2015–16 Professional U18 Development League

The 2015–16 Professional U18 Development League was the fourth season of the Professional Development League system.

League 1

Barclays U18 Premier League

Season	2015–16
Champions	Manchester City U18s
Matches played	348
Goals scored	1,264 (3.63 per match)
Top goalscorer	Edward Nketiah Arsenal U18s (24 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea U18s 7–0 Norwich City U18s (31 October 2015)
Biggest away win	Everton U18s 0–8 Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s (28 November 2015), Newcastle United U18s 0–8 Everton U18s (28 November 2015)
Highest scoring	Tottenham Hotspur U18s 7–3 Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s (19 March 2016)
Longest winning run	7 Matches – Everton U18s (3 October 2015 – 14 November 2015) Fulham U18s (7 November 2015 – 26 January 2016)
Longest unbeaten run	13 Matches – Chelsea U18s (26 September 2015 – 23 January 2016) Manchester City U18s (5 December 2015 – 7 May 2016)
Longest winless run	12 Matches – Manchester United U18s (3 October 2015 – 30 January 2016)
Longest losing run	12 Matches – Manchester United U18s (3 October 2015 – 30 January 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

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 1 in the second league stage was the overall champion and qualified for the UEFA Youth League in the 2016–17 season. ^[1]

First League stage

North Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Manchester City U18s	22	14	6	2	53	23	+30	48	Group 1
2	Everton U18s	22	15	3	4	57	33	+24	48
3	Liverpool U18s	22	13	4	5	45	28	+17	43
4	Blackburn Rovers U18s	22	11	4	7	45	31	+14	37
5	Sunderland U18s	22	11	3	8	44	40	+4	36	Group 2
6	Middlesbrough U18s	22	10	4	8	43	38	+5	34
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s	22	8	4	10	42	40	+2	28
8	West Bromwich Albion U18s	22	7	4	11	29	44	−15	25
9	Newcastle United U18s	22	6	2	14	27	59	−32	20	Group 3
10	Derby County U18s	22	3	9	10	39	51	−12	18
11	Manchester United U18s	22	5	3	14	29	44	−15	18
12	Stoke City U18s	22	4	4	14	23	45	−22	16

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

South Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chelsea U18s	22	15	5	2	65	27	+38	50	Group 1
2	Reading U18s	22	13	3	6	47	27	+20	42
3	Fulham U18s	22	12	3	7	44	29	+15	39
4	West Ham United U18s	22	11	4	7	30	29	+1	37
5	Aston Villa U18s	22	11	3	8	42	34	+8	36	Group 2
6	Arsenal U18s	22	10	5	7	49	45	+4	35
7	Leicester City U18s	22	9	5	8	39	37	+2	32
8	Tottenham Hotspur U18s	22	9	4	9	43	40	+3	31
9	Brighton & Hove Albion U18s	22	6	4	12	32	51	−19	22	Group 3
10	Norwich City U18s	22	6	3	13	28	48	−20	21
11	Southampton U18s	22	4	3	15	34	57	−23	15
12	Swansea City U18s	22	3	4	15	25	54	−29	13

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Second league stage

As of match played 7 May 2016 ^[2]

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Manchester City U18s	7	6	1	0	21	7	+14	19	Qualification for 2016–17 UEFA Youth League
2	Everton U18s	7	4	1	2	14	15	−1	13
3	Chelsea U18s	7	3	2	2	16	13	+3	11
4	Liverpool U18s	7	2	2	3	13	11	+2	8
5	Blackburn Rovers U18s	7	2	2	3	9	9	0	8
6	Fulham U18s	7	2	1	4	9	19	−10	7
7	Reading U18s	7	1	2	4	9	13	−4	5
8	West Ham United U18s	7	0	5	2	9	13	−4	5

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Middlesbrough U18s	7	6	1	0	14	6	+8	19
10	Sunderland U18s	7	4	1	2	14	8	+6	13
11	Leicester City U18s	7	3	3	1	16	11	+5	12
12	Aston Villa U18s	7	3	3	1	10	8	+2	12
13	Arsenal U18s	7	2	2	3	15	14	+1	8
14	Tottenham Hotspur U18s	7	2	1	4	15	17	−2	7
15	West Bromwich Albion U18s	7	1	2	4	8	13	−5	5
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers U18s	7	0	1	6	10	25	−15	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Swansea City U18s	7	4	3	0	17	13	+4	15
18	Brighton & Hove Albion U18s	7	4	2	1	18	13	+5	14
19	Derby County U18s	7	4	1	2	17	10	+7	13
20	Manchester United U18s	7	4	1	2	17	12	+5	13
21	Stoke City U18s	7	3	1	3	12	12	0	10
22	Newcastle United U18s	7	2	1	4	9	18	−9	7
23	Southampton U18s	7	1	2	4	9	12	−3	5
24	Norwich City U18s	7	0	1	6	9	18	−9	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

League 2

Professional Development U18 League

Season	2015–16
Champions	Charlton Athletic U18s
Matches played	313 (310 RS, 3 PO)
Goals scored	1,148 (3.67 per match) (1,138 RS, 10 PO)
Top goalscorer	Ben Brereton Nottingham Forest U18s, Ronan Hale Birmingham City U18s (28 goals)
Biggest home win	Charlton Athletic U18s 9–0 Queens Park Rangers U18s (29 August 2015)
Biggest away win	Coventry City U18s 0–7 Huddersfield Town U18s (27 February 2016)
Highest scoring	Queens Park Rangers U18s 9–2 Barnsley U18s (26 September 2015)
Longest winning run	10 Matches – Nottingham Forest U18s (19 December 2015 – 26 March 2016) Watford U18s (28 November 2015 – 16 April 2016)
Longest unbeaten run	15 Matches – Nottingham Forest U18s (30 October 2015 – 26 March 2016)
Longest winless run	12 Matches – Barnsley U18s (8 August 2015 – 10 October 2015)
Longest losing run	7 Matches – Leeds United U18s (17 October 2015 – 30 January 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

League 2, referred to as the Professional Development U18 League, is split into two regional divisions.

Teams will play each team in their own division twice, and each team in the other division once, for a total of 30 games for North division teams, and 29 games each for South division teams.

At the end of the season, the teams finishing in the top two positions of both divisions will meet in the knockout stage to determine the overall league champion.

North Division table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nottingham Forest U18s	30	23	2	5	78	35	+43	71	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Sheffield United U18s	30	19	2	9	68	39	+29	59
3	Huddersfield Town U18s	30	18	3	9	73	52	+21	57
4	Crewe Alexandra U18s	30	17	5	8	70	52	+18	56
5	Birmingham City U18s	30	14	6	10	66	53	+13	48
6	Sheffield Wednesday U18s	30	14	4	12	60	46	+14	46
7	Coventry City U18s	30	14	4	12	69	77	−8	46
8	Bolton Wanderers U18s	30	13	4	13	51	54	−3	43
9	Leeds United U18s	30	11	5	14	50	52	−2	38
10	Hull City U18s	30	8	1	21	36	82	−46	25
11	Barnsley U18s	30	2	9	19	46	83	−37	15

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

South Division table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Watford U18s	29	15	11	3	42	23	+19	56	Qualification for Knock-out stage
2	Charlton Athletic U18s	29	15	6	8	64	35	+29	51
3	Crystal Palace U18s	29	12	9	8	54	43	+11	45
4	Ipswich Town U18s	29	12	3	14	57	56	+1	39
5	Cardiff City U18s	29	11	4	14	48	52	−4	37
6	Millwall U18s	29	10	7	12	30	41	−11	37
7	Colchester United U18s	29	9	8	12	48	53	−5	35
8	Brentford U18s	29	7	5	17	49	71	−22	26
9	Queens Park Rangers U18s	29	7	3	19	41	82	−41	24
10	Bristol City U18s	29	5	7	17	38	57	−19	22

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Knock-out stage

Semifinals

23 April 2016

Watford U18s	1–3	Sheffield United U18s
Folivi 67'		Thomas 65' (o.g.) Hall 72' Crofts 74'

Vicarage Road, Watford

---

27 April 2016

19:00

Nottingham Forest U18s	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Charlton Athletic U18s
Gamblen 46' Brereton 90+9'	Report	Ahearne-Grant 11' (pen.) Bah 59'
Penalties
Brereton Edser Yates Gabriel Gamblen	3–4	Millar Ahearne-Grant Lapslie Bone Konsa

City Ground, West Bridgford

Referee: Lisa Rashid

Final

9 May 2016

Charlton Athletic U18s	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Sheffield United U18s
Ahearne-Grant 89'		Hallam 6'
Penalties
Ahearne-Grant Bone Lapslie Konsa	4–3	Brown Ramsdale Semple Litchfield Gordon

The Valley, London

League 3

Football League Youth Alliance

Season	2015–16
Champions	North-East Division Mansfield Town U18s North-West Division Wigan Athletic U18s South-East Division Luton Town U18s South-West Division Plymouth Argyle U18s Merit League One Leyton Orient U18s Merit League Two Oxford United U18s
Matches played	698
Goals scored	2,438 (3.49 per match)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

League 3 is run by the Football League under the auspices of the Football League Youth Alliance. 50 teams entered the competition this season. ^[3]

League stage

As of match played 26 January 2016 ^[4]

North-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Wigan Athletic U18s (C)	28	20	3	5	59	19	+40	63
2	Bury U18s	28	18	7	3	66	28	+38	61
3	Walsall U18s	28	15	5	8	54	31	+23	50
4	Tranmere Rovers U18s	28	15	4	9	49	34	+15	49
5	Blackpool U18s	28	12	8	8	51	36	+15	44
6	Shrewsbury Town U18s	28	13	5	10	41	32	+9	44
7	Preston North End U18s	28	13	3	12	42	42	0	42
8	Port Vale U18s	28	10	7	11	33	33	0	37
9	Rochdale U18s	28	10	6	12	40	44	−4	36
10	Accrington Stanley U18s	28	10	6	12	36	48	−12	36
11	Fleetwood Town U18s	28	10	6	12	33	51	−18	36
12	Wrexham U18s	28	9	6	13	44	55	−11	33
13	Carlisle United U18s	28	8	4	16	39	50	−11	28
14	Burnley U18s	28	6	2	20	33	68	−35	20
15	Morecambe U18s	28	4	2	22	29	78	−49	14

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

North-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Mansfield Town U18s (C)	24	14	4	6	36	26	+10	46
2	Scunthorpe United U18s	24	12	6	6	39	31	+8	42
3	Hartlepool United U18s	24	12	4	8	46	39	+7	40
4	Doncaster Rovers U18s	24	11	7	6	33	27	+6	40
5	Chesterfield U18s	24	11	5	8	67	51	+16	38
6	Notts County U18s	24	12	2	10	44	37	+7	38
7	Rotherham United U18s	24	10	6	8	43	37	+6	36
8	Burton Albion U18s	24	10	5	9	39	37	+2	35
9	Lincoln City U18s	24	10	4	10	32	38	−6	34
10	Oldham Athletic U18s	24	10	2	12	51	39	+12	32
11	Bradford City U18s	24	9	3	12	36	49	−13	30
12	Grimsby Town U18s	24	5	3	16	28	58	−30	18
13	York City U18s	24	2	5	17	30	55	−25	11

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-West Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Plymouth Argyle U18s (C)	18	12	3	3	39	24	+15	39	Merit League One
2	Cheltenham Town U18s	18	10	2	6	42	28	+14	32
3	AFC Bournemouth U18s	18	9	4	5	30	22	+8	31
4	Exeter City U18s	18	8	3	7	31	33	−2	27
5	Portsmouth U18s	18	8	2	8	39	31	+8	26
6	Oxford United U18s	18	8	1	9	35	36	−1	25	Merit League Two
7	Swindon Town U18s	18	7	3	8	34	36	−2	24
8	Bristol Rovers U18s	18	5	6	7	23	30	−7	21
9	Newport County U18s	18	5	3	10	27	44	−17	18
10	Yeovil Town U18s	18	4	1	13	21	37	−16	13

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions

South-East Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Luton Town U18s (C)	22	17	2	3	57	15	+42	53	Merit League One
2	Southend United U18s	22	14	0	8	47	37	+10	42
3	Leyton Orient U18s	22	12	5	5	49	21	+28	41
4	Barnet U18s	22	12	2	8	55	39	+16	38
5	AFC Wimbledon U18s	22	12	2	8	42	37	+5	38
6	Gillingham U18s	22	11	4	7	49	43	+6	37
7	Stevenage U18s	22	8	3	11	35	52	−17	27	Merit League Two
8	Northampton Town U18s	22	8	2	12	39	43	−4	26
9	Milton Keynes Dons U18s	22	8	1	13	44	63	−19	25
10	Dagenham & Redbridge U18s	22	7	0	15	36	54	−18	21
11	Peterborough United U18s	22	6	2	14	37	63	−26	20
12	Cambridge United U18s	22	4	3	15	34	57	−23	15

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	Leyton Orient U18s (C)	10	9	1	0	23	3	+20	28
2	Portsmouth U18s	10	5	3	2	24	18	+6	18
3	AFC Wimbledon U18s	10	5	3	2	22	16	+6	18
4	AFC Bournemouth U18s	10	5	2	3	20	13	+7	17
5	Luton Town U18s	10	4	2	4	12	11	+1	14
6	Exeter City U18s	10	4	2	4	17	19	−2	14
7	Cheltenham Town U18s	10	4	1	5	21	26	−5	13
8	Gillingham U18s	10	3	1	6	9	17	−8	10
9	Southend United U18s	10	2	3	5	14	19	−5	9
10	Plymouth Argyle U18s	10	2	1	7	16	24	−8	7
11	Barnet U18s	10	2	1	7	13	25	−12	7

Source:
(C) Champions

Merit League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Oxford United U18s (C)	10	9	0	1	32	9	+23	27
2	Cambridge United U18s	10	6	1	3	22	14	+8	19
3	Milton Keynes Dons U18s	10	6	1	3	29	23	+6	19
4	Newport County U18s	10	5	1	4	20	23	−3	16
5	Stevenage U18s	10	4	2	4	16	16	0	14
6	Yeovil Town U18s	10	4	2	4	16	20	−4	14
7	Swindon Town U18s	10	4	1	5	25	20	+5	13
8	Dagenham & Redbridge U18s	10	4	1	5	26	28	−2	13
9	Northampton Town U18s	10	3	3	4	21	15	+6	12
10	Peterborough United U18s	10	3	1	6	15	26	−11	10
11	Bristol Rovers U18s	10	0	1	9	7	35	−28	1

Source:
(C) Champions

See also

• 2015–16 Professional U21 Development League
• 2015–16 FA Cup
• 2015–16 FA Youth Cup
• 2015–16 in English football

References

1. "UEFA Youth League retained and expanded". UEFA.org. 18 September 2014.
2. "U18 PREMIER LEAGUE DIVISION 1". Premier League. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
3. "Football League Youth Alliance Fixtures 2015/16".
4. "Football League Youth Alliance". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 October 2015.