2016–17 Professional U18 Development League

Football League Youth Alliance
Season	2016–17
Champions	North-East Division ; Mansfield Town U18s; North-West Division ; Blackpool U18s; South-East Division ; Leyton Orient U18s; South-West Division ; Exeter City U18s; Merit League One; Newport County U18s; Merit League Two; AFC Bournemouth U18s
Matches played	698
Goals scored	2,485 (3.56 per match)
	← 2015–16 2017–18 →

U18 Professional Development League
Season	2016–17
Champions	Sheffield United U18s (1st Title)
Matches played	283; (280 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	1,048 (3.7 per match); (1,041 RS, 7 PO)
Top goalscorer	Jordan Ponticelli Coventry City U18s (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Coventry City U18s 9–0 Colchester United U18s (11 February 2017)
Biggest away win	Barnsley U18s 0–7 Crystal Palace U18s (17 September 2016); Cardiff City U18s 0–7 Coventry City U18s (4 February 2017)
Highest scoring	Crystal Palace U18s 5–6 Nottingham Forest U18s (15 October 2016)
Longest winning run	11 Matches – Coventry City U18s (3 December 2016 – 18 March 2017)
Longest unbeaten run	15 Matches – Sheffield United U18s (10 December 2016 – 10 May 2017)
Longest winless run	15 Matches – Birmingham City U18s (3 September 2016 – 7 January 2017)
Longest losing run	6 Matches – Bristol City U18s (5 November 2016 – 10 December 2016); Cardiff City U18s (25 February 2017 – 1 April 2017)
	← 2015–16 2017–18 →

U18 Premier League
Season	2016–17
Champions	Chelsea U18s (1st Title)
Matches played	348
Goals scored	1,235 (3.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Martell Taylor-Crossdale Chelsea U18s (21 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea U18s 13–0 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s; (18 February 2017)
Biggest away win	Swansea City U18s 0–7 Reading U18s; (11 February 2017)
Highest scoring	Chelsea U18s 13–0 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s; (18 February 2017)
Longest winning run	8 Matches – Manchester City U18s (10 December 2016 – 18 February 2017)
Longest unbeaten run	21 Matches – Manchester City U18s (13 August 2016 – 18 February 2017)
Longest winless run	20 Matches – Leicester City U18s (10 September 2016 – 11 March 2017)
Longest losing run	6 Matches – Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s (16 November 2016 – 24 January 2017); Sunderland U18s (13 August 2016 – 23 September 2016); Swansea City U18s (28 January 2017 – 1 March 2017)
	← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Professional U18 Development League was the fifth season of the Professional Development League system for youth football.

League 1

The league was split into two regional divisions, north and south. After playing each team in their own division twice, the league was split into a second league stage consisting of three further divisions. The winning team of Group A in the second league stage became the overall champion and qualified for the UEFA Youth League for the 2017–18 season.

First League Stage

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Manchester City U18s	22	17	4	1	70	22	+48	55	Group 1
2	Manchester United U18s	22	14	4	4	63	31	+32	46
3	Liverpool U18s	22	14	4	4	50	33	+17	46
4	Blackburn Rovers U18s	22	13	5	4	40	27	+13	44
5	Everton U18s	22	11	6	5	49	35	+14	39	Group 2
6	Derby County U18s	22	10	2	10	38	45	−7	32
7	Middlesbrough U18s	22	7	3	12	33	40	−7	24
8	Stoke City U18s	22	7	2	13	34	49	−15	23
9	Newcastle United U18s	22	6	4	12	25	43	−18	22	Group 3
10	West Bromwich Albion U18s	22	4	6	12	29	42	−13	18
11	Sunderland U18s	22	3	4	15	23	55	−32	13
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s	22	2	4	16	30	62	−32	10

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chelsea U18s	22	16	4	2	68	21	+47	52	Group 1
2	Arsenal U18s	22	12	5	5	46	26	+20	41
3	Reading U18s	22	12	3	7	51	40	+11	39
4	West Ham United U18s	22	10	4	8	37	31	+6	34
5	Fulham U18s	22	9	6	7	39	32	+7	33	Group 2
6	Aston Villa U18s	22	9	6	7	31	39	−8	33
7	Tottenham Hotspur U18s	22	9	4	9	48	36	+12	31
8	Norwich City U18s	22	9	4	9	46	38	+8	31
9	Southampton U18s	22	7	5	10	28	41	−13	26	Group 3
10	Brighton & Hove Albion U18s	22	5	8	9	28	51	−23	23
11	Swansea City U18s	22	2	6	14	23	60	−37	12
12	Leicester City U18s	22	2	5	15	17	47	−30	11

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Second league stage

^[1]

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chelsea U18s (C)	7	6	0	1	17	7	+10	18	Qualification for 2017–18 UEFA Youth League
2	Arsenal U18s	7	4	2	1	22	13	+9	14
3	Manchester City U18s	7	4	2	1	16	11	+5	14
4	Manchester United U18s	7	2	2	3	16	18	−2	8
5	Reading U18s	7	2	1	4	10	17	−7	7
6	West Ham United U18s	7	1	3	3	8	13	−5	6
7	Blackburn Rovers U18s	7	2	0	5	11	18	−7	6
8	Liverpool U18s	7	1	2	4	8	11	−3	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Aston Villa U18s	7	5	2	0	15	5	+10	17
10	Tottenham Hotspur U18s	7	4	2	1	21	13	+8	14
11	Norwich City U18s	7	3	2	2	15	15	0	11
12	Derby County U18s	7	2	3	2	16	13	+3	9
13	Fulham U18s	7	1	4	2	15	16	−1	7
14	Stoke City U18s	7	1	4	2	9	13	−4	7
15	Middlesbrough U18s	7	2	0	5	10	16	−6	6
16	Everton U18s	7	1	1	5	4	14	−10	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s	7	5	1	1	12	5	+7	16
18	Swansea City U18s	7	4	1	2	11	6	+5	13
19	Newcastle United U18s	7	3	1	3	12	12	0	10
20	Sunderland U18s	7	2	3	2	5	6	−1	9
21	Leicester City U18s	7	2	3	2	10	12	−2	9
22	Brighton & Hove Albion U18s	7	2	1	4	11	10	+1	7
23	Southampton U18s	7	1	4	2	8	9	−1	7
24	West Bromwich Albion U18s	7	1	2	4	7	16	−9	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

League 2

The Professional U18 Development League 2, also known as U18 PDL-2, was split into two regional divisions.

Teams played each team in their own division twice, and each team in the other division once, for a total of 28 games each.

At the end of the season, the teams finishing in the top two positions of both divisions met in the knockout stage to determine the overall league champion. Brentford withdrew from the competition after last year playing 4 seasons in the League.

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sheffield United U18s	28	19	6	3	68	32	+36	63	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Sheffield Wednesday U18s	28	15	4	9	62	46	+16	49	Qualification for Knock-out stage
3	Nottingham Forest U18s	28	14	4	10	73	53	+20	46
4	Bolton Wanderers U18s	28	12	8	8	57	48	+9	44
5	Huddersfield Town U18s	28	13	3	12	60	49	+11	42
6	Crewe Alexandra U18s	28	12	4	12	56	55	+1	40
7	Barnsley U18s	28	9	10	9	51	58	−7	37
8	Leeds United U18s	28	8	8	12	42	49	−7	32
9	Birmingham City U18s	28	7	9	12	40	46	−6	30
10	Hull City U18s	28	7	7	14	39	62	−23	28

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Source - Professional Development League North results

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Coventry City U18s	28	21	2	5	76	30	+46	65	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Charlton Athletic U18s	28	19	4	5	67	33	+34	61	Qualification for Knock-out stage
3	Crystal Palace U18s	28	13	4	11	59	53	+6	43
4	Ipswich Town U18s	28	13	2	13	54	49	+5	41
5	Millwall U18s	28	10	5	13	50	58	−8	35
6	Watford U18s	28	9	5	14	30	40	−10	32
7	Bristol City U18s	28	8	6	14	39	55	−16	30
8	Cardiff City U18s	28	9	3	16	41	73	−32	30
9	Colchester United U18s	28	6	5	17	38	69	−31	23
10	Queens Park Rangers U18s	28	4	5	19	39	83	−44	17

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Source - Professional Development League South results

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

21 April 2017

Sheffield United U18s	2–0	Charlton Athletic U18s
Hallam 51' (pen.) Cantrill 60'	Report

Bramall Lane

Referee: Mr D.Middleton

22 April 2017

12:00

Coventry City U18s	3–1	Sheffield Wednesday U18s
Stedman 7' Finn 16' Ponticelli 39'		Borukov

Alan Higgs Training Centre

Final

10 May 2017

19:00 GMT

Sheffield United U18s	1–0	Coventry City U18s
Hallam 40'

Bramall Lane

Referee: Sam Mullhall

League 3

League 3 is run by the Football League under the auspices of the Football League Youth Alliance. 50 teams once again competed this season. Burnley would be promoted to Category 2 Academy status after this season.

League stage

As of match played 22 April 2017^[2]

North-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Mansfield Town U18s (C)	24	16	4	4	41	15	+26	52
2	Rotherham United U18s	24	15	1	8	49	25	+24	46
3	Oldham Athletic U18s	24	13	5	6	47	22	+25	44
4	York City U18s	24	12	3	9	34	40	−6	39
5	Burton Albion U18s	24	10	7	7	47	44	+3	37
6	Notts County U18s	24	11	4	9	39	36	+3	37
7	Chesterfield U18s	24	9	5	10	46	43	+3	32
8	Doncaster Rovers U18s	24	8	6	10	37	35	+2	30
9	Hartlepool United U18s	24	8	6	10	38	45	−7	30
10	Scunthorpe United U18s	24	8	5	11	37	33	+4	29
11	Grimsby Town U18s	24	7	3	14	26	51	−25	24
12	Bradford City U18s	24	6	4	14	33	53	−20	22
13	Lincoln City U18s	24	4	5	15	26	58	−32	17

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

North-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Blackpool U18s (C)	28	19	5	4	74	23	+51	62
2	Burnley U18s	28	18	6	4	64	35	+29	60
3	Walsall U18s	28	18	4	6	55	31	+24	58
4	Rochdale U18s	28	17	4	7	60	33	+27	55
5	Port Vale U18s	28	14	5	9	46	40	+6	47
6	Bury U18s	28	13	2	13	47	54	−7	41
7	Wigan Athletic U18s	28	10	10	8	53	41	+12	40
8	Shrewsbury Town U18s	28	10	9	9	47	50	−3	39
9	Fleetwood Town U18s	28	10	5	13	54	63	−9	35
10	Preston North End U18s	28	7	12	9	44	50	−6	33
11	Carlisle United U18s	28	9	2	17	44	56	−12	29
12	Accrington Stanley U18s	28	8	4	16	34	56	−22	28
13	Morecambe U18s	28	7	3	18	39	58	−19	24
14	Tranmere Rovers U18s	28	4	7	17	21	51	−30	19
15	Wrexham U18s	28	3	8	17	29	70	−41	17

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Leyton Orient U18s (C)	22	18	2	2	59	23	+36	56	Merit League One
2	Southend United U18s	22	11	4	7	62	40	+22	37
3	Stevenage U18s	22	11	4	7	49	34	+15	37
4	Cambridge United U18s	22	9	8	5	46	30	+16	35
5	Luton Town U18s	22	10	4	8	48	38	+10	34
6	Gillingham U18s	22	10	4	8	44	51	−7	34
7	AFC Wimbledon U18s	22	9	5	8	40	30	+10	32	Merit League Two
8	Northampton Town U18s	22	6	6	10	49	61	−12	24
9	Dagenham & Redbridge U18s	22	7	3	12	40	65	−25	24
10	Barnet U18s	22	5	5	12	34	50	−16	20
11	Milton Keynes Dons U18s	22	5	4	13	45	63	−18	19
12	Peterborough United U18s	22	4	5	13	29	60	−31	17

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Exeter City U18s (C)	18	11	2	5	36	26	+10	35	Merit League One
2	Bristol Rovers U18s	18	8	4	6	42	38	+4	28
3	Swindon Town U18s	18	8	4	6	36	34	+2	28
4	Plymouth Argyle U18s	18	7	5	6	40	35	+5	26
5	Newport County U18s	18	7	5	6	36	33	+3	26
6	Portsmouth U18s	18	8	2	8	35	41	−6	26	Merit League Two
7	Oxford United U18s	18	7	4	7	40	27	+13	25
8	AFC Bournemouth U18s	18	6	4	8	24	23	+1	22
9	Cheltenham Town U18s	18	6	4	8	37	40	−3	22
10	Yeovil Town U18s	18	4	2	12	19	48	−29	14

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	Newport County U18s (C)	10	9	1	0	22	9	+13	28
2	Swindon Town U18s	10	5	3	2	25	16	+9	18
3	Exeter City U18s	10	4	3	3	20	18	+2	15
4	Stevenage U18s	10	4	2	4	22	20	+2	14
5	Southend United U18s	10	4	2	4	19	18	+1	14
6	Luton Town U18s	10	3	4	3	17	11	+6	13
7	Leyton Orient U18s	10	3	3	4	19	24	−5	12
8	Gillingham U18s	10	3	2	5	15	19	−4	11
9	Plymouth Argyle U18s	10	3	2	5	17	23	−6	11
10	Cambridge United U18s	10	2	3	5	16	21	−5	9
11	Bristol Rovers U18s	10	2	1	7	10	23	−13	7

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

Merit League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	AFC Bournemouth U18s (C)	10	7	1	2	24	10	+14	22
2	Peterborough United U18s	10	5	5	0	17	11	+6	20
3	AFC Wimbledon U18s	10	5	4	1	16	10	+6	19
4	Northampton Town U18s	10	5	1	4	19	20	−1	16
5	Oxford United U18s	10	4	3	3	16	13	+3	15
6	Portsmouth U18s	10	3	3	4	20	17	+3	12
7	Barnet U18s	10	3	3	4	17	19	−2	12
8	Milton Keynes Dons U18s	10	4	0	6	13	21	−8	12
9	Cheltenham Town U18s	10	3	1	6	13	17	−4	10
10	Yeovil Town U18s	10	1	4	5	12	20	−8	7
11	Dagenham & Redbridge U18s	10	1	3	6	15	24	−9	6