# 2016–17 Professional U23 Development League

The 2016–17 Professional U23 Development League was the fifth season of the Professional Development League system, and the first since the age limit was raised from under-21 to under-23.

## League 1

Premier League 2 (previously the Under 21 Premier League) was the fifth season of the competition since its introduction in 2012, and the first since being changed from an under-21 league to under-23.
The league was split into two divisions, with teams allocated places in Division 1 or 2 based on their performance in the 2015–16 season.
At the end of the season, the team which finished top of Division 1 was crowned as overall champions, and the bottom two teams in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2 for the 2017–18 season.

### Division 1
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Everton U23s (C) | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 48 | 21 | +27 | 48 | |
| 2 | Manchester City EDS | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 45 | |
| 3 | Liverpool U23s | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 27 | +20 | 43 | |
| 4 | Arsenal U23s | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 33 | |
| 5 | Chelsea U23s | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 30 | |
| 6 | Manchester United U23s | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 26 | |
| 7 | Sunderland U23s | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 25 | |
| 8 | Derby County U23s | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 24 | |
| 9 | Leicester City U23s | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 23 | |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur U23s | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 22 | |
| 11 | Reading U23s (R) | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 22 | Relegation to Division 2 |
| 12 | Southampton U23s (R) | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 21 | Relegation to Division 2 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ARS | CHE | DER | EVE | LEI | LIV | MNC | MNU | REA | SOT | SUN | TOT |
| Arsenal U23s | | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Chelsea U23s | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Derby County U23s | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 5–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Everton U23s | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Leicester City U23s | 2–1 | 0–4 | 5–0 | 1–4 | | 1–3 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 |
| Liverpool U23s | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| Manchester City EDS | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| Manchester United U23s | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 0–2 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 3–2 |
| Reading U23s | 2–5 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 3–6 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–2 | | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–4 |
| Southampton U23s | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Sunderland U23s | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 2–2 |
| Tottenham Hotspur U23s | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–6 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | |

### Division 2
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| 1 | Swansea City U23s (P) | 22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 43 | 22 | +21 | 52 | Promotion to Division 1 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 30 | +12 | 41 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 3 | Newcastle United U23s | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 37 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 4 | Fulham U23s | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 33 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 5 | West Ham United U23s (P) | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 33 | Qualification for Play-offs |
| 6 | Blackburn Rovers U23s | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 28 | −4 | 32 | |
| 7 | Aston Villa U23s | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 30 | |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion U23s | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 22 | −2 | 28 | |
| 9 | West Bromwich Albion U23s | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 25 | 33 | −8 | 22 | |
| 10 | Middlesbrough U23s | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 34 | −9 | 21 | |
| 11 | Stoke City U23s | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 25 | 36 | −11 | 20 | |
| 12 | Norwich City U23s | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 35 | −17 | 17 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AST | BLB | B&H | FUL | MID | NEW | NOR | STO | SWA | WBA | WHU | WOL |
| Aston Villa U23s | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Blackburn Rovers U23s | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion U23s | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Fulham U23s | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–4 |
| Middlesbrough U23s | 1–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 | | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Newcastle United U23s | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Norwich City U23s | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Stoke City U23s | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 |
| Swansea City U23s | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| West Bromwich Albion U23s | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 0–4 | 0–1 |
| West Ham United U23s | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | | 2–2 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 0–4 | |

### Play-offs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s | 1 | | | |
| 5 | West Ham United U23s | 2 | | | |
| 5 | West Ham United U23s | 2 | 3 | Newcastle United U23s | 1 |
| | | | 5 | West Ham United U23s | 2 |
| 3 | Newcastle United U23s | 2 | 5 | West Ham United U23s | 2 |
| 4 | Fulham U23s | 0 | | | |

#### Final
## League 2

The Professional U23 Development League 2, also known as U23 PDL-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 28 games each.
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. 20 Teams competed this season, 1 fewer than last time. Brentford withdrawing at the end of last season after they closed their academy meant Coventry City moved to the south division for an even distribution of 10 teams per division.

### Tables
#### North Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sheffield Wednesday U23s | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 43 | 28 | +15 | 50 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 2 | Hull City U23s | 28 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 51 | 42 | +9 | 48 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 3 | Bolton Wanderers U23s | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 42 | +11 | 46 | |
| 4 | Birmingham City U23s | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 46 | |
| 5 | Crewe Alexandra U23s | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 46 | |
| 6 | Huddersfield Town U23s | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 54 | 42 | +12 | 44 | |
| 7 | Sheffield United U23s | 28 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 49 | 43 | +6 | 42 | |
| 8 | Nottingham Forest U23s | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 35 | |
| 9 | Barnsley U23s | 28 | 9 | 4 | 15 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 31 | |
| 10 | Leeds United U23s | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 33 | 52 | −19 | 24 | |

#### South Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Charlton Athletic U23s | 28 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 53 | 26 | +27 | 53 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 2 | Millwall U23s | 28 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 47 | 33 | +14 | 42 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 3 | Cardiff City U23s | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 38 | |
| 4 | Coventry City U23s | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 50 | 58 | −8 | 38 | |
| 5 | Bristol City U23s | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 36 | |
| 6 | Queens Park Rangers U23s | 28 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 51 | 63 | −12 | 36 | |
| 7 | Ipswich Town U23s | 28 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 57 | 54 | +3 | 35 | |
| 8 | Colchester United U23s | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 42 | 56 | −14 | 33 | |
| 9 | Watford U23s | 28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 42 | 65 | −23 | 32 | |
| 10 | Crystal Palace U23s | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 49 | −23 | 29 | |

### Knock-out stage

Semi-finals
Final