No QPR in the New Premiership U-21...in Div 2 Sth

[Macmoish]

PREMIERSHIP

First Published: Friday 03 August 2012
Premier League confirms U21 fixtures & teams
New league designed to help bridge the gap between Academy and first-team

As part of the most comprehensive review of youth development in over a decade, the 2012/13 season will see the start of the first national competition for U21 players.

The new Barclays U21 Premier League has been devised as part of the new system and will help bridge the gap between Academy and First Team.
Taking part in the 2012/13 Barclays U21 Premier League will be the 23 clubs who applied for Category One status as part of the categorisation process of the new youth development system: 17 Premier League and six Championship clubs applied and will therefore take part.
All the teams have been confirmed and the fixtures compiled for the first phase of the competition, which will kick off on Friday, August 17th.

"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"
- Richard Scudamore


A draw was recently held at the Premier League to determine which clubs will play up to the end of the year in three national groups: these are split into two groups of eight and one of seven clubs.

The groups are:
National Group One
Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Everton, Norwich City, Reading, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United
National Group Two
Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford
National Group Three
Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton Wanderers

After this first group stage, the clubs will be placed into three groups based on their performance.
The top three teams from National Group One and Two and the top two sides from National Group Three will qualify for the Elite Group, with the other clubs making it into Qualification Group Tier One or Qualification Group Tier Two depending on their finishing position.
The teams will again play eachother home and away with the top three teams from the Elite Group qualifying for the knockout semi-finals.

The winners of the two Qualification Groups will take part in a play-off to decide who will make up the quartet. The semi-final winners will then contest the final.
The emphasis will be on playing U21 players with each team limited to just three over-age outfield players and one over-age goalkeeper.
Matches will be played over weekends from Friday to Monday and will provide clubs the opportunity for U21 players to be available both for the first team fixtures and the Barclays U21 Premier League.
There is a requirement that at least two Barclays U21 Premier League matches must be at the main ground of each club and the play-offs, semi-finals and final also be played at the main grounds of the home clubs.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: "The restructuring and reform of the Youth Development system in English professional football is driven by the ojective 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.
"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."
Premier League Director of Youth, Ged Roddy, added: "Much has been done across the game to modernise the youth system over the last three years. Clubs have consistently highlighted the need to create serious competitive games as part of the overall professional game in this country.
"The Barclays U21 Premier League aims to provide that vital transitional step"
- Ged Roddy
"The Barclays U21 Premier League aims to provide that vital transitional step and will become the hardest playground in the world as part of a players total education, because the next game may well be a debut in the Barclays Premier League itself.
"The matches will be structured to complement the Premier League game rounds.
"So, 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 in the U21 League."
The first fixtures scheduled will be in London as Chelsea take on Manchester City and West Ham United play Reading.
Several fixtures take place at clubs main grounds in the first month of the competition: Arsenal will play their first two home matches at the Emirates Stadium against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers respectively.
Crystal Palace will kick-off their home campaign against Liverpool on Monday, August 27th at Selhurst Park.
Stamford Bridge will host Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers at 4pm on Saturday, September 1st and on Tuesday, September 18th the Sports Direct Arena will see Newcastle United play local rivals Sunderland.

Click here for the full Under-21 fixture list
Click here for full details about the Elite Player Performance Plan
www.premierleague.com/en-gb/youth/elite-player-performance-plan.html

www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/premier-league-confirms-u21-fixtures-and-teams.html

[Macmoish]

FROM NOVEMBER 2011 - PREMIERSHIP

First Published: Wednesday 16 November 2011
The Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) is a long-term strategy designed to take Premier League Youth Development to the next level.

The EPPP is the result of consultation between the Premier League and its clubs, representatives of the Football League, the Football Association and other key football stakeholders.

It has six fundamental principles:

· Increase the number and quality of Home Grown Players gaining professional contracts in the clubs and playing first-team football at the highest level
· Create more time for players to play and be coached
· Improve coaching provision
· Implement a system of effective measurement and quality assurance
· Positively influence strategic investment into the Academy System, demonstrating value for money
· Seek to implement significant gains in every aspect of player development

It will do this by focusing on four main areas:

· Coaching
· Classification
· Compensation
· Education

Academies will be independently audited and given a Category status of 1 to 4, with 1 being the most elite. Up to 10 different factors will be considered in the grading, including productivity rates; training facilities; and coaching, education and welfare provisions.

The higher a club's Category the more funding will be available to it and the EPPP will see the Premier League and FA invest more central income than ever before in Youth Development programmes across the country.
Focus on Youth Development

Director of Youth at the Premier League Ged Roddy led the Working Group that created the EPPP, and he believes Youth Development has never been more important.

"Since the inception of the Premier League there has always been a strong focus on Youth Development, but the focus on youth has probably never been as intense or as urgent as it is right now," said Roddy.

"With the ever-increasing quality of the Barclays Premier League and the exceptional buying power of clubs, it has become self-evident to every young Academy player that if he wants to succeed, not only will he have to be one of the best players in England but also the world.

"This is a massive challenge for any young player and a widespread consultation has taken place across the game to address how a modernised youth system can be sustained which will provide the best platform to support the aspirations of our Home Grown Players to succeed in the biggest of big leagues."

Roddy says the EPPP draws on the collective best practice that already thrives in the youth system in England and learns from other youth systems in football and other elite environments across the world.

Some key areas the EPPP will focus on include:

· Allowing clubs to have more coaching time with their young players
· Helping clubs foster links with local schools in order to help young players get the best out of their football education as well as the academic side
· Allowing clubs that have earned a top category grading to recruit young talent from further afield than is permitted under the current rules
· Working with the Football League to review the current system used for determining compensation

Roddy admits there is not one big idea that will transform youth development, but instead a forensic attention to detail that can help deliver the right results.
"The new system will create greater access to players"
- Ged Roddy
"Many innovations proposed in the new plans will contribute to achieving widespread marginal gains in every aspect of the youth system," he says.

"These marginal gains when knitted together collectively will deliver the significant improvements in the development of Home Grown Players that all clubs want to achieve.

"The new system will create greater access to players so that they can receive more time to train and prepare effectively for a career in the Barclays Premier League. These changes will raise the intensity of the Academy system, leading to improved education and career support programmes being rolled out to ensure every player is provided with holistic support for all of his development.

"When you strip it down to its most fundamental, the EPPP is about creating an environment where a local boy, developed in his local club from eight or nine years of age, can go on to pull on a first-team shirt of the club that he has grown up at.

"This is every boy's dream and, while in reality only a lucky few will achieve it, the EPPP for all its focus on the science of elite development sets out to ensure that this dream can remain a reality for the next generation of young players."

www.premierleague.com/en-gb/youth/elite-player-performance-plan.html

[Macmoish]

MIRROR


By John Cross 1 Comment 3 Aug 2012

Premier League 2: Electric Boogaloo! Clubs enter new U21s competition

All the top flight's sides except QPR, Swansea and Wigan plus six teams from the Championship will take part


The future's bright: Richard Scudamore has a cunning plan...
Ian Vogler
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has announced a new Under-21s league which they hope will revolutionise football.

Twenty three clubs - 17 from the Premier League and six from the Championship - will take part in the three-group-format competition from later this month.

They are all the clubs which applied for category one status in the Premier League's new academy system, but the league is supposed to bridge the gap between academies and the first team.

Scudamore said: "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 homegrown boys to that next level."

A television deal could be in place for next year, but clubs will be able to show games on their own TV channels in the coming season.

Group 1: Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, Norwich, Reading, West Bromwich, West Ham.

Group 2: Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Tottenham, Watford.

Group 3: Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Wolves.


www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-announce-new-under-21s-1212918

[Macmoish]

Presumably this shows - again - how far behind we are in youth Development Facilities/Academy - and this will change.
The Fact that Six Championship Clubs ARE involved does grate. And that Reading (ok Prem now) Watford, Crystal Palace,

[Macmoish]

We're in Div 2 South

Bristol City Official Site

CITY TO ENTER UNDER-21 DIVISION
Posted on: Mon 13 Aug 2012

City will be playing Under-21 football next season - and it will be free for season ticket holders at Ashton Gate!

The club has entered into a Category 2 South division under the new EPPP Academy development league.

In an 11-team division, City will come up against the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City and Cardiff City.


www.bcfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10327~2877604,00.html


UPDATE

Brentford Official Site

Brentford join QPR and Swansea in new EPPP Development League.

Brentford will take part in the inaugural season of the Under-21’s Development league as part of the new Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).

The leagues are divided based on a club’s EPPP category and Brentford will face fellow Category 2 clubs Swansea, QPR, Cardiff, Colchester, Ipswich, Millwall, Bristol City, Charlton, Brighton and Barnet.

Home games will be played at Griffin Park and the Jersey Road training ground on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and will be open to fans.

Dates and details for the games will be released when they are finalised.

The new Under 21 league is designed to bridge the gap between Academy and first team football with clubs restricted to three outfield players over the age of 21 and one over-21 goalkeeper per match.

Ose Aibangee, Director of Youth Development, said that this league is another important step forward for the club.

“Academy football is about how you develop young players and as far as I’m concerned we develop players as good as anyone else in the country.

“It is testament to the football club who backed the academy when we said we wanted to run a Development Squad last year.

“The aim for all players in the Development Squad is not just to do well here but also to push for a place in the first-team.”

Ose’s full interview is available exclusively on Bees Player.

[cpr]

We need the training ground and academy before getting any further. In fairness, they've done well to attain that status. Don't forget the CoE is now at a different location, primarilly one that backs Brentford. Where will they actually play their games? Acton, Harlington or Loftus Road.

Our yout setup is miles behind the clubs you mention Mac but our community scheme is far superior.