# 2022–23 Professional U21 Development League

The 2022–23 Professional U21 Development League was the 11th season of the Professional Development League system.
The Premier League 2 reverted back to a U21 competition ahead of the 2022–23 season. Burnley, Birmingham City and Reading left the league after failing to retain category one academy status.
For the 2022–23 season onwards, player eligibility was restricted to under-21 players (reduced from under-23) born after 1 January 2001. To help with the transition, teams were allowed up to five over-age outfield players (up from three) and one over-age goalkeeper for the 2022-23 season.

## Premier League 2
### Division 1

    As of match played 8 May 2023

#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Manchester City U21s (C) | 26 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 80 | 31 | +49 | 59 |
| 2 | Liverpool U21s | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 46 | 29 | +17 | 46 |
| 3 | Chelsea U21s | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 43 |
| 4 | Crystal Palace U21s | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 42 |
| 5 | Fulham U21s | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 50 | 39 | +11 | 41 |
| 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion U21s | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 39 |
| 7 | Arsenal U21s | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 34 |
| 8 | Everton U21s | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 32 |
| 9 | Manchester United U21s | 26 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 46 | 64 | −18 | 30 |
| 10 | Blackburn Rovers U21s | 26 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 42 | 52 | −10 | 29 |
| 11 | West Ham United U21s | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 39 | 49 | −10 | 28 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 39 | 50 | −11 | 28 |
| 13 | Tottenham Hotspur U21s (R) | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 34 | 46 | −12 | 28 |
| 14 | Leicester City U21s (R) | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 57 | −28 | 19 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ARS | BLA | BHA | CHE | CRY | EVE | FUL | LEI | LIV | MNC | MNU | TOT | WHU | WOL |
| Arsenal U21ss | | 4–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Blackburn Rovers U21s | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 6–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion U21s | 2–2 | 4–2 | | 2–2 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Chelsea U21s | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 |
| Crystal Palace U21s | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 3–3 | | 3–4 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 |
| Everton U21s | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 6–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Fulham U21s | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–0 | | 2–2 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Leicester City U21s | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–7 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Liverpool U21s | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 7–1 | | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| Manchester City U21s | 6–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | | 6–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 4–3 |
| Manchester United U21s | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–6 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Tottenham Hotspur U21s | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| West Ham United U21s | 2–3 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–5 | 2–3 | 1–0 | | 3–1 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–7 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–5 | |

### Division 2

    As of match played 15 May 2023

#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Southampton U21s (C, P) | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 54 | 28 | +26 | 42 |
| 2 | Leeds United U21s (P) | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 53 | 29 | +24 | 42 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest U21s | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 44 | 28 | +16 | 41 |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion U21s | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 37 |
| 5 | Aston Villa U21s | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 46 | 35 | +11 | 33 |
| 6 | Norwich City U21s | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 30 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough U21s | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 26 |
| 8 | Newcastle United U21s | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 23 |
| 9 | Sunderland U21s | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 20 |
| 10 | Stoke City U21s | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 26 | 45 | −19 | 14 |
| 11 | Derby County U21s | 20 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 13 | 70 | −57 | 1 |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AST | DER | LEE | MID | NEW | NOR | NOT | SOU | STK | SUN | WBA |
| Aston Villa U21s | | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 6–4 | 2–6 |
| Derby County U21s | 0–2 | | 2–5 | 1–5 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–6 | 0–4 | 1–5 |
| Leeds United U21s | 2–1 | 3–0 | | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 6–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Middlesbrough U21s | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–4 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 |
| Newcastle United U21s | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 4–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–5 |
| Norwich City U21s | 1–3 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 2–2 | 4–2 | | 0–3 | 2–5 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Nottingham Forest U21s | 4–3 | 7–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 4–1 | | 1–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Southampton U21s | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 8–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 |
| Stoke City U21s | 3–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| Sunderland U21s | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–7 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 4–1 | | 3–3 |
| West Bromwich Albion U21s | 0–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | |

##### Play-offs

The date for semi-finals is confirmed as 8 May 2023 at 19:00. The date for final is confirmed as 15 May 2023 at 19:00.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 2 | Leeds United U21s | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Aston Villa U21s | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Aston Villa U21s | 1 | Leeds United U21s | Leeds United U21s | 3 |
| | | | Nottingham Forest U21s | Nottingham Forest U21s | 0 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest U21s | 3 | Nottingham Forest U21s | Nottingham Forest U21s | 0 |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion U21s | 0 | | | |

#### Final
## Professional Development League

The Professional Development League is Under-21 football's second tier, designed for those academies with Category 2 status. The league is split regionally into north and south divisions, with each team facing opponents in their own region twice both home and away and opponents in the other region once resulting in 28 games being played by both divisions. The sides finishing in the top two positions in both regions at the end of the season will progress to a knockout stage to determine the overall league champion. Coventry City U21s are the defending champions.
20 Teams competed in the league this season, 3 more than the previous season. Burnley U21s and Birmingham City U21s returned to the league after failing to retain Category One Academy status after 2 seasons for Burnley U21s, and 1 season for Birmingham City U21s. Reading U21s joined after temporarily dropping to Category Two status after 10 seasons in the Premier League 2.

### Tables
#### North Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sheffield United U21s | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 59 | 30 | +29 | 60 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 2 | Hull City U21s | 28 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 60 | 48 | +12 | 42 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 3 | Wigan Athletic U21s | 28 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 56 | 44 | +12 | 42 | |
| 4 | Coventry City U21s | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 39 | |
| 5 | Burnley U21s | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 57 | −12 | 38 | |
| 6 | Peterborough United U21s | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 37 | |
| 7 | Barnsley U21s | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 36 | |
| 8 | Crewe Alexandra U21s | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 56 | −21 | 31 | |
| 9 | Birmingham City U21s | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 61 | −23 | 29 | |
| 10 | Sheffield Wednesday U21s | 28 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 22 | 55 | −33 | 19 | |

#### South Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Millwall U21s | 28 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 70 | 32 | +38 | 61 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 2 | Bristol City U21s | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 26 | +21 | 53 | Qualification for Knock-out stage |
| 3 | Swansea City U21s | 28 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 80 | 46 | +34 | 52 | |
| 4 | Cardiff City U21s | 28 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 47 | 57 | −10 | 42 | |
| 5 | Reading U21 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 44 | 40 | +4 | 41 | |
| 6 | Ipswich Town U21s | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 60 | 61 | −1 | 39 | |
| 7 | Queens Park Rangers U21s | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 54 | 52 | +2 | 38 | |
| 8 | Charlton Athletic U21s | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 56 | 59 | −3 | 37 | |
| 9 | Colchester United U21s | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 46 | 63 | −17 | 28 | |
| 10 | Watford U21s | 28 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 31 | 66 | −35 | 21 | |

### Knock-out stage

Semi-finals
Professional Development League National Final