# 2015–16 Professional U21 Development League

The 2015–16 Professional U21 Development League is the fourth season of the Professional Development League system.

## League 1

League 1, referred to as the Barclays Under 21 Premier League for sponsorship reasons, was split into two divisions, with teams allocated places in Division 1 or 2 based on their performance in the 2014–15 season.
At the end of the season, the team which finished top of Division 1 was crowned as overall League 1 champions, and the bottom two teams in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2 for the 2016–17 season.

### Division 1
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Manchester United U21s (C) | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 44 | 19 | +25 | 48 | |
| 2 | Sunderland U21s | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 20 | +18 | 43 | |
| 3 | Everton U21s | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 37 | |
| 4 | Manchester City EDS | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 34 | |
| 5 | Chelsea U21s | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 33 | |
| 6 | Southampton U21s | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 30 | |
| 7 | Liverpool U21s | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 37 | −11 | 28 | |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur U21s | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 43 | +1 | 27 | |
| 9 | Reading U21s | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 34 | 40 | −6 | 27 | |
| 10 | Leicester City U21s | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 25 | 48 | −23 | 21 | |
| 11 | Middlesbrough U21s (R) | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 37 | −4 | 20 | Relegation to 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 12 | Norwich City U21s (R) | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 50 | −20 | 19 | Relegation to 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | CHE | EVE | LEI | LIV | MNC | MNU | MID | NOR | REA | SOT | SUN | TOT |
| Chelsea U21s | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Everton U21s | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Leicester City U21s | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–6 | 0–3 |
| Liverpool U21s | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Manchester City EDS | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 |
| Manchester United U21s | 1–1 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Middlesbrough U21s | 1–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Norwich City U21s | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–5 | | 4–4 | 7–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 |
| Reading U21s | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | | 2–5 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Southampton U21s | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Sunderland U21s | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | | 1–0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur U21s | 4–5 | 4–1 | 7–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 3–1 | |

### Division 2
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| 1 | Derby County U21s (P) | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 42 | Promotion to 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 1 |
| 2 | Arsenal U21s (P) | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 40 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 3 | Swansea City U21s | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 42 | 24 | +18 | 39 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 4 | Aston Villa U21s | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 39 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers U21s | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 34 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 6 | West Bromwich Albion U21s | 22 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 33 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 7 | West Ham United U21s | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 32 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 8 | Stoke City U21s | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 32 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 9 | Fulham U21s | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 29 | −3 | 29 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 10 | Newcastle United U21s | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 18 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 11 | Brighton & Hove Albion U21s | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 36 | −19 | 14 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s | 22 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 35 | −15 | 13 | Qualification for 2016–17 U23 Premier League Division 2 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ARS | AST | BLB | B&HA | DER | FUL | NEW | STO | SWA | WBA | WHU | WOL |
| Arsenal U21s | | 1–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| Aston Villa U21s | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Blackburn Rovers U21s | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 2–1 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion U21s | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 0–4 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Derby County U21s | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | | 3–0 | 6–4 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Fulham U21s | 0–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| Newcastle United U21s | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–3 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 |
| Stoke City U21s | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Swansea City U21s | 3–1 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 5–3 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 |
| West Bromwich Albion U21s | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| West Ham United U21s | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 4–0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | |

##### Play-offs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 2 | Arsenal U21s | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers U21s | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers U21s | 1 | 2 | Arsenal U21s | 3 |
| | | | 4 | Aston Villa U21s | 1 |
| 3 | Swansea City U21s | 1 | 4 | Aston Villa U21s | 1 |
| 4 | Aston Villa U21s | 2 | | | |

#### Final
## League 2

League 2, referred to as the U21 Professional Development League 2, 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.
21 Teams competed in the league this season, 2 more than last season. Swansea City U21s left the league after 3 seasons to join the Premier League 2 as a Category One Academy on July 10. Meanwhile, Bolton Wanderers U21s joined the league after dropping their Academy to Category Two Status in June. Hull City U21s, and Watford U21s joined the league after obtaining Category Two Academy status with Hull City joining in May, and on July 3 for Watford.

### League stage
#### North Division table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Huddersfield Town U21s | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 62 | 33 | +29 | 65 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 2 | Sheffield United U21s | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 43 | 24 | +19 | 57 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 3 | Hull City U21s | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 46 | |
| 4 | Birmingham City U21s | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 39 | |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest U21s | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 39 | |
| 6 | Bolton Wanderers U21s | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 41 | 45 | −4 | 37 | |
| 7 | Leeds United U21s | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 37 | |
| 8 | Crewe Alexandra U21s | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 47 | 55 | −8 | 36 | |
| 9 | Coventry City U21s | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 43 | 57 | −14 | 36 | |
| 10 | Sheffield Wednesday U21s | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 28 | 42 | −14 | 32 | |
| 11 | Barnsley U21s | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 41 | 55 | −14 | 31 | |

#### South Division table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Charlton Athletic U21s | 29 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 52 | 29 | +23 | 57 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 2 | Millwall U21s | 29 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 54 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 3 | Cardiff City U21s | 29 | 16 | 5 | 8 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 53 | |
| 4 | Colchester United U21s | 29 | 16 | 3 | 10 | 45 | 38 | +7 | 51 | |
| 5 | Crystal Palace U21s | 29 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 55 | 51 | +4 | 40 | |
| 6 | Queens Park Rangers U21s | 29 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 55 | 64 | −9 | 35 | |
| 7 | Ipswich Town U21s | 29 | 9 | 6 | 14 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 33 | |
| 8 | Brentford U21s | 29 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 50 | 63 | −13 | 32 | |
| 9 | Bristol City U21s | 29 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 38 | 59 | −21 | 30 | |
| 10 | Watford U21s | 29 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 33 | 56 | −23 | 22 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BAR | BIR | BOL | BRE | BRI | CAR | CHA | COL | COV | CRE | CPA | HUD | HUL | IPS | LEE | MIL | NOT | QPR | SHE | SHW | WTF |
| Barnsley U21s | | 0–4 | 1–0 | | 2–3 | | | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–3 | | 6–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | |
| Birmingham City U21s | 2–0 | | 2–2 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | | | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Bolton Wanderers U21s | 2–0 | 1–1 | | | 2–1 | | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | |
| Brentford U21s | 4–2 | | 1–3 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 3–3 | 2–2 | | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | | 0–0 | 2–3 | | 4–3 |
| Bristol City U21s | | 3–2 | | 3–0 | | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–4 | | 2–1 | 1–4 | | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Cardiff City U21s | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 3–2 | | 4–0 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | | 3–2 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Charlton Athletic U21s | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Colchester United U21s | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | | | 3–0 | 2–3 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–5 | | | 0–0 |
| Coventry City U21s | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 4–2 | | 2–1 | | 4–1 | | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 1–2 | | 2–6 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Crewe Alexandra U21s | 4–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | | 0–3 | | 2–0 | | 2–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | | 3–1 | | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 5–3 |
| Crystal Palace U21s | | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | | 1–3 | 2–0 | | 6–2 |
| Huddersfield Town U21s | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | | 4–0 | 6–1 | 1–1 | | | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 3–1 | |
| Hull City U21s | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | | 5–0 | 1–3 | | 3–1 | | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–4 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | |
| Ipswich Town U21s | | | 2–1 | 1–3 | 6–1 | 0–5 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | | 1–2 | | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Leeds United U21s | 1–4 | 0–0 | 3–3 | | 3–0 | 1–3 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | | | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| Millwall U21s | 4–2 | | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 0–2 | | 3–0 | 3–1 | | | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 0–0 |
| Nottingham Forest U21s | 1–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Queens Park Rangers U21s | | 1–4 | | 0–3 | 4–5 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 3–1 | 5–2 | 5–5 | 2–6 | 1–1 | | 0–4 | 3–1 | | | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Sheffield United U21s | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | | | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | |
| Sheffield Wednesday U21s | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | | | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | | 0–0 |
| Watford U21s | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | | | 0–5 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 3–3 | 0–2 | | |