Radical youth shake-up revealed with U21 Premier League set for big kick-off 23 teams confirmed to play in new style group phases before competition culminates in knock-out format Regional games scrapped in favour of national mix Up and away: West Ham, with starlet Daniel Potts, will launch the new tournament A new Barclays Under-21 Premier League will be launched later this month aimed at bridging the gap between youth academies and first teams at England's top clubs. The Premier League have confirmed the creation of the first national Under-21 competition which will kick off on Friday, August 17 when Chelsea meet Manchester City and Reading visit West Ham. The league will be made up of 23 teams â 17 Premier League clubs and six from the Championship whose academies have also been granted category one status â and split into three groups. The first will be made up of Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, Norwich, Reading, West Brom and West Ham. Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Tottenham, Watford will play in the second group. And a smaller seven-team group three contains Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Wolves. National Group 1 - eight teams Arsenal Blackburn Bolton Everton Norwich Reading West Brom West Ham National Group 2 - eight teams Aston Villa Man United Newcastle Southampton Stoke Sunderland Tottenham Watford National Group 3 - seven teams Chelsea Crystal Palace Fulham Liverpool Manchester City Middlesbrough Wolves now we dont have to send them out to gain experience, cant see any downsides to this only positives.
Does sound good but, what if this became more popular and affordable than PL games what then? Can't see Sky being overly impressed.
