Now NextGen is being revived as a three-day, invite only tournament

Its success saw the launch of UEFA Youth League which replaced it

Tottenham and Barcelona are set to compete in a revived NextGen Series for under-19 teams in Amsterdam in May.

A three-day tournament will take place at the Olympic Stadium in the Dutch city on May 14-16, with other participants including Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Galatasaray, and Ajax Cape Town. The final two participants have yet to be announced.

The original NextGen series was a continental tournament for youth teams and ran for two seasons between 2011 and 2013 before being sidelined by UEFA’s Youth League.

Josh Onomah is the latest player at Spurs to break into the first team having played in the NextGen series

Seungwoo Lee of Barcelona, left, is likely to play in the NextGen Series for the Catalan giant's under 19s

WHAT WAS THE NEXTGEN SERIES? The NextGen Series was the precursor to the UEFA Youth League. It ran for two seasons from 2011 to 2013. It was was popular with development coaches for pitting successful academies against each other based on their own performance rather than the that of their first teams. The first edition was won by Inter Milan and the second by Aston Villa after an all-English final with Chelsea. Advertisement

Inter Milan won the first edition of the tournament, beating Ajax on penalties in the London final, with British clubs Liverpool, Manchester City, Spurs, Aston Villa and Celtic having taken part.

The second season saw three British clubs - Chelsea, Arsenal and Villa - reach the semi-finals. Villa beat Chelsea 2-0 in the final, held in Como, Italy.

However, a shortage of funding and the launch of UEFA’s competition for under-19 sides led to the Series being suspended.

The NextGen Series is now set to be re-launched, albeit on a smaller scale, with the eight participants split into two group of four and the top two advancing to the semi-finals.

Those who finish third and fourth in the groups will take part in play-offs for positions 5-8.

All the matches will take place at the 22,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam over the three days.