Premier Academy League Information & Premier Academy League Links at HealthHaven.com

Premier Academy League
Countries	England
Founded	1997
Divisions	4
Number of teams	40
Relegation to	Football League Youth Alliance
Level on pyramid	Level 1
Domestic cup(s)	FA Youth Cup
Current champions	Arsenal U18s (2008–09)
	2009–10 season

The Premier Academy League is the top level of youth football in England. It is contested between the Academy sides of The Premier League and some Football League clubs, including Welsh side Cardiff City. It sits above the second tier of youth football, The Football League Youth Alliance, which is for the remaining Football League clubs and some Football Conference clubs with Centre of Excellence.

[edit] History

The league was founded as the FA Premier Youth League in 1997, replacing regionally-based youth leagues such as the South East Counties League as the top level of youth football. Clubs fielded Under-18 teams, with up to three Under-19 players allowed per match. 16 teams were split into Northern and Southern conferences of 8 teams each; teams played others within their own conference twice and teams from the other conference once. At the end of the season all the teams were paired into rounds of play-offs played over two legs in a knockout system. The inaugural winners were Arsenal, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on aggregate in the final.

The competition was revamped in 1998 with the introduction of the Football Association's Academy system and renamed the FA Premier Academy League. The competition was divided into Under-19 and Under-17 sections, and more teams were admitted - 32 in total, split into four conferences (two Southern, two Northern) of eight teams each. Teams played those within their own conference twice and the team from the other conference in their region once, again with play-offs between all teams at the end.

The U19 competition was expanded to 40 teams in five groups of 8 in 1999-00, before being reorganised into four groups of ten in 2000-01. The play-off format was revamped in 2003-04, with only the four group winners proceeding to the play-offs.

The league was reorganised yet again in 2004-05 season, with the league being reformed as a single Under-18 competition (players are aged under 18 on the preceding 31 August), with up to 3 Under-19 outfield players and 1 Under-19 goalkeeper allowed per team per match. Teams also compete at an Under-16 level in identically formed groups, but these are played as friendlies – no league table is maintained and no play-offs are contested. This format has remained to the present day.

[edit] Current participants

The participants for the 2009-10 season in the Under-18 League are:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Arsenal Charlton Athletic Chelsea Crystal Palace Fulham Ipswich Town Norwich City Portsmouth Southampton West Ham United	Aston Villa Birmingham City Bristol City Cardiff City Coventry City Leicester City Milton Keynes Dons Reading Tottenham Hotspur Watford	Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Crewe Alexandra Everton Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Stoke City West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers	Barnsley Derby County Huddersfield Town Leeds United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield United Sunderland

[edit] Current structure

All teams play each other in the group twice and play 10 inter-group fixtures, producing 28 games a season.

[edit] Past winners

	FA Premier Youth League (Under-18)		References
1997–98	Arsenal U18s		^[1]
	FA Premier Academy League
	Under-19	Under-17
1998–99	West Ham United U19s	Blackburn Rovers U17s	^[2]^[3]
1999-00	West Ham United U19s	Arsenal U17s	^[1]^[2]
2000–01	Nottingham Forest U19s	Ipswich Town U17s	^[4]^[5]
2001–02	Arsenal U19s	Newcastle United U17s	^[1]^[6]
2002–03	Blackburn Rovers U19s	Leeds United U17s	^[7]^[8]
2003–04	Southampton U19s	Aston Villa U17s	^[9]^[10]
	Premier Academy League (Under-18)
2004–05	Blackburn Rovers U18s		^[11]
2005–06	Southampton U18s		^[12]
2006–07	Leicester City U18s		^[13]
2007–08	Aston Villa U18s		^[14]
2008–09	Arsenal U18s		^[15]

[edit] List of winners

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Arsenal Club Honours". Arsenal.com. http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=the+club&article=344299&lid=History&Title=Club+Honours. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ ^a ^b "West Ham United Statistics". westhamstats.info. http://www.westhamstats.info/. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "FA Premier Academy League play-off final". This Is Lancashire. 19 May 1999. http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/1999/5/19/771266.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Players H - Paul Hart". Bridport Red. http://www.bridportred.co.uk/Players/Players%20H.htm. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Academy Roll of Honour". BluesWeb.co.uk. http://www.bluesweb.co.uk/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDY3&id=129742. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Newcastle United PLC Preliminary Results Summary". Newcastle United Official Website. 2002-10-08. http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PLCDetail/0,,10278~282506,00.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Academy boys top of class". This Is Lancashire. 2003-05-14. http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2003/5/14/552018.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Leeds United News - May 2003". leedfans.org.uk. http://www.leedsfans.org.uk/leeds/news/200305.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Academy Who's Who". SaintsFC.co.uk. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/team/?page_id=1105. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Everton U17s, 2003-04: Everton 1 - 1 Aston Villa". ToffeeWeb. http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/03-04/under17.asp#A-Villa(2). Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Under 18 Academy Team 2004/05". FONCY. http://www.foncy.co.uk/Teams_Results/TableU19s0405.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Under-18 Academy Team 2005/06". FONCY. http://www.foncy.co.uk/Teams_Results/TableU18s0506.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Under-18 Academy Team 2006/07". FONCY. http://www.foncy.co.uk/Teams_Results/TableU18s0607.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
^ "Under-18 Academy Team 2007/08". avfc.co.uk. http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~1305270,00.html. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
^ "Academy Final- Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal - Report". Arsenal Broadband Limited. http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3146477/youth/tottenham-hotspur-yth-v-arsenal-yth?tab=report. Retrieved 17 May 2009.

[edit] External links

League tables: A · B · C · D
Fixtures and results
Bulletins

[arsenal-0] "Arsenal Club Honours". Arsenal.com. http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=the+club&article=344299&lid=History&Title=Club+Honours. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[westham-1] "West Ham United Statistics". westhamstats.info. http://www.westhamstats.info/. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[blackburn1-2] "FA Premier Academy League play-off final". This Is Lancashire. 19 May 1999. http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/1999/5/19/771266.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[nottmforest-3] "Players H - Paul Hart". Bridport Red. http://www.bridportred.co.uk/Players/Players%20H.htm. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[ipswich-4] "Academy Roll of Honour". BluesWeb.co.uk. http://www.bluesweb.co.uk/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDY3&id=129742. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[newcastle-5] "Newcastle United PLC Preliminary Results Summary". Newcastle United Official Website. 2002-10-08. http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PLCDetail/0,,10278~282506,00.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[blackburn2-6] "Academy boys top of class". This Is Lancashire. 2003-05-14. http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2003/5/14/552018.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[leeds-7] "Leeds United News - May 2003". leedfans.org.uk. http://www.leedsfans.org.uk/leeds/news/200305.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[southampton1-8] "Academy Who's Who". SaintsFC.co.uk. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/team/?page_id=1105. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[astonvilla1-9] "Everton U17s, 2003-04: Everton 1 - 1 Aston Villa". ToffeeWeb. http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/03-04/under17.asp#A-Villa(2). Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[blackburn3-10] "Under 18 Academy Team 2004/05". FONCY. http://www.foncy.co.uk/Teams_Results/TableU19s0405.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[southampton2-11] "Under-18 Academy Team 2005/06". FONCY. http://www.foncy.co.uk/Teams_Results/TableU18s0506.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[leicester-12] "Under-18 Academy Team 2006/07". FONCY. http://www.foncy.co.uk/Teams_Results/TableU18s0607.html. Retrieved 7 November 2006.

[astonvilla-13] "Under-18 Academy Team 2007/08". avfc.co.uk. http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~1305270,00.html. Retrieved 4 May 2008.

[Arsenal09-14] "Academy Final- Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal - Report". Arsenal Broadband Limited. http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3146477/youth/tottenham-hotspur-yth-v-arsenal-yth?tab=report. Retrieved 17 May 2009.

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