St. Andrew's, Birmingham

Professional Development League Two Play-Off Final

Birmingham City	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Charlton Athletic
Tattum 31' Sanders 77' Isichei 95'		Rylah 73' Mbick 82' (pen.)

25 May 2024

Birmingham County FA, Birmingham

EFL Youth Alliance

Football League Youth Alliance

Season	2023-24
Champions	North-East Division Mansfield Town North-West Division Preston North End South-East Division Luton Town South-West Division Plymouth Argyle Merit League One Plymouth Argyle Merit League Two Brentford North-East Division Championship Group Round Mansfield Town North-East Division Lower Table Round Grimsby Town
Matches played	581
Goals scored	2,247 (3.87 per match)
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

The Football League Youth Alliance sometimes known as League 3 is run by the English Football League under the auspices of the EFL Youth Alliance. 45 teams were scheduled to competed this season, however one team was expelled before the season began. Notts County returned to the league after a 3-season absence, while Wrexham returned to the league after a four-season absence because both teams clubs were promoted back to the Football League. AFC Bournemouth and Fleetwood Town both left because their academies were promoted to Category 2 and as a result both teams joined the U18 Professional Development League 2.^[10] Because their parent club was relegated from the National League in their first season, Scunthorpe United were expelled from the league because there was no way their parent club could not promote back to the football league in time. Meanwhile Southend United did not participate because their parent club lost their EPPP license. For clubs that get relegated to the National League, they have two years to gain promotion back to the EFL. Otherwise, they lose their license with the League.

League stage

As of match played 4 May 2024^[11]

North-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mansfield Town (C)	20	12	3	5	48	23	+25	39	Northeast Division Championship Round
2	Burton Albion	20	11	1	8	38	34	+4	34
3	Rotherham United	20	10	3	7	51	44	+7	33
4	Lincoln City	20	10	2	8	51	33	+18	32
5	Bradford City	20	10	2	8	38	33	+5	32
6	Hartlepool United	20	10	2	8	41	39	+2	32
7	Grimsby Town	20	8	6	6	42	27	+15	30	Northeast Division Lower Round
8	Harrogate Town	20	8	4	8	30	32	−2	28
9	Doncaster Rovers	20	7	3	10	30	33	−3	24
10	Huddersfield Town	20	3	7	10	27	65	−38	16
11	Notts County	20	4	1	15	26	59	−33	13
12	Scunthorpe United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

North-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Preston North End (C)	26	18	2	6	75	49	+26	56
2	Wrexham	26	18	1	7	78	41	+37	55
3	Bolton Wanderers	26	17	3	6	70	37	+33	54
4	Morecambe	26	17	3	6	58	39	+19	54
5	Accrington Stanley	26	17	1	8	76	60	+16	52
6	Blackpool	26	14	2	10	53	48	+5	44
7	Shrewsbury Town	26	11	2	13	44	51	−7	35
8	Salford City	26	9	4	13	50	57	−7	31
9	Stockport County	26	10	1	15	35	45	−10	31
10	Rochdale	26	9	3	14	50	56	−6	30
11	Oldham Athletic	26	9	3	14	35	46	−11	30
12	Carlisle United	26	8	3	15	42	65	−23	27
13	Port Vale	26	5	3	18	44	75	−31	18
14	Walsall	26	3	3	20	27	68	−41	12

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Luton Town (C)	18	12	2	4	41	17	+24	38	Merit League One
2	AFC Wimbledon	18	11	2	5	39	28	+11	35
3	Stevenage	18	10	4	4	33	19	+14	34
4	Sutton United	18	9	4	5	31	27	+4	31
5	Leyton Orient	18	8	4	6	40	32	+8	28
6	Northampton Town	18	7	3	8	25	26	−1	24	Merit League Two
7	Cambridge United	18	7	2	9	38	40	−2	23
8	Brentford	18	4	3	11	35	48	−13	15
9	Gillingham	18	3	5	10	33	43	−10	14
10	Milton Keynes Dons	18	3	3	12	21	56	−35	12

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Plymouth Argyle (C)	16	11	3	2	44	21	+23	36	Merit League One
2	Swindon Town	16	11	1	4	42	20	+22	34
3	Portsmouth	16	7	2	7	38	27	+11	23
4	Cheltenham Town	16	7	2	7	25	31	−6	23
5	Oxford United	16	6	3	7	23	26	−3	21
6	Exeter City	16	5	5	6	32	39	−7	20	Merit League Two
7	Forest Green Rovers	16	6	1	9	34	41	−7	19
8	Bristol Rovers	16	5	3	8	25	33	−8	18
9	Newport County	16	3	2	11	28	53	−25	11

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Merit League Stage

The teams in the Southeast and Southwest Divisions played another ten games to determine the champions of Merit League One and Merit League Two.

Merit League One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Plymouth Argyle (C)	9	7	1	1	24	13	+11	22
2	Leyton Orient	9	4	4	1	26	16	+10	16
3	Stevenage	9	4	2	3	22	12	+10	14
4	Portsmouth	9	4	2	3	16	17	−1	14
5	Luton Town	8	4	0	4	17	18	−1	12
6	Swindon Town	9	3	2	4	20	23	−3	11
7	Oxford United	9	3	2	4	16	21	−5	11
8	AFC Wimbledon	9	3	1	5	16	20	−4	10
9	Cheltenham Town	8	2	3	3	17	25	−8	9
10	Sutton United	9	1	1	7	8	17	−9	4

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Merit League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Brentford (C)	8	6	0	2	21	9	+12	18
2	Gillingham	8	6	0	2	21	10	+11	18
3	Cambridge United	8	5	0	3	19	18	+1	15
4	Bristol Rovers	8	4	2	2	23	19	+4	14
5	Northampton Town	8	4	0	4	24	14	+10	12
6	Forest Green Rovers	8	3	2	3	16	18	−2	11
7	Milton Keynes Dons	8	2	1	5	18	23	−5	7
8	Newport County	8	2	1	5	21	33	−12	7
9	Exeter City	8	1	0	7	14	33	−19	3

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Northeast Division 2nd Phase

Only 4 or 5 games were played but they were added in the regular season averages.

North-East Merit Championship Group

These games include the regular season matches.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Mansfield Town (C)	25	17	3	5	62	27	+35	54
2	Burton Albion	25	15	1	9	56	38	+18	46
3	Rotherham United	25	11	4	10	59	57	+2	37
4	Bradford City	25	11	4	10	48	47	+1	37
5	Hartlepool United	25	11	4	10	54	56	−2	37
6	Lincoln City	25	10	3	12	61	54	+7	33

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

North-East Merit Lower Table Round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Grimsby Town (C)	24	11	7	6	52	29	+23	40
2	Harrogate Town	24	10	5	9	36	39	−3	35
3	Doncaster Rovers	24	8	6	10	36	38	−2	30
4	Notts County	24	5	2	17	32	65	−33	17
5	Huddersfield Town	24	3	7	14	28	74	−46	16

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

See also

• 2023–24 in English football