2021–22 Professional U23 Development League

U23 Professional Development League
Season	2021–22
Champions	Coventry City U23s
Matches played	203; (200 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	682 (3.36 per match); (667 RS, 15 PO)
Top goalscorer	Fabio Tavares (17 Goals)
	← 2020–21 2022–23 →

Premier League 2
Season	2021-22
Champions	Manchester City U23s; Division 2; Fulham U23s
Promoted	Fulham U23s; Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s
Relegated	Leeds United U23s; Derby County U23s
Matches played	395; (392 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	1,289 (3.26 per match); (1,283 RS, 6 PO)
Top goalscorer	James McAtee, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (18 goals)
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches Manchester City U23s
Longest winless run	13 Derby County U23s
	← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 Professional U23 Development League was the tenth season of the Professional Development League system.

Nottingham Forest U23s and Birmingham City U23s both gained category one status. Manchester City U23s were the defending champions and successfully defend the title.^[1] Leeds United U23s and Crystal Palace U23s were both promoted and Southampton U23s were relegated.

Premier League 2

Division 1

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City U23s (C)	26	16	6	4	65	32	+33	54
2	West Ham United U23s	26	15	3	8	59	39	+20	48
3	Arsenal U23s	26	10	11	5	56	48	+8	41
4	Liverpool U23s	26	11	7	8	47	37	+10	40
5	Manchester United U23s	26	11	6	9	46	43	+3	39
6	Tottenham Hotspur U23s	26	10	7	9	49	45	+4	37
7	Leicester City U23s	26	10	7	9	38	53	−15	37
8	Crystal Palace U23s	26	12	3	11	54	50	+4	39
9	Blackburn Rovers U23s	26	9	8	9	50	56	−6	35
10	Brighton & Hove Albion U23s	26	9	7	10	41	41	0	34
11	Everton U23s	26	8	5	13	33	54	−21	29
12	Chelsea U23s	26	7	7	12	39	47	−8	28
13	Leeds United U23s (R)	26	7	6	13	44	49	−5	27
14	Derby County U23s (R)	26	4	3	19	31	58	−27	15

Source: ^[2]^[3]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

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

Source: [1]
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	Fulham U23s (C, P)	26	20	2	4	64	27	+37	62
2	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s (P)	26	14	5	7	46	37	+9	47
3	Stoke City U23s	26	12	7	7	34	36	−2	43
4	Nottingham Forest U23s	26	12	6	8	52	31	+21	42
5	Norwich City U23s	26	12	3	11	64	52	+12	39
6	Burnley U23s	26	11	6	9	46	39	+7	39
7	Southampton U23s	26	12	3	11	45	42	+3	39
8	Newcastle United U23s	26	12	2	12	51	56	−5	38
9	West Bromwich Albion U23s	26	10	5	11	44	54	−10	35
10	Aston Villa U23s	26	9	5	12	53	51	+2	32
11	Birmingham City U23s	26	7	5	14	34	51	−17	26
12	Middlesbrough U23s	26	8	2	16	31	50	−19	26
13	Sunderland U23s	26	7	3	16	35	49	−14	24
14	Reading U23s	26	5	8	13	32	56	−24	23

Source: ^[4]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BIR	BUR	FUL	MID	NEW	NOR	NOT	REA	STK	SOU	SUN	WBA	WOL
Aston Villa U23s		3–3	4–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	2–0	5–2	4–1	1–4	2–2	2–3	4–2	0–0
Birmingham City U23s	1–2		1–2	1–3	4–2	0–4	2–1	0–3	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–0	3–2	1–2
Burnley U23s	2–1	1–1		1–2	2–0	5–1	4–3	1–1	3–1	0–1	2–1	2–3	3–2	1–1
Fulham U23s	2–1	3–0	5–3		2–0	3–1	1–2	2–1	3–0	3–0	3–0	2–0	3–0	4–2
Middlesbrough U23s	1–2	0–3	0–3	0–0		4–2	3–2	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	3–2	1–2	0–3
Newcastle United U23s	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–6	4–1		2–2	0–1	1–1	2–3	2–4	2–0	4–3	2–3
Norwich City U23s	4–2	2–1	2–1	0–2	4–0	3–4		4–2	5–2	0–1	4–3	1–1	2–5	0–2
Nottingham Forest U23s	4–1	5–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–3	3–2		7–0	2–0	0–0	3–0	2–2	1–0
Reading U23s	2–2	1–1	2–1	3–1	2–1	1–4	3–3	0–2		1–1	0–1	0–3	1–1	3–0
Stoke City U23s	0–8	2–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–4	1–0	1–2		3–0	2–2	2–1	2–0
Southampton U23s	4–0	2–3	0–2	2–1	1–0	5–0	0–3	4–2	2–1	1–1		1–0	3–1	2–4
Sunderland U23s	1–3	2–1	0–2	3–4	1–3	1–2	3–4	1–1	2–0	0–3	3–2		0–1	1–2
West Bromwich Albion U23s	2–1	3–2	3–2	2–4	3–2	2–0	3–2	0–5	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–0		0–4
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	4–2	0–5	1–0	4–3	2–2	0–1	1–3	1–1

Source: [2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Semi-finals			Final

2	Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	1 (p)

5	Norwich City U23s	1
			Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	2

			Stoke City U23s	0
3	Stoke City U23s	2

4	Nottingham Forest U23s	0

Semifinals

15 May 2022

13:00

Stoke City U23s	2–0	Nottingham Forest U23s
Griffiths 75' Goodwin 90+4'

Bet365 Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent

Attendance: 1,846

Referee: Steven Copeland

17 May 2022

9:00

Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	1–1	Norwich City U23s
Bueno 28'		Omotoye 68'
Penalties
Campbell Bueno Griffiths Perry Tipton	5–4	Springett Omotoye Mumba Rowe Clarke

Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton

Attendance: 1,375

Referee: Daniel Middleton

Final

23 May 2022

13:00

Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s	2–0	Stoke City U23s
Cundle 17', 39'	Report

Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton

Attendance: 4,936

Referee: Thomas Kirk

Professional Development League

The Professional Development League season is the tenth campaign of post-EPPP Under-23 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. A total of 17 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 resulting in 23 games for the North Division, and 24 games for the South Division. 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. Birmingham City U23s are the defending national champions.

17 Teams competed in the league this season, a record low for the competition with 1 fewer team than last season. Birmingham City U23s^[5], the defending national champions would leave the league after 9 seasons alongside Nottingham Forest U23s^[6] to join the Premier League 2 as Category One Academies. Both founding members of the league left after 9 seasons. Peterborough United U23s joined as a Category Two Academy joining the North Division.^[7]

Tables

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sheffield United U23s	23	15	3	5	47	23	+24	48	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Coventry City U23s	23	13	4	6	57	39	+18	43	Qualification for Knock-out stage
3	Hull City U23s	23	12	4	7	44	41	+3	40
4	Wigan Athletic U23s	23	7	4	12	31	39	−8	25
5	Crewe Alexandra U23s	23	7	2	14	27	50	−23	23
6	Peterborough United U23s	23	5	7	11	36	41	−5	22
7	Barnsley U23s	23	5	7	11	22	42	−20	22
8	Sheffield Wednesday U23s	23	4	8	11	21	32	−11	20

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ipswich Town U23s	24	16	3	5	58	27	+31	51	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Bristol City U23s	24	15	5	4	60	31	+29	50	Qualification for Knock-out stage
3	Cardiff City U23s	24	15	2	7	44	30	+14	47
4	Charlton Athletic U23s	24	10	6	8	55	46	+9	36
5	Millwall U23s	24	9	3	12	34	45	−11	30
6	Colchester United U23s	24	8	5	11	35	44	−9	29
7	Watford U23s	24	6	7	11	28	43	−15	25
8	Swansea City U23s	24	5	9	10	34	41	−7	24
9	Queens Park Rangers U23s	24	7	3	14	34	53	−19	24

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knock-out stage

Semi-finals

9 May 2022

19:00

Sheffield United U23s	0–1	Bristol City U23s
	Report	Edwards 89'

LNER Community Stadium, York

10 May 2022

20:00

Coventry City U23s	5–4 (a.e.t.)	Ipswich Town U23s
Bapaga 7' Rus 55' Ngandu 99' (pen.), pen.' Howley 115'	Report	Hughes 15', 91' Humphreys 29' Chirewa 105'

CBS Arena, Coventry

Attendance: 350

Final

17 May 2022

19:00

Bristol City U23s	2–3	Coventry City U23s
Edwards 37' Conway 60'	Report	Rus 4' Howley 8' Burroughs 75'

Ashton Gate, Bristol

Attendance: 2,337

References

^ "Man City confirmed as PL2 champions". Premier League. 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
^ "Premier League 2 Division One". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
^ "Premier League 2 table". Premier League. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
^ "PREMIER LEAGUE 2 DIVISION TWO". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^ "Birmingham City's academy receives huge boost - what it means for Blues' future". Birmingham Mail. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
^ "FOREST ACADEMY SECURES CATEGORY 1 STATUS FOR 2021-22 SEASON". Nottingham Forest FC. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
^ "Club Attain Category Two Status". The Posh. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.

[1] "Man City confirmed as PL2 champions". Premier League. 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-07-19.

[2] "Premier League 2 Division One". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

[3] "Premier League 2 table". Premier League. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

[4] "PREMIER LEAGUE 2 DIVISION TWO". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 July 2021.

[5] "Birmingham City's academy receives huge boost - what it means for Blues' future". Birmingham Mail. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.

[6] "FOREST ACADEMY SECURES CATEGORY 1 STATUS FOR 2021-22 SEASON". Nottingham Forest FC. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.

[7] "Club Attain Category Two Status". The Posh. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Professional Development League
U21/U23	2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
U18	2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

Premier League 2

Division 1

Table

Results

Division 2

Table

Results

Play-offs

Semifinals

Final

Professional Development League

Tables

North Division

South Division

Knock-out stage

See also

References