Radical youth shake-up revealed with U21 Premier League set for big kick-off

23 teams confirmed to play in new style group phases before competition culminates in knock-out format

Regional games scrapped in favour of national mix

Up and away: West Ham, with starlet Daniel Potts, will launch the new tournament

A new Barclays Under-21 Premier League will be launched later this month aimed at bridging the gap between youth academies and first teams at England's top clubs.

The Premier League have confirmed the creation of the first national Under-21 competition which will kick off on Friday, August 17 when Chelsea meet Manchester City and Reading visit West Ham.

The league will be made up of 23 teams – 17 Premier League clubs and six from the Championship whose academies have also been granted category one status – and split into three groups.

The first will be made up of Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, Norwich, Reading, West Brom and West Ham.

Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Tottenham, Watford will play in the second group.

And a smaller seven-team group three contains Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Wolves.

National Group 1 - eight teams Arsenal

Blackburn

Bolton

Everton

Norwich

Reading

West Brom

West Ham National Group 2 - eight teams Aston Villa

Man United

Newcastle

Southampton

Stoke

Sunderland

Tottenham

Watford National Group 3 - seven teams Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Liverpool

Manchester City

Middlesbrough

Wolves

HOW IT WORKS...

From January onwards, the teams will be placed into three new pools based on their performance to encourage more even games, leading to a knockout stage and final. Each team will be restricted to three over-age outfield players and one over-age goalkeeper to try and ensure Under-21s are given as much football as they need.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: 'The restructuring and reform of the youth development system in English professional football is driven by the objective of producing more and better home grown players at every level.

'Each stage of a player's development is tailored to ensuring they have the best possible chance of progressing, and the new Barclays U21 Premier League addresses one of the most critical points – the transition from academy football to the highest standards in the first team.

Time to shine: Youngsters, like Arsenal's Chuks Aneke, will hope to push for a first-team place by impressing in the competition

'We believe this competitive environment, where fans can also come along to watch the next generation of Premier League and international players, will help deliver more talented home grown boys to that next level.'

Matches will take place from Friday to Monday and be scheduled around first-team fixtures to ensure that young players still get a game in the U21 League if they do not play for their senior side.

Premier League director of youth Ged Roddy said: 'As a first team manager there is a great benefit in knowing that you can have your U21 player on the bench for the first team, but if he doesn't play then there's still the option for him to have high quality competitive football that weekend.'



