The Youth League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (AIFF Youth League), U15 (Junior League) and U13 (Sub-Junior League).
The league was founded as the I-League U19 in 2008, which was to give youth teams of the I-League a national league to play in. 16 teams were split into four groups of four. At the end of the season, the top team from the group stage would move onto the final stage with the other group winners, and play each other once. The inaugural winners were Tata Football Academy.[1]
The competition name was changed in 2012 to the I-League U-20,[2] because many U-20 players in the I-League were not getting any time in the senior teams.
The U20 name only lasted for two seasons, before the All India Football Federation decided to switch the tournament format back to an under-19 format from 2014.[3] From 2014, the tournament was divided into five zones, namely Kolkata, Mumbai, Shillong, Goa and Rest of India.
The competition once again changed format in 2015–16, played as U18 tournament. From 2017–18 season, the league was renamed as Youth League U18 and subsequently as Elite League from 2018–19.
Structure
For younger categories, in most cases teams play each other in their respective zonal groups twice – home and away. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams go through to the final phase.
Those teams are divided into three groups and the group champions, along with the best second placed teams, qualify for the knockout stages.
For Youth League, the latest tournament took place across ten venues, with single round-robin format in the group and knockout stage. The 49 teams from 29 states and union territories were divided in ten groups.
The Youth League or the Hero U-17 Youth Cup was previously known as I-League U18, I-League U19 and I-League U20.[9] is the top level of youth football in India. It is contested between the under-17 sides of The I-League teams, Indian Super League teams, as well as other youth teams. The most successful team currently is AIFF Elite Academy, who won three titles. Minerva Punjab are the last known champions.
On 7 December 2018 AIFF decided to change its name to Hero Elite League.[10][11]
Dream Sports Championship is another competition for U17 players organized by Dream Sports India.
Under-15 level (9-a-side)
Junior League or AIFF Junior League is the under-15 level of youth football in India.
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