The 2017–18 SPFL Development League was the 20th season of the highest youth Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league and the fourth season under the "Development League" format. It began on 21 August 2017, and concluded on 7 May 2018.

Changes

For the 2017–18 season of the Development League, three teams chose to withdraw from the competition.

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

announced in May 2017 that due to the proposals made under 'Project Brave', which would see the implementation of a reserve league from the 2018–19 to replace the Development League, the club would not participate in the final year of the competition. Rangers also announced their intention to withdraw from the competition, instead receiving permission from the

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As we ...

to take part in a programme of fixtures against a number of European elite youth teams, for example,

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Benfica and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

also withdrew from the 2017–18 competition. Eligible players were those born in 1998 or later, but five players of any age were permitted in the matchday squad of 18.

Summary

League table

Matches

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Top scorers

References

External links

SPFL
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 SPFL Development League

Development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

SPFL Development League