The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth

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 ...

in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the

Elite Player Performance Plan The Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) is a youth development scheme initiated by the Premier League. The intention of the EPPP is to improve the quality and quantity of home-grown players produced by top English clubs. Measures introduced by th ...

in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member clubs of

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

on 20 October 2011. This newly formed league was established in the 2015–2016 season and given the renamed title of the

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the The Football Association, Footbal ...

It was contested between the Academy sides of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and some

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

clubs. It sat above the second tier of youth football, The

Football League Youth Alliance The Football League Youth Alliance is a youth football competition in Football in England, England, consisting of four regional divisions. It acts as League 2 of the U18 Professional Development League system. Current structure North West Co ...

, which is for the remaining Football League clubs and some

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

clubs with a ''Centre of Excellence''. The most successful team is

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, having won 5 titles.

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 The South East Counties League (SECL) was a football league for the youth teams of clubs from Southern England. The competition grew out of the Middlesex Youth Invitation Cup set up in the 1950s by the Middlesex FA and was formerly known as the ...

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

, who beat

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

2–1 on aggregate in the final. The competition was revamped in 1998 with the introduction of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

's Academy system and renamed the 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 1999–2000, 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 competed at an Under-16 level in identically formed groups, but these were played as friendlies – no league table was maintained and no play-offs were contested. This format remained until the league's abandonment in 2012.

Structure

All teams played each other in the group twice and played 10 inter-group fixtures, producing 28 games a season. The four group winners entered the playoffs, which was a straight knockout format. Unlike the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

, the Premier Academy League was open to more than just the

clubs.

Winners

Most successful clubs

(d) - defunct

References

External links

*League tables
A
http://www.premierleague.com/page/YouthBTable
C
http://www.premierleague.com/page/YouthDTable D]
Fixtures and resultsBulletins
{{Reserve and Youth football in England Premier Academy League,

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...